Back last week when picking up on the Jonathan Fletcher report, I noted that one of the central issues raised was a sense of fear among those who had been most affected by the abuse which affected their ability to come forward. I concluded my article on “fear” with these words If perfect love drives… Continue reading The Love Factor
Category: Church life
The pastor king?
I’m continuing to reflect on some of the lessons arising from the 31:8 review of the Jonathan Fletcher case. The case relates to an Anglican minister in London who has been identified as engaging in systemic abuse of young men over a number of years. Leaders within what is often referred to as “the conservative… Continue reading The pastor king?
The fear factor
One of the issues that emerged from the Jonathan Fletcher review was the prevalence of fear amongst those affected by the case. The review comments: A further factor which is of great importance is fear. As has been explained, the level of fear some participants held was palpable in interviews and email correspondence. Repeated reassurances… Continue reading The fear factor
Little leopards …
The reports have come out on the Jonathan Fletcher case and they make for sober reading. Fletcher was the pastor of a church in London and over the past few yers, in an alarming similarity to the accusations against John Smyth, it emerged that he had introduced an abusive regime of punishment beatings with vulnerable… Continue reading Little leopards …
Expository Worship
In his book “Nine Marks of a healthy Church” Mark Dever makes Expositional Preaching his first and most important mark of healthy church life.[1] I want to suggest that Dever is right to give expositional preaching such a central position but that he does not go far enough. Why is Expositional Preaching so important? Dever… Continue reading Expository Worship
A year in lockdown – was it worth it?
What were you doing this time last year? I was running a temperature and fighting a dry cough. That’s right I’d gone down with COVID-19. The result was that I was going to stay at home. I’d hoped initially that it was just a cold but through the day, it became clearer that it wasn’t.… Continue reading A year in lockdown – was it worth it?
When an elder is accused
It’s the thing that any church dreads, someone coming and bringing an accusation against a pastor or elder. In fact, it is something that elders and pastors dread too. Elders, sadly make enemies as they seek to confront and challenge sin, so the possibility is real that someone might seek to get back at you… Continue reading When an elder is accused
Elders should be above reproach
I’ve been sharing a few thoughts about aspects of church life over the past few days to help those who are seeking to plant or replant churches think through the practicalities of church life. In this previous article, I wrote about elders and what they should do, today I want to talk about what elders… Continue reading Elders should be above reproach
Church decision making – methods and majorities
This is a follow up to my article on how we go about making decisions as churches. In my previous article, I talked about when decisions should be made by church leaders and when they should be made by the whole congregation all together. Today, I’d like to talk about the nuts and bolts of… Continue reading Church decision making – methods and majorities
How does your church make decisions?
This is something that new church plants are going to have to consider. There are two main ways of approaching this. The first is to place decision making primarily in the hands of leaders, either the specific leaders of a congregation or leaders over a group of churches in a denomination, diocese or presbytery. In… Continue reading How does your church make decisions?
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