The big read

Everyday Ministry

Pete Woodcock, a pastor in south-west London, talks about how he’s trying to excite his congregation with the Bible—and how he wonders whether we’re missing something in our churches. (more…)

A course is a course, of course

Resource Talk, Sola Panel

There are two ways to change a culture, as Tony Payne said in last December’s Briefing. You can run as many people as possible through your programs and courses and hope for the best. Or, you can work individually and with small pockets of people to change the culture. The latter is slow and sometimes inefficient, but it tends to be the surest way to see a lasting difference in attitudes and direction.

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What the guru learned

Pastoral Ministry, Sola Panel

It’s amazing how easily one becomes a guru these days. Just do the following: a) get together with an old friend and write down a few basic and hardly earth-shattering thoughts about the nature of church life and ministry; b) publish these ideas as a book and wait for it to become a surprise international bestseller; c) travel around the US, running workshops for pastors and astounding people with your insight and wisdom (as you talk further about aforesaid non-earth-shattering ideas). (more…)

Three big questions for your small groups

Resource Talk, Sola Panel

In recent months, Col Marshall and I have been running some workshops based on The Trellis and the Vine, and during the workshops we spent a bit of time talking about small groups—about why we have them (or don’t), the part they normally play in church life, how we train our leaders (or don’t as the case may be), and so on.

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Learning to read the Bible one to one

Everyday Ministry

Russell de Vries has known Jesus all his life. He grew up having been taught the gospel by his parents, and remembers car conversations about the sermon and Bible during the trip home from church each Sunday. The Bible was an integral part of church and home life. Yet in spite of all this, the idea of regularly meeting one to one with someone to read God’s word was a totally foreign concept to Russell. (more…)

Sick of Bible study? Read on.

Resource Talk, Sola Panel

Are you sick of reading the resource talk column each month?

I know I’m sick of writing it. Here we are again with another 800 upbeat, encouraging words on some aspect of Christian ministry and the resources we produce to support it. It’s tiresome to write and (I feel sure) a bit of a drag to read. (more…)

The Swedish Method

Everyday Ministry

Want to read the Bible with someone? Go Swedish, says Peter Blowes.

Editor’s note: See this article on GoThereFor—The Swedish Method—for links to the Spanish and Italian translations. You may also like to read some new thoughts from Peter on the Swedish Method, or see how to use it with WhatsApp.

For 19 years, I worked in Argentina in a context where many university students were unaccustomed to reading. Bible studies in that country (with its strong Catholic influence and practices expressed in the current evangelical style) were often an exercise in glancing at a text and then using ‘authorities’ to prove a point. For example, a youth group would typically read a passage of Scripture, close their Bibles to discuss it, and then one student would then say, “My pastor says ‘X’”. Then another would reply, “But my pastor says ‘Y’”. The argument would then escalate as one and then the other would pull in higher authorities from around the evangelical world to justify their points of view. From rallies, television or radio programmes, they would cite evangelical ‘celebrities’ such as Yiye Avila, Carlos Annacondia, Luis Palau, and then, to clinch the argument, Billy Graham. What they were doing was a Protestant version of Catholicism: they appealed to a higher human authority to win an argument. (more…)

How to be a small group member

Everyday Ministry

Another year, another Bible study group. Time to sign up, turn up and get things rolling. Ho hum. Time also perhaps to ask some questions about your own contribution to the small group you are in. Are you making much of a difference in the lives of your fellow group members? Do you feel as if you just go along because that’s what you’re expected to do? What part are you going to play in this year’s group? (more…)

The One Minute Bible Study

Everyday Ministry

Especially for men who need to rediscover their love of God’s word

For many men, the 2.4 kids, job promotion and house in the suburbs are accompanied by a dramatic decline in meeting with others to read the Bible.

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The Hard Ask: Planning Bible study activities

I have been asked to lead a Bible and prayer group from our church. How do I plan the activities of the group for the year?

I have been reading 1 Peter so I’ll turn there to see if this letter can help us plan our small groups. As a bonus, and for no extra charge, I’ve added some practical tips of my own. (more…)

Factotum #11: Models for men’s groups

Everyday Ministry

Speaker at men’s function: You really must be aiming to lead your family spiritually. Get the Bible out after dinner, and work through a passage with your wife and kids. Make every effort to teach them the things of God.

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