The road from Sydney to South Yorkshire
My theological convictions have not changed — they remain firmly Reformed evangelical — but my approach to ministry has changed radically through the privilege of serving a small church in a South Yorkshire parish. Inevitably, this is a personal journey and so is bound to be subjective, but hopefully will help other evangelical ministers, especially perhaps those starting out in frontline parish ministry for Christ.
Julian Mann
Sydney is more than capable of arguing its corner in terms of the bad ministerial practices it felt needed correcting in the UK: too much emphasis on psychological counselling — ‘stop counselling! The problems are too deep-seated for you to be able to solve’; too much sick visiting — ‘when I’m sick I don’t want a Bible teacher’; not enough time on growing leaders — ‘guard your diary! Spend your time with young Timothys’. In short, too much hand-holding and not enough focus on multiplying ministries.
