Tag: pastors

Throwing people under the bus

In a recent article I mentioned the “Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” podcast.  The Christianity Today series tells the story of Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church, Seattle.  Driscoll became well known as a church planter and mega-church leader succeeding in an area regarded as hard to reach. He went on to head up… Continue reading Throwing people under the bus

Do you take the role of pastor/elder seriously enough?

What exactly does it mean to be a pastor or an elder in a church?  First of all, you will notice that I am in effect using the words “pastor” and “elder” interchangeably because we are essentially talking about the same thing. An elder is someone who carries leadership authority within a family/clan/tribe linked to… Continue reading Do you take the role of pastor/elder seriously enough?

Do we need to test the ability of trainee pastors to write essays?

From time to time I write about where I believe things need to change in terms of training people for pastoral ministry. I believe that if we are going to train more people for Gospel work then we need to look at different ways of going about the training. This does not mean that I’m… Continue reading Do we need to test the ability of trainee pastors to write essays?

Pastor: Preach grace to yourself

It was just after I’d preached my first placement sermon whilst studying at Oak Hill and the pastor of the church, Joe Kapolyo came over to me to give me a little bit of feedback. “Well I’ve got some good news for you.  It wasn’t perfect.” My initial mental response was “Well if that’s the… Continue reading Pastor: Preach grace to yourself

Training for ministry is not just about “what” but “who”

Over time, the pendulum swings back and forth in terms of what is considered a good education.  A few years back, schools were all about so called “child centred learning” where children were to be encouraged to explore and discover for themselves. Teachers were not “the sage on the stage” but “ the guide at… Continue reading Training for ministry is not just about “what” but “who”

When was the last time you heard a pastor tell their testimony?

This was one  of the questions I asked in my survey about what pastors talk about.  Here are the results. Now it could be that people have heard a pastor’s testimony, maybe not from the pulpit but for whatever reason its not registered. Yet that itself is a sign of salience. It matters that congregations… Continue reading When was the last time you heard a pastor tell their testimony?

When did you last hear a pastor addressing abortion?

I’m planning over the next week or so to look at how we as churches address some of the ethical and pastoral issues that matter to people in our congregations. Last week, I ran a twitter poll asking my followers about when they’d last heard a pastor talk about particular issues. The first issue was… Continue reading When did you last hear a pastor addressing abortion?

Male and female leadership questions (5) Implications for church life

First of all, I think we can rule out two extremes.  We cannot take the egalitarian approach but nor can we endorse the traditional Brethren approach and a number of traditional approaches which in effect fail to recognise that women are equal in nature.  We should recognise that sadly churches have got this badly wrong… Continue reading Male and female leadership questions (5) Implications for church life