Evangelism as an Apprentice
Esther Vernon, apprenticing at Avenue Community Church in Leicester in 2010, gives us a feel for her experiences of evangelism in an apprenticeship. Is an apprenticeship in ‘full-time gospel ministry’ going to entail a slightly suffocating, shameful, step-back from non-Christians? Or is it potentially a brilliant opportunity behind the front line to begin to get equipped […]
Evangelism as a Pastor
I can remember a good friend telling me something he had recently learnt from an internship as a management consultant: “you’re only a leader if people are following you; otherwise you’re just taking a walk!” It’s a comic picture but it is as true for the church as in the business world. As a church […]
Sustained Ministry – a long-term walk
Shortly before ordination I received a Bible from the man under whom I had found the Lord as a teenager. In the flyleaf was 2 Timothy 2:3 – “Endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” Perhaps Isaiah, too, had the ‘hardship’ factor in mind at the close of his famous chapter 40. But […]
The great privilege of an ‘ordinary pastor’
“Are you busy today?” asked the hairdresser as she cut my hair. “No, it’s my day off.” “I had no idea vicars got a day off” she offered. Come to think of it, she probably had no idea what we do on a day ‘on’ either. As it happens we went on to talk about […]
Labour shortage at a large church
It seems to me that there will always be a labour shortage in a church when mission is at the top of the agenda. That is why the Lord Jesus calls disciples to pray for more workers. It is what keeps us honest and dependent before the Lord of the Harvest. He knew we would […]
Gospel Workers for 21st Century Africa
The African church has been much spoken about in many circles. It has been seen as flourishing in certain fronts but also failing miserably in others. It has frequently been described as growing at the periphery but dying from the core not least because of the stark contrast between a high percentage of Christians and […]
A training church
The work at Moorlands, Lancaster, began in 2005 as a church plant initiated by the North West Partnership. From the start we have simply aimed to be a straight forward Bible teaching church which is accessible to all people in the city, especially those with no church background. We have also had a particular vision […]
Youth Ministry
It’s a Privilege Having been involved in youth work for over twenty years, and having been a paid youth worker/pastor for over sixteen years, the key word I would use to describe my time is privilege. With every year that passes I am more convinced that youth work is still the most fruitful place to […]