Category: Leadership

Ephesians and Church leadership

We want our church leadership to be Biblical. Usually by this, we mean that we want to appoint people to the offices we find in Scripture and mirror the structures we find there. The problem is that there is often a lot of disagreement here because in fact the New Testament doesn’t really have that… Continue reading Ephesians and Church leadership

DNA: Why you might want a church handbook and how to go about it

An independent church is likely to require a constitution in order to satisfy charity law.  This is a legal document.  Many churches, in addition to this will provide something based on the constitution intended to be more accessible to the congregation.  They may refer to it as a handbook and it is likely to include… Continue reading DNA: Why you might want a church handbook and how to go about it

Training Elders

Tim Suffield writes here on the importance of training elders.  I don’t really have much to add to what he has to say.  I agree with him that we should train and equip all elders at a church, whether they are on staff or not. I agree with him that this is not first and… Continue reading Training Elders

Should a pastor blog?

Sinclair Ferguson doesn’t seem to think so.  Recently a clip of an interview with him was circulated where he argued that the time spent writing your blog article could have been spent visiting an elderly lady in the congregation. I have an obvious interest to declare here because I write a blog and have done… Continue reading Should a pastor blog?

Can you be an effective pastor without being a reader?

This was a question shared on Twitter recently as a poll. The originator suggested that by being a “reader”, he meant beyond the bible and commentaries.  Responses both in the voting and in comments suggested that most people assumed that wide reading was if not essential at least very important for pastoral ministry. Some people… Continue reading Can you be an effective pastor without being a reader?

Paying the pastor

John Benton’s latest article on the Pastor’s Academy site talks about the importance of looking after pastors well, particularly when it comes to pay. He references Martin Luther’s commentary on Galatians 6:6 in support of his point. Now, there’s some good points in the article.  Whilst, elders in the church should not be greedy, lovers… Continue reading Paying the pastor

Wanted -church mothers

For some time, I’ve been arguing that both complementarians and egalitarians alike have been letting the church down by failing to give proper place to women in the church.  For complementarians, the failure has perhaps been more obvious.  The focus has been so much on saying “this is what women cannot do” that the result… Continue reading Wanted -church mothers

How do you support a church without a pastor?

This was a question raised by Tim Wilson, pastor of Wheelock Heath Baptist church on Twitter. For context, Tim is involved with the Rural Project which is about supporting churches, plants and revitalisations in rural contexts, so similar to the kind of work I’m involved with in urban contexts.  Here are my thoughts.  I’m assuming… Continue reading How do you support a church without a pastor?