In this episode the Rev. Adrian Crum speaks about mental health and faith with the Rev. John Fikkert, a mental health counselor and Director of the OPC Committee on Ministerial Care, and his wife, Dr. Lindsay Fikkert, a psychologist at Pella Counseling.

This episode is a republication of the recent Reformed Deacon podcast, (with their kind permission). We have divided the original podcast into two parts. Part 2 will be published next month. (D.V.)

Mental health is a tender thing. An episode or a chronic mental health illness can be distressing for the person, their family, and congregations.

The soul cries, as the Psalmist did, Psalm 88:1–2
[1] O LORD, God of my salvation,
I cry out day and night before you.
[2] Let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry! (ESV)

The Ruling Elder Podcast talks with Roger Wagner and David Winslow about ruling elders encouraging covenant youth. One of the tasks of ruling elders, as set out by BCO X:3, is that ruling elders should "nourish and guard the children of the covenant”.

Rev. Roger Wagner, now a retired minister, was ordained to the ministry in 1973, serving ten years at Sonora, then he became pastor of Bayview OPC in Chula Vista, California in 1983 where he served for the next forty years until his retirement. Ruling Elder David Winslow has served as a ruling elder for over forty years in Westminster OPC, in Westminster CA and was interviewed for this podcast in April 2023.

Books and Articles Mentioned

• Kevin DeYoung, The (Not-So-Secret) Secret to Reaching the Next Generation, Crossway, 2024
• Carl R. Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution, Crossway, 2020
• Eric Watkins, "Where Have the Children Gone? A Reflection Upon OPC Identity and a Postmodern Generation", Ordained Servant, Vol 12, No. 3, pages 50-51. Available here.
• John Murray, Christian Baptism, P&R Publishing.
• Lewis Bevens Schenck, The Presbyterian Doctrine of Children in the Covenant: An Historical Study of the Significance of Infant Baptism in the Presbyterian Church, first published in 1940. Republished by P&R Publishing, 2003.
• Gerard Berghoef and Lester De Koster, The Elders Handbook, A Practical Guide for Church Leaders, 1979.
• Robert S. Rayburn, “The Presbyterian Doctrines of Covenant Children, Covenant Nurture and Covenant Succession.” Available here.

Anneke Fesko and Laurie Tricarico discuss how elders can encourage women in the church.

Anneke currently serves the OPC as Care Coordinator for Ministers’ Wives and works for the OPC Committee on Ministerial Care. (Committee of Walking Hugs) She is married to John, an ordained OPC minister and theology professor at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. They have three children, two sons in high school and a daughter in elementary school, and live in Madison, Mississippi.

Laurie serves as the coordinator of the Crisis Care Team at New Life OPC in Williamsport PA, where she is a member. She and Al and their children served as foreign missionaries in Uganda for 11 years. Al presently serves as the Associate General Secretary for the Committee on Home Missions and Church Extension of the OPC. They have 5 grown children and seven grandchildren. Al and Laurie live in Williamsport, PA.

Recommended Books

• J. Ligon Duncan and Susan Hunt, Women’s Ministry in the Local Church, Crossway Books, 2006.
• Paul Tripp, Awe: Why It Matters for Everything We Think, Say, and Do, Crossway Books, 2015
• Patricia E. Clawson and Diane L. Olinger, eds., Choosing the Good Portion: Women of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.