Michael Foster

A different sort of event for church leaders and their wives... Faithful ministry can be lonely and comes with pressures most people never see. Over time, church leaders and their families can get worn down or stuck in the same ruts. Instead of working on themselves and the ministry, they can end up stuck in the grind of just keeping up and barely surviving. With this in mind, we’re reworking our pastors’ conference into The Evergreen Summit. We’re calling it “Evergreen” because the aim is to equip pastors, elders, and their wives for the long haul of ministry. We’re going to do things a little differently in two main areas. First, no keynotes. Frankly, most pastors’ conferences are largely a summons to hear “big names” preach sermons. We want something more practical and interactive. This isn’t about platform building for Christian celebrities or content generation for media-centered ministries. Second, no recordings. We want presenters and attendees to be able to speak freely about the real challenges of ministry, so this event will not be livestreamed or recorded. We will provide printed materials for all attendees, but all workshops and mastermind group conversations will remain private. So what will we do? We’ll have three workshop blocks, each consisting of three back-to-back 20-minute presentations. Each block will be followed by a 15-minute break, and then the three presenters will take part in a moderated panel and answer questions from attendees. Our full lineup of workshop sessions is still being finalized, but it will include topics like How I Survived a Coup d’État, Cultivating a Leadership Pipeline, and Protecting Your Wife and Kids. We’re aiming to be very practical and brutally honest. There will also be one workshop block just for ministry wives, led by Rosaria Butterfield, Emily Foster, and a presenter TBA. It will run concurrently with one of the main workshop blocks. Another key component of the summit is the masterminds. These are small groups of six to eight people who will identify two real problems within the group and work together to find a path forward. There will be two mastermind sessions for the men’s track and two for the wives’ track. We’ll also share meals together and have a catered party on Friday night for all attendees. The goal is to come ready to work on real problems and return home refreshed and ready to get things done. We will not have childcare available, but babes-in-arms are welcome. Presenters include: Michael Clary • Rosaria Butterfield • Chris Wiley • Michael Foster • Doug Ponder • Bryan Laughlin • Emily Foster • Brian Brown …and more to be announced. Date July 16-18, 2026 Location East River Church, 299 Haskell Lane Batavia, OH 45103 Purchase Tickets here: eventbrite.com/e/the-evergree…

I would say that some moderate version of the “dead internet theory” is true.

@presbyterianpew I QT’d that with the OP.

@thisisfoster Additional context: x.com/i/status/20347…

For those looking for some context regarding St Andrew’s excommunication of Steve & Heidi Nichols…

@FLPJ_Mills15 Lot’s of gaps here…

@thisisfoster I know. Adams shared his side first though and a lot of people were jumping to conclusions without hearing Nichols side though.

More on the St Andrew context… x.com/drstevenichols…

@FLPJ_Mills15 Well, there two sides above.

@thisisfoster Proverbs 18:17

@djos24 Surely they filed a police report… right? Right?

@thisisfoster "Suspicion" of a horrific sin, but no proof?

@HeloFlyNavy Nope.

@thisisfoster You know you posted this on X right?

If you can get enough followers, likes, and reshares, then you matter, and you’ve proved everyone wrong.

I’m not paying attention to some things so I can pay attention to other things. I only have so much attention.

@calvinswhiskers @GeorgeSayour @Eschatology22 @MD_Adams90 @james_d_baird I'm looking forward to hearing what they are doing on their main streets!

@GeorgeSayour @Eschatology22 @MD_Adams90 @james_d_baird Paging @thisisfoster

Mainstreet Nationalism? New interview with @MD_Adams90 and @james_d_baird up NOW

@ThymeToBeBorn Yes, some sects translate it that way.

@thisisfoster I thought that was the meaning of "Pharisee"

Did you know that in the original Greek, "discernment" can also be translated as "cosmic killjoy ruining everyone's fun time?"

If you look at Reddit data from 2010 to 2025, the most common piece of relationship counsel has steadily shifted toward the exit. In 2010, about 31 percent of the advice given was some version of "end the relationship." By 2025 it's nearly half. Meanwhile the constructive options have stalled or declined. Advice to communicate dropped from roughly 22 percent to around 15. Suggestions to compromise fell from about 7 percent to under 4. The internet's instinct when relationships hit difficulty is increasingly simple: leave. That trend reflects something larger than Reddit. It reveals a cultural instinct that treats hardship in relationships as proof that the relationship itself is the problem. Difficulty gets interpreted as incompatibility rather than as something that might actually grow a couple up. Marriages have dry and difficult seasons. Anyone married long enough knows that. Couples who stay the course through those seasons often come out the other side with something deeper and more durable than what they started with. Part of the problem is the expectations people bring into marriage. Many walk in assuming their spouse will meet nearly every emotional need and supply the sense of fulfillment they've been looking for. When real life fails to deliver, disappointment sets in fast. Then the internet steps in and names the obvious solution: walk away. A wiser framework says the opposite. Lower your expectations of the relationship and raise your commitment to the person. There is another problem underneath all this. People are seeking counsel from anonymous strangers online. Communities like r/relationship_advice are full of people whose lives you know nothing about. You have no idea whether the person advising you has ever sustained a healthy relationship. You cannot ask if they are still married, whether they have raised children, or whether they have actually walked through difficulty and built something lasting. All you get is a verdict from the crowd. And the crowd is increasingly inclined to give the same verdict every time. Proverbs says there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors. But it assumes those counselors are real people with wisdom worth weighing. The people best suited to speak into your marriage are the ones who know you, love you, and have some skin in the game. A pastor. A mentor. A couple in your church who have been married thirty or forty years and have weathered storms of their own. Those voices are worth listening to. The internet often is not. I will say this means the church has to step up. There is only so much we can do, and there are always people who would have us try to do everything. But the health of your marriages should be near the top of our priorities. Just consider how much attention the epistles give to marriage and the household. I’m working through what the best approach is for us at East River. There are a lot of ways to go about it, but all of them involve getting married couples together. Especially younger couples spending time with older ones. That kind of proximity and example does a great deal of quiet work over time.

@PtristicDigital Did you guys file a complaint with the session of SAC?

For additional context, the public account being circulated leaves out a key part of the record. Stephen Adams’ resignation followed an investigation by the Central Florida Presbytery into multiple instances of inappropriate and abusive conduct with minors over several years. Several of us who were in the youth group testified directly to the committee. After reviewing the evidence, the presbytery confronted both Saint Andrew’s Chapel and Adams with its findings. His resignation followed. Any explanation that presents the situation only as harassment or persecution omits the investigation that preceded his departure and changes the public understanding of what occurred.

I bought 850 pogs tonight. Pray for my family. They are about to know true awesomeness.

@jaaceofspades @jaysonyork All I said is that a gave some context. And, yes, I can stand behind that it in fact does give it more context.

@jaysonyork @thisisfoster Oh. Ok. I didn’t see @thisisfoster making a judgement, he was saying consider the other person who’s arguably the most qualified to speak on it.

@kingagrifta Are the SAC teaching elders still in the PCA?

@thisisfoster SAC: Leaves PCA after they originally came into the PCA for accountability. Also SAC: Exercises accountability with the Nichols after they left the PCA because they didn’t like the accountability.

@Attackwatch1 @FavaAnthony That is my impression as well.

@thisisfoster @FavaAnthony Whether its believable is another argument but I believe the letters failure to make the timeline clear is what prompted him to respond this afternoon