How would you feel if someone who was a complete stranger to you came to you and began to tell you things about your life, perhaps significant anniversaries, key events, memories, details about your life and your family that you did not expect them to know and there didn’t seem to be any way of… Continue reading Prophecy is not social media data mining
Category: Leadership
Sheep, wolves and proximity
I’ve been picking up recently on the responsibility of elders to shepherd the flock by leading them to shelter and pasture, by providing spiritual food and protecting from wolves. In a recent sermon, I mentioned that Mike Ovey, the late principal of Oak Hill once expressed his desire that theological training would help us to… Continue reading Sheep, wolves and proximity
A message for elders, wannabe elders and those who are led by them (Acts 20:28-32)
Peter closes his first letter with an exhortation to elders to take their responsibility to provide godly leadership seriously (1 Peter 5:1-4) and for the church family to submit to the elders (1 Peter 5:5). Elsewhere, the Bible tells us to make it a joy and not a burden for our elders to lead and… Continue reading A message for elders, wannabe elders and those who are led by them (Acts 20:28-32)
The neglected leadership gift of hospitality
I’ve been thinking quite a bit recently about what we are looking for in elders. You may have picked up on some things I’ve written as well as some videos I’ve shared .This arises out of a theme that if we lead, then it is not primarily to get a church to where we want… Continue reading The neglected leadership gift of hospitality
Independent Eldership (book review)
I’ve been looking forward to getting my hands on my friend, Steve Kneale’s book “Independent Leadership” ever since he mentioned a little while back that he was working on something – and it hasn’t disappointed. What is the book about? Independent Leadership is part of a book series from Grace Publications called A people on… Continue reading Independent Eldership (book review)
The silence of the shepherds
I wrote earlier this month about the need for national church leaders to speak up clearly on the issue of Christian Nationalism and why the Gospel and the Cross can have nothing to do with ethno-cultural nationalism, or to give it its proper name “fascism.” I wrote more because this is what should be happening… Continue reading The silence of the shepherds
The pipelines that might be broken and why it probably does not affect many of us directly
I’ve just written some thoughts in response to an article that GYD shared about perceptions of a break in the ministry pipeline. In conversation with them, they talked about being involved in conversations about recruitment and there was an indication that they were also talking about the pipeline of youth workers into the church. So… Continue reading The pipelines that might be broken and why it probably does not affect many of us directly
Pipelines again and youth work
This article on the Growing Young Disciples website caught my interest. It’s worth saying up front that it did for two reasons, one was a couple of minor areas of disagreement. The other an area of major agreement. So first of all, a note of caution. Regular readers will be aware that I attempted, about… Continue reading Pipelines again and youth work
Can you stay faithful in an unfaithful church?
I’ve just watched this video by a guy called Rev Dan. It’s about why he believes that not only should he stay in the Church of Engand but you (if you belong to the CofE) should do too. Now, I’ve got a lot of time for Dan, and people like him. In fact, I quite… Continue reading Can you stay faithful in an unfaithful church?
The invasion we need to guard against
I’ve talked a little bit here about how the language of “invasion” is being used to describe asylum seekers and immigrants. Christian Nationalism puts the focus on nation states and ethno-cultural groups and says that these are the things that need to be protected. Once again, they miss what Scripture actually tells us. In Acts… Continue reading The invasion we need to guard against
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