The ministry recruitment landscape in Sydney, NSW and the ACT is changing.
It is very exciting. In 2010 MTS changed it’s Sydney conference calendar. Instead of running a residential SPUR Conference (formerly called Club 5 or Challenge) on the October long weekend we decided to replace it with a non-residential conference in May.
“Why?” you ask. Well, there were several reasons.
I think one of the best pieces of advice I received as I began to get involved in Christian ministry was this: “Make sure you are involved in some ministry outside your own patch”.
(By ‘patch’, my advisor meant my normal sphere of ministry—be it my neighbourhood / campus / school / workplace … whatever. In my case, my patch was my local parish, and the outside ministry I got involved in was teaching Moore College ThC courses to pastors in Kenya.)
Here is the third part of this six-part series written by Guan who, in his spare time, likes to think about things. He is married to the remarkable M,1 and by this instalment, has been doing ministry training (MTS) at the University of New South Wales (hereafter referred to as the ‘Uni’) for about four months. So far, he’s mostly learned that starting out in ministry and meeting people is exciting and inspiring when you begin to notice the way the gospel carves through people’s lives. This far in, the work starts to get easier. (more…)
Church government, with its talk of elders, deacons, overseers and offices, can be bewildering. But as Steve Cree argues, perhaps that’s because we’ve lost sight of the mission of Christ. (more…)
Jennie and I are pursuing a series on self-knowledge in the context of godliness and ministry, and we have been looking at personality tests as a kind of ‘idiot’s guide’ example—a way to begin cultivating the kinds of non-biblical (but not anti-biblical) knowledge and thinking that will promote a good understanding of ourselves. Last time around, Jennie looked at some of the strengths of such tests—the kind of issues they can flag for us, and hence the kind of resources they can offer.
However, it is one of the perennial features of sinners like us that there is no gift that God gives, however powerfully good or however prosaic, that we cannot pervert and turn into fuel for further sin. And personality theories, like more serious psychology in general, often generate certain characteristic abuses of what is offered. These are the weaknesses of personality theories, and without a serious engagement with the problems inherent to personality theory, one cannot use the tool properly; one has to understand the limitations and problems, as well as what it can do, to have any chance of using it in the service of the glory of God.
So over my next couple of posts, here are a bunch of weaknesses to do with personality theories—again, not an exhaustive list, but a list designed to prompt the kind of thinking that makes us self-aware about the limitations to the self-awareness that such tests can offer.
Paul Grimmond speaks to Mark Charleston of the Sydney Anglican Department of Ministry Training and Development about his reflections on the issues involved in choosing to move from one ministry to another (MP3).
As Mark has indicated, this little gig is looking at the ‘knowing ourselves’ part of the knowing God/knowing ourselves learning curve we are all involved in. One of the things that has recently surfaced again for me is the ubiquitous personality test—mostly because they have been pattering about all over Facebook like so many hobbits. So I thought it might be time to evaluate these critters again, and work out their strengths and weaknesses. Having a tool is all very well, but we need to be sure we’re using it correctly and not (to use a metaphor) digging a hole with a hammer.
I’ve argued in a previous post that self-knowledge is critical for anyone who is serious about pursuing godliness and serving others. It is the junior partner to the knowledge of God, but it is still essential. As I stated there, the basic reason for this conviction is theological. However, I also think that self-knowledge is important because of observation. Over the years, I have witnessed people come unstuck, and it often appeared to me that many of these cases were because they didn’t have a good understanding of themselves.
I have come to the point where I think self-knowledge is one of the great overlooked virtues in the path to godliness and effective ministry.
Having heard that Johnny can’t preach, Johnny can’t read and Johnny can’t write (read parts 1, 2 and 3), one could be tempted to think that David T Gordon is an old crank, romantically reminiscing about how good things were when he was a lad, and complaining about the state of the world in ‘the modern times’ (along with young people and their loud music!)
Last week, our Saturday post spoke about five people or groups that the Bible encourages us to look to as models: (1) God (2) Christ (3) the apostle Paul (4) Christian leaders (5) other Christians. This week turns to examine the implications of this thinking about Christian modelling for those in Christian ministry.
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This morning, just for something different, and not at all because some of the Sola Panellists have gone quiet and there’s nothing in the cupboard (guys!), let me suggest that you spend your time doing some listening instead: check out this month’s Briefing Lounge podcast, Shifting to the personal’. (more…)
Tony Payne interviews Col Marshall, former Director of the Ministry Training Strategy, about people-focused ministry (MP3).
Tony Payne and Gordon Cheng reflect on the differences between the USA and Australia in the area of personal ministry (MP3).
With the help of The Reformed Pastor (written by Richard Baxter) and the Bible (written by God), and in no particular order, I have thought of nine good reasons why Christian leaders and preachers should work hard at one-to-one ministry.
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