Tag: Leadership

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 has… Continue 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 family… Continue 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 team… Continue 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 to… Continue reading Why we should embrace failure

Matters of conscience and matters of wisdom

This is a quick response to my friend Steve’s article this morning. Today, Steve has commented on the issues with identifying something as a matter of conscience. Some people seem to treat a “matter of conscience” as a kind of subjective route into saying that they can hold to their own personal truth unchallenged.  As… Continue reading Matters of conscience and matters of wisdom

Authority and Authoritarian

I’ve responded recently to Christian leaders complaining about authoritarian leadership by observing that there are plenty of people out there who are willing to complain that church leaders are authoritarian. What provokes this tends to be when Christian leaders give a clear exposition of Scripture with application that requires God’s people to respond to obligations… Continue reading Authority and Authoritarian

Who are deacons?

The first turn to Bible passage on deacons tends to be 2 Timothy 3. This is where Paul sets out the qualifications for both elders and deacons. In the first part of the chapter, Paul says that the role of elder/overseer/Bishop is a noble desire. He then sets out the qualifications for the role. Overseers… Continue reading Who are deacons?

What are deacons (not)

I’ve just took part in an interesting conversation with other pastors which started out with a question about how we train deacons in the church. This led to further questions about what exactly is a deacon? Fascinatingly there didn’t seem to be a uniform opinion on this.  So, I thought it might be worth thinking… Continue reading What are deacons (not)