Category: Leadership

Appointing a new pastor -the things you need to agree in the contract.

Once you’ve made a decision about who to appoint as your new pastor/member of staff, there are still a few things to talk through and agree with them.  These may be things that you already have planned for and stated in adverts and communications but you still need to be sit down and work these… Continue reading Appointing a new pastor -the things you need to agree in the contract.

Calling a new pastor -how do you get to know the right person?

So far in terms of the steps we’ve talked about, we’ve looked at  things that we might classifiy as the traditional formal elements of recruitment, interviews and preaching.  We’ve also looked at how you can do a bit more of a deep dive to research a person’s gifting, theological outlook etc through online research. However,… Continue reading Calling a new pastor -how do you get to know the right person?

Does the health of the church depend on the health of its colleges?

James Robson thinks so.  In Evangelicals Now he quotes John Stott on this favourably.  Do I agree? Well, I think that the answer is “yes and no” depending on what is meant. Stott was speaking  from a perspective where Anglican clergy to a man (it was men for most of his life) went through formal… Continue reading Does the health of the church depend on the health of its colleges?

Nostalgia and jars of stones

Steve Kneale wrote recently in Evangelicals Now about the danger of nostalgia.  He was responding to a recent spate of articles letters and blogs which seem to harp back to some golden era in the life of the church when churches held three teaching meetings a week and the pastor led all of them. David… Continue reading Nostalgia and jars of stones

Interviewing a potential pastor: What do you ask them?

In an interview with a potential staff member or pastor, you have an opportunity to do two things, first to go over any questions arising from their application and secondly, to find out a bit more about their pastoral competency, what would they be like in a pastoral and counselling situation. So how do you… Continue reading Interviewing a potential pastor: What do you ask them?

Do you have an anchor?

I hope that the immediate answer is that “yes, Jesus is my anchor.”. However,  I’m thinking of something slightly different here. Most good football teams have a player whose position is “anchor midfield” or sometimes “holding midfield.” Their job is to sit in front of the defence, protecting the back four. They anticipate danger,  break… Continue reading Do you have an anchor?

Men and women in church leadership revisited

I recently picked up on Evangelical Times’ article and podcsst about women teaching and preaching.  As I noted, the podcast doesn’t really offer us a Biblical case for the position and assertions taken.  However, some people do, in the You Tube comments section attempt to have a discussion about what the Bible says. One claim… Continue reading Men and women in church leadership revisited

Recruiting a new pastor: What to look for when listening to them preach

Some jobs give the candidate opportunity to demonstrate one of the core skills.  Whilst it is very difficult to observe a counsellor or engineer in action, you can observe a teacher at work and you can check out whether or not a potential pastor can preach. Of course there is always the risk that the… Continue reading Recruiting a new pastor: What to look for when listening to them preach

Are fewer people going into Gospel ministry?

I have heard anecdotal comments made a few times to the effect that fewer people are going into Gospel/pastoral ministry. This includes seeing the statement made on blogs/podcasts and in mainstream Christian media articles. I hear of churches that go for a long time without being able to fill a post but then I’m also… Continue reading Are fewer people going into Gospel ministry?