Tag: Revitalisation

Revitalisation revisited

One of the driving points in the recent correspondence to Evangelicals Now was that we needed pastors willing to go into small churches and commit to preaching twice on a Sunday and once midweek. The suggestion was that there was a reluctance on the part of younger  potential pastors and that this was primarily because… Continue reading Revitalisation revisited

There’s more than one way to plant a church

If you are committed to seeing your church plant new churches but are not sure how you will ever reach that point when you can/will plant, then it’s helpful to know that there is more than one way to church plant. The conventional approach requires a sending/mother church to commission a substantial proportion of its… Continue reading There’s more than one way to plant a church

Training revisited

I recently exchanged some correspondence via Evangelicals Now’s letters to the editor with John Brand, the Principal of Edinburgh Bible College). You can read his original letter here, my response here and his comeback here. I was tempted to respond in detail  and in fact, drafted something but realised there was little benefit in a… Continue reading Training revisited

An open response to an open letter in Evangelicals Now about training future pastors

This first appeared as a letter in Evangelicals Now here. Evangelicals Now have recently published an open letter from John Brand, principal of Edinburgh Bible College. It’s addressed to “church leaders training men for ministry.”  Well, that kind of sounds like me, so I hope that John and EN will accept an open letter in… Continue reading An open response to an open letter in Evangelicals Now about training future pastors

Revitalisation questions

As promised, here are some follow up thoughts from my article about how to help churches without pastors.  In that article, I suggested that it is likely that you will find yourself in a wider conversation about the need for revitalisation.  Whether the conversation starts with an intentional request for this kind of help, or… Continue reading Revitalisation questions

Church planting or church migration?

In 2010, a number of churches and Christians agreed to partner together to see 20 new churches planted by 2020 in Birmingham and then after that, to seek another 30 planted by 2030 with the hope that if each of the 50 churches planted again within our lifetime, that would be about 100 new churches.… Continue reading Church planting or church migration?

Revitalisation questions – looking to the future, what are the options?

The other day, I shared some questions that I would ask churches when they are looking for help with revitalisation.  So, what next once you’ve answered those questions together.  Well, what I find helpful is to talk through the full range of options that may be open to the church. Hypothetically at least these include:… Continue reading Revitalisation questions – looking to the future, what are the options?

Revitalisation and the traumatised church

I’ve mentioned a few times now that sometimes a church acts and feels as though it has been through a form of corporate or collective trauma and is suffering corporate PTSD.  There may have been a number of factors leading up to this including specific events within the life of the church such as the… Continue reading Revitalisation and the traumatised church

PTSD and church revitalisation

 A little while back I wrote about how churches can experience a form of PTSD or complex PTSD.  You see, a church can experience trauma leading to experiences and responses that affect the life of the church.  Trauma for a church might include: A split where members of the church fall out, argue publicly and… Continue reading PTSD and church revitalisation