It’s been fascinating seeing people’s response to a minor change in the Highway Code. The underlying philosophy is that responsibility should increased based on the power of your vehicle. The specific result is that the code now says that a pedestrian crossing a road junction has priority right of way over drivers turning into the… Continue reading Who has right of way?
Category: Leadership
Learning lessons means knowing what the person you are learning from is seeking to achieve
The other day I wrote about Katherine Birbalsingh’s policy of bringing her SLT in for a 7am meeting every day. Katherine had argued that people should pay attention to this policy on the basis that if someone was successful, then we would do well to learn from them. I argued in response that just because… Continue reading Learning lessons means knowing what the person you are learning from is seeking to achieve
Are we learning the right lessons?
Controversial head teacher Katherine Birbalsingh has been making waves again. This time by writing about how staff at her school start work at 7am, with a Senior Leadership Team meeting scheduled in for first thing. A lot of people have reacted angrily to this and there have been a lot of comments about the implications… Continue reading Are we learning the right lessons?
Foundational reading for urban ministry … The most important book
This should perhaps be obvious and go without saying but the most important book you need to be reading if you are going to engage in urban pastoral ministry is the Bible. Still, it is worth repeating because sometimes although we know that in theory, we become too focused on the other tools we think… Continue reading Foundational reading for urban ministry … The most important book
Self Supported ministers
Southwark Diocese were recently promoting the fact that it is 60 years since the ordained someone as a “self-supporting minister.” As they explain, these are ordained clergy within the CofE who do the same things as any other clergy but are not paid a stipend by the church. This means that they are likely to… Continue reading Self Supported ministers
We need pastors who have never read the Brontes …and who never will
I saw this Tweet the other day. I think I get the point the tweet author is making. I can’t say for certain. I’ve watched a TV adaption of Jane Eyre as a child and seen trailers for similar adaptions of Pride and Prejudice but I’ve read neither book. I write as someone with post… Continue reading We need pastors who have never read the Brontes …and who never will
Infiltration
One big question that comes up as we read through Galatians is “How were the agitators able to be so successful?” It seems that they had already managed to infiltrate the Jerusalem church quite significantly when Paul and Titus visited (2:1-10). They also were able to get Peter to cooperate with them, even though it… Continue reading Infiltration
Don’t give power away
Now I’ve got your attention! From time to time, I see advice given about how to lead well as pastors, especially senior pastors. The advice is “give power away.” In other words, delegate and empower others. It sounds really good at first but I’m not that sure. I don’t think that we should be delegating,… Continue reading Don’t give power away
Where are the goals going to come from?
Bradford City’s season can be summed up in one name “Andy Cook.” Over this season, he scored an impressive haul of 31 Goals, 28 in the league. This means he was scoring a goal every 121 minutes. His nearest rival, Sam Hoskins at Northampton Town was scoring every 163 minutes. Cook was the stand out… Continue reading Where are the goals going to come from?
New Testament Church Leadership?
Is there a specific approach and structure to church leadership that we find in the New Testament? Different movements at different times in history have attempted to recover New Testament practice. For example, the Brethren were convinced, that this meant removing a paid class of clergy and replacing them with plural oversight. They also believed… Continue reading New Testament Church Leadership?