Tag: urban training

What does your church value?

I’ve been writing a few articles on things like mission and vision statements.  There is the risk that such things can feel corporate, slick and fluffy. However, if a mission statement is really simply “Matthew 28:19-20 with a date stamp and a postcode” then what we are doing is helping the church apply God’s word… Continue reading What does your church value?

Planter speed up – the core team isn’t coming

Dan Steel has written on the Acts29 site encouraging church planters to slow down and work more on building a healthy core team before they plant.  I’m loath to disagree with Dan, he’s an experienced pastor and planter who knows what he’s talking about. I also think that there is much in his article to… Continue reading Planter speed up – the core team isn’t coming

New Horizons – update March 2022

Sarah and I really appreciated the support and encouragement we’ve had from so many since we shared back at the end of 2020 that we were moving on from Bearwood Chapel. I thought it might be helpful to give you a little update on where we are at.  I’m hoping to follow up with some… Continue reading New Horizons – update March 2022

Discerning a calling to the urban West Midlands

My desire is to see gospel communities planted into our urban inner city and council estate neighbourhoods in the West Midlands.  I believe that if this is going to happen then we’ll need two things. First of all, we’ll need indigenous church leaders from working class estate contexts and multi-ethnic contexts to be raised up,… Continue reading Discerning a calling to the urban West Midlands

What would vocational training for pastors/planters look like?  (Part 2) Syllabus/Curriculum

I’ve been sharing a little bit more about my desire to see churches planted and replanted in urban contexts. My own particular concern is for the urban West Midlands including north and east Birmingham, The Black Country and Wolverhampton. I believe that such an effort is going to need a lot more people from a… Continue reading What would vocational training for pastors/planters look like?  (Part 2) Syllabus/Curriculum

Could you help reach the urban West Midlands with the Gospel?

The West Midlands is home to 2,607,000 people.  That includes over 1 million in Birmingham and half a million living in a cluster of towns and urban villages where the Industrial Revolution started known as The Black Country.  Over the past decade, significant work went into encouraging church planting via The 2020 Birmingham Initiative, a… Continue reading Could you help reach the urban West Midlands with the Gospel?

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?

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”