In Depth:  Dan Steel

Dan Steel

In today’s fast-paced world, where productivity usually reigns supreme, the notion of slowness - or of slowing down - can seem countercultural. However, in pastoral ministry, slowness is not a weakness; it is an essential virtue.

Jesus often used agricultural metaphors to explain the Kingdom, not simply because that resonated with the people of His time (though it would have) but also because it explains something of how God is slowly at work in His world; tiny mustard seeds grow into huge trees.

Dan Steel

In a busy, bustling world, healthy pastoral ministry begins not with motion, but with a kind of stillness, an abiding, a willingness to dwell where God has placed you, even when your heart feels tired or stretched thin.

Many pastors and ministry leaders quietly carry the weight of wondering whether they should be doing more, producing more, or moving on to something larger. Yet the gospel’s invitation is gentler than that.

Dan Steel

Pastoral ministry has always been demanding, but our current age presents a peculiar challenge: distraction. (Even as I write this I realise I’ve forgotten to turn off notifications!)

The constant hum of tones and beeps, the relentless pull of emails, the lure of social media, and the subtle pressure to appear productive all conspire to scatter our attention.

Dan Steel

Paul writes to his protégé Timothy in 2 Timothy 3v10: “You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance…”

It’s striking to me that Paul doesn’t only point Timothy to his doctrine, to truth, but also to his lived example. Faith is taught and caught. His words and his way of life both bear witness to the reality of Christ.

Dan Steel

Jesus didn’t sugarcoat it. “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33) He told his disciples and, by extension, us.

It’s a sobering promise, perhaps not the kind of promise we’re particularly keen on! It's especially sobering for those launching new gospel works in unfamiliar or even hostile territory. But He didn’t stop there: “Take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Dan Steel

My kids always beat me at Risk. You know, the classic board game of world domination where you expand your territory, crush your opponents, and inevitably spark family arguments?!

Church planting can sometimes be portrayed as a game of Risk. Different networks and denominations rush to plant their flag in 'strategic' towns and cities — sometimes without considering whether healthy churches from other networks are already thriving there. While this may be a slight ‘straw-man’, there is sadly some truth to it (according to my study, just over 1/5 spoke of vision 'issues' between their network and the ground-level reality of what was needed).

Dan Steel

There’s no doubt that church planting is personally costly.

Both the organised events and organic needs can be costly: whether it’s the ongoing reality of evening meetings and early mornings, the weighty mental ‘to-do lists’, or the growing number of pastoral burdens or stress and uncertainty about the future and the viability of the project. Will we have enough money? Somewhere to meet? Enough people? What will this thing look like in 12 months-time?

Dan Steel

Have you ever been in one of those meetings where a church is looking to recruit a new pastor, and the leadership opens it up to the whole church family to share their priorities for what they think should be sought in a candidate?

It would be an understatement to say the list can get quite long, quite quickly! For some, it’s preaching; for others, a love of evangelism; for some, administrative strength; and for yet others, pastoral warmth and the ability to handle complex, nuanced situations. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!

Dan Steel

Recently we had a friendly plumber at our house to investigate a patch of damp by the shower and a slightly strange smell. We ended up having to replace the whole cubicle; pipes, drains, tiles and all.

Sometimes in life problems are not immediately obvious, but over time – and in the hustle and bustle of life - they are revealed. Well, so when it comes to church planting. Sometimes problems that are there from the beginning don’t show themselves at the beginning.

Dan Steel

In this series of articles on church planting, the plan is to learn the lessons from church planters who have struggled. Not the usual suspects. Not the successful all-singing all-dancing ‘super-heroes’ with book deals and big budgets but the (often) unknown heroes who have planted around the world and it didn’t go as planned.

How quick will we be to listen to them? In each article we’ll consider one strand of why they struggled, and - what we’ll find, is it’s not really so much about church planting, more just the complexity of living ‘under the sun’.

Dan Steel

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, (James 1v19).

In a world saturated with social media that’s way too often characterised by being slow to listen, quick to speak and quick to become angry, James’ challenge for us in the 21st Century is timely in all kinds of ways.