Category: Leadership

God did not make you a pastor to keep you going to church

I want to pause and think about a type of comment that I’ve heard a few times over the years.  It goes something along the lines of. “Perhaps the reason that God made me a pastor was to keep me in church.” Such comments are perhaps tongue in cheek but personally I’m not convinced they… Continue reading God did not make you a pastor to keep you going to church

Refreshing our vision for youth and children’s ministry

Two cheers for this tweet from Michael Bird. Bird is engaging with the problem about why young people too often walk out of church and Christianity as soon as they can.  He correctly identifies some significant issues with age based ministry.  His primary concern is that what we do with kids and teens can become… Continue reading Refreshing our vision for youth and children’s ministry

Curiosity is crucial

I think that often the difference between leaders who are able to change things and those that aren’t is often to do with curiosity.  Some people are naturally curious. They are always wondering why things are the way they are, always asking questions, always considering different options, scenarios and reasons.  They employ the famous “W”… Continue reading Curiosity is crucial

We shouldn’t be throwing anyone under the social media bus

The other day, I shared this Gospel Coalition article urging people not to throw their pastor under the bus.  The article was specifically about how Christians engage on social media.  I thought it might be helpful to say a little bit more about the specific subject. By social media we mean internet sites and phone/tablet… Continue reading We shouldn’t be throwing anyone under the social media bus

On not throwing people under the bus -why you need to give that TGC article a second look

The other day, this article was posted on The Gospel Coalition website.  The article drew quite some ire. In fact, some of the responses on twitter may even ironically have been of the exact kind that the article has in its sights.  I understand that there are some reasons why some people may have struggled… Continue reading On not throwing people under the bus -why you need to give that TGC article a second look

Ministry nuts and bolts: Music matters

One of the things that church leaders spend quite a bit of time thinking about is the music or corporate sung worship in church life.  Now, when it comes to nuts and bolts issues, a lot will depend upon your context and outlook.  If you are a smaller church, happily following a traditional approach to… Continue reading Ministry nuts and bolts: Music matters

Lack of consistency is often the killer

If you are thinking about introducing something new into your church, then before you do, ask the question “Can we keep this up week after week, through the winter and into the summer over the next few years.”  You see, often we rush ahead with a great idea and either we do something as a… Continue reading Lack of consistency is often the killer

How Church in a box might help you

In the summer, I began to put together some resources under the umbrella “Church In a Box.”  I was prompted to do this by two things. First of all, we were engaging in some outreach during the Commonwealth Games, we did not know where people would come from and go back to. We did not… Continue reading How Church in a box might help you

Church PTSD – listening to outside voices

Over the past couple of days I’ve shared a couple of posts drawing on observations that psychologists make about trauma and suggesting some lessons for church leaders. Some of us might be a little bit nervous of seeing articles that appear to draw primarily from secular thinking. I mean, there’s huge scepticism about the ability… Continue reading Church PTSD – listening to outside voices