Category: church planting

Another approach to financial support for urban mission

Continuing my thoughts on financial support for Gospel ministry, I agree with those who feel that the current system is skewed towards unhealthy patronage and further that it means that finances don’t reach the places where they are most needed. There have been some conversations about the possibility of doing more to get funding redistributed… Continue reading Another approach to financial support for urban mission

Money Talks

This guest post on Steve Kneale’s blog has generated plenty of further discussion among those with a particular concern for Gospel ministry into working class and urban contexts.  THs has highlighted that as well as passionate concern for the Gospel to go out to unreached areas, there is understandably disagreement at times about how we… Continue reading Money Talks

Showing Off: Proclamation in context

Well, we have finally arrived at the summit of our discussion. This is where we want to be. We’ve stepped in, searched out, showed up and now it is time to show off. The point is not that we now show off our learning or our righteousness. Rather, we get to show off Christ in… Continue reading Showing Off: Proclamation in context

COVID and Cold Contact Evangelism

I’ve been writing about how we go about building back our outreach as we move out of lockdown. In a recent post, I wrote that I didn’t think we should rush to put back some of of our traditional outreach ministries such as children’s clubs and Toddlers groups.  The reason for this is that we… Continue reading COVID and Cold Contact Evangelism

The “both – and” of mission

Republished from the archives (2018) One of my personal passions and priorities is to see people get involved in urban mission, making disciples who make disciples in communities where there is practically no gospel witness at the moment. That’s why I keep pointing visitors to faithroots.net to our ActBC pages. That urban focus means that… Continue reading The “both – and” of mission

Did we grow to love the fringe too much?

I resisted for a while, especially when I hoped lockdown would be short but eventually I succumbed. I realised that my hair was beginning to look like I was channelling Boris Johnson.  So, I bought some clippers and in a dramatic, bold move set them to number one before unleashing them on my head.  I’ve… Continue reading Did we grow to love the fringe too much?

The challenge is not the state of the harvest, it is the need for workers

The fall out continues from  the recent announcements of cutbacks in the Church of England. If the church of England had a particular strength in the past, it was that it was a church for the whole country and this was reflected in the Parish system. The risk with this was that the CoEE got… Continue reading The challenge is not the state of the harvest, it is the need for workers

Pandemic or Tsunami proofing Gospel multiplication

The other day, I talked about things that can prove obstacles to Gospel multiplication. At the end, I mentioned something specific to our current circumstance. I do not think that we were Tsunami proof. We were not ready for the crisis of the pandemic. There has been multiplication but it was vulnerable and fragile.  Of… Continue reading Pandemic or Tsunami proofing Gospel multiplication

The urban mission field is not a playground

There are a number of parachurch organisations dedicated to encouraging people to get involved in evangelism and world mission. There’s often a focus on young people and an emphasis on short term missions. Now, this is one of those articles where lots of disclaimers are needed and I’m running the risk of causing offence.  So,… Continue reading The urban mission field is not a playground