Tag Archives: ministry

Resource Talk: The genius of training

Resource Talk, Sola Panel

|

Training multiplies ministry, but takes time.

It was 1985, and I was a fresh-faced recruit working as a ministry trainee on the campus of the University of New South Wales. It wasn’t called MTS in those days—I think ‘Santa’s Helpers’ was the closest we got to a label—but MTS is what it was. We were let loose to learn by doing—to lead Bible studies, chase up student contacts, evangelize, preach, stack chairs, and generally anything and everything else. It was an extraordinary and life-shaping experience.

(more…)

Relishing the Reformation

Pastoral Ministry

|

Nigel Fortescue came out of Bible college full of ideas, enthusiasm and a big vocabulary. Thanks to the wisdom of the Reformation, he gradually learnt that the big issues of ministry had not, and do not, change.

(more…)

Planting the Café Church

Pastoral Ministry

|

How to turn a languishing evening service into a lively, welcoming service with a bit of creativity and a lot of help from God, by Bob Burnett.

(more…)

Learning not to trust

|

There is a certain mystique about newspapers—the piles of identical bulletins stacked in the newsagent, the solemn blackness of the headlines, the ink on your fingers, the wrinkly familiarity of spreading it out in front of you on the table. I’m not sure how the combination works, but whatever the reason, I still find it hard not to believe what I read there. There is a gravitas, a kind of aura of trust, that seems to emanate from the pages. Surely if it’s there in black and white, then it must have happened like that?

(more…)

Leadership: Avoiding the pitfalls: A gospel of leadership

Life

|

LeadershipRise was the title on the glossy brochure that I pulled out of the letterbox recently. Aside from my curiosity as to why every second seminar these days has to have the word ‘rise’ in it somewhere, my real question was: How come we’ve got this avalanche of leadership-related books and seminars? One more leaflet in the letterbox and I think I will be well and truly buried.

(more…)

Let the word do it

|

Church attendance is one of the duties of those who profess to obey Christ, and is a God-ordained means for growth in the christian life. Accordingly, a clergyman often finds himself urging reluctant members to attend more regularly.

(more…)

Why ministry is hard: The suffering minister

Pastoral Ministry

|

In last month’s column, I looked at the bad experiences of the Old Testament prophets. I noted summary statements made by Jesus and Stephen about how every single Old Testament prophet was persecuted and attacked for his message. Ultimately, they were being attacked for the gospel message, because their message was one of judgment and salvation, both from the hand of God.

(more…)