An Internship with a Difference
Matt Waldock, formerly a ministry trainee and now a church planter and pastor, shares how City Church Manchester has crafted a particular form of ministry traineeship for these economic times. A lot has changed since I was a ministry trainee in 2004. When I graduated from Lancaster University, the concept of ministry trainees was an […]
Self-Management and Productivity
Introduction Christians, perhaps more than most people, get stressed about time. This is not surprising, given the combination of the urgency of gospel ministry and the finite length of available time, which we find in passages like this: “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a […]
Doing Youth Work Without Changing Shoes
Doing youth work without changing shoes Recently, a few minutes before an evening service, a teenager complimented me on my shoes. “I like your shoes, Chris! You’re down with the kids.” There was, as far as I could tell, no hint of irony in his tone. Indeed, glancing across to his shoes, I saw they […]
God Isn’t finished With You Yet
Graham Fairbairn shares his story. For many Christians, the desire to investigate full-time gospel service is probably most strongly felt in their teens, twenties and early thirties. This is a time in life when anything seems possible and a more settled period of life with weighty family, work and financial responsibilities has not arrived yet. […]
Why should I become a Christian?
This talk was given by Chris Green at an evening service at St James Muswell Hill. Introduction A few years ago I had a lovely holiday in New Zealand, and one of the things I did – if you know the South Island, fabulous place – one of the things I did, was what was […]
How can I know I am a Christian
This talk was given at an evening service at St James Muswell Hill in February 2016. Introduction Heavenly Father, please would you open your Word tonight. Please would you help us to understand what’s in it. And please would you let your Book read us. Please would you go inside our hearts, show us what is […]
Prayerful Intentionality
There is so much about the Christian life that I love. To be awakened every morning to hear God’s word and speak with my loving Father in prayer is an immense privilege. To worship in the company of others and sing God’s praise is heart-warming and spiritual. To live with God’s moment-by-moment presence is assuring. […]
9:38 Director Appointment
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Andy Harker as the new Director of 9:38, which seeks to serve local churches in helping to raise up the next generation of gospel workers. His main responsibilities will include advocating this vision with UK church leaders, developing our resources, and planning our conferences. Andy brings a […]
Why We Should Train Women for Ministry
Someone told me: “There’s really no point in training women for ministry – they just leave when they get married and have babies.” “There’s really no point in training women for ministry – they just leave when they get married and have babies.” I really heard this… from a woman… at a 9:38 conference. I think I […]
How Ministry Trainees can be a help and a hindrance
At a prayer meeting I recently had the privilege of joining, we flicked through a passage from 1 Thessalonians 2. Paul here is reflecting on his short, but rich time with the people of Thessalonica (cheeky picture below if you can’t visualise it). He spent just four weeks with this group, and as a result […]
Fruitful Ministry
How do you lay the ground for a fruitful ministry? Spiritual fruit was certainly what Paul longed for in the visit to Rome he was planning. He’s very clear about his motivation or the trip ahead: ‘in order that I might have a harvest among you…’ (Romans 1:13). And the first fifteen verses of his […]
A challenge to those retiring
This blog post has been very kindly offered by David Howell, who decided retirement was the time for taking up new challenges… Aged 62, having retired from school teaching two years previously, I was reluctant to mothball the gifts God had kindly given me. At the suggestion of the Senior Minister, I joined my church […]