“That Hideous Strength” is the last in CS Lewis’s science fiction trilogy. It’s aa grim and shocking read if you are used to the Narnia stories or even the first two of the science fiction books. Central to the plot is the severed head of a man which some involved in the project is still… Continue reading The detached head
Tag: elders
Little leopards …
The reports have come out on the Jonathan Fletcher case and they make for sober reading. Fletcher was the pastor of a church in London and over the past few yers, in an alarming similarity to the accusations against John Smyth, it emerged that he had introduced an abusive regime of punishment beatings with vulnerable… Continue reading Little leopards …
When an elder is accused
It’s the thing that any church dreads, someone coming and bringing an accusation against a pastor or elder. In fact, it is something that elders and pastors dread too. Elders, sadly make enemies as they seek to confront and challenge sin, so the possibility is real that someone might seek to get back at you… Continue reading When an elder is accused
Elders should be above reproach
I’ve been sharing a few thoughts about aspects of church life over the past few days to help those who are seeking to plant or replant churches think through the practicalities of church life. In this previous article, I wrote about elders and what they should do, today I want to talk about what elders… Continue reading Elders should be above reproach
Church decision making – methods and majorities
This is a follow up to my article on how we go about making decisions as churches. In my previous article, I talked about when decisions should be made by church leaders and when they should be made by the whole congregation all together. Today, I’d like to talk about the nuts and bolts of… Continue reading Church decision making – methods and majorities
How does your church make decisions?
This is something that new church plants are going to have to consider. There are two main ways of approaching this. The first is to place decision making primarily in the hands of leaders, either the specific leaders of a congregation or leaders over a group of churches in a denomination, diocese or presbytery. In… Continue reading How does your church make decisions?
Elders are to guard and protect the church
In Acts 20:17, Paul sends for the elders (note plural) of the church in Ephesus to come and meet him at Miletus as he travels back to Jerusalem. There he gives them instructions about how to continue serving the church when people like Paul are no longer around to visit and write letters. He tells… Continue reading Elders are to guard and protect the church
“Family and friends” are not your accountability.
One of the things that you may have picked up from the Ravi Zacharias scandal is that a lot of responsibility for accountability lay with family and friends. That’s one of the problems with a self selected group of people becoming responsible for a person’s accountability. If we simply choose our own friends and family… Continue reading “Family and friends” are not your accountability.
Is “open or closed communion?” the right question?
One of the graces in COVID is that it has pushed us hard to think about some key aspects of church life such as “What really is gathered worship?” and “What are the priority ministries of a church in the week?” There has also been quite a bit of discussion about when, how and why… Continue reading Is “open or closed communion?” the right question?
Developing Robust Safeguarding policies
In a recent article, I wrote in defence of safeguarding policies and officers. Here I want to put forward some suggestions for how to have good, robust policies in place. First of all, I believe it is important to start from a Biblical basis. Elders have a responsibility to provide good spiritual food for the… Continue reading Developing Robust Safeguarding policies
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