I’ve been enjoying reading Gavin Ortlund’s “Finding the right hill to die on” about theological triage. The concept of Theological Triage was coined by Al Mohler to describe how Christians go about distinguishing first, second and third order issues. In other words, there are theological issues that are central to the Gospel itself, it isContinue reading “Finding the right hill to die on in practical pastoral leadership”
Tag Archives: Leadership
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 ofContinue 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. InContinue 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 tellsContinue reading “Elders are to guard and protect the church”
What would it help to know?
Yesterday I commented on the need of the pastor to be informed on a whole range of issues outside of their specific expertise in Biblical studies. We cannot and should not seek to become experts in every field but there are things we can do to help pastors be prepared for this aspect of ministry.Continue reading “What would it help to know?”
Women teaching men revisited – another look at 2 Timothy 2:12
One of the key verses in the debate about the role of men and women in the church, especially in relation to teaching, preaching and leadership is 2 Timothy 2:12 which says: “12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.” There hasContinue reading “Women teaching men revisited – another look at 2 Timothy 2:12”
“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 familyContinue reading ““Family and friends” are not your accountability.”
Learning from Steve Timmis and the Crowded House (The 31:8 Report)
I would like to draw your attention to the review that the churches safeguarding body, 31:8 carried out following the high profile accusations of bullying and abuse relating to their senior leader and Acts29 CEO Steve Timmis. News — The Crowded House Final+Report+-+The+Crowded+House+Learning+Review+-+October+2020.pdf (squarespace.com) I think it would be helpful for any church leadership teamContinue reading “Learning from Steve Timmis and the Crowded House (The 31:8 Report)”
Why we should embrace failure
In a previous article I started to look at the question of failure. Here I want to offer x good reasons for why we as believers and particularly church leaders should embrace failure. What happens if we refuse to encounter failure? First, if I don’t embrace the reality of failure then I am unlikely toContinue reading “Why we should embrace failure”
Failure
A few years back, I was asked to lead a seminar for the Midlands Ministry Training Course on “failure.” I wasn’t sure how to take the invitation! It was there at the end of the year and I suspect not many people would be thrilled at getting that particular gig and I am not sureContinue reading “Failure”
