In Depth:  Matt Waldock

Matt Waldock

In the mid-naughties, it was fashionable to say that meetings of every type and stripe were a waste of time. But the concept of meetings endured, and most of us can attest that they are alive and well in most workplaces - and especially in churches.

Now, I’m quite fond of meetings, mainly because I’m good at them. I enjoy the cut and thrust of identifying an issue, and vaulting with the collective group to the new solution which we celebrate with a quiet self-satisfaction of cracking world peace in the time it takes for a cup of coffee to get cold.

Matt Waldock

In secular leadership circles, the holy grail of self-development is the attainment of a "highly productive life".

In this world, productivity is typically measured in terms of how many plates one can keep spinning without everything crashing down.

Matt Waldock

At least once a year a member of the staff team will drag themselves into the office with their nose running, full of cold and with a hacking cough; then everyone else will roll their eyes in the knowing frustration that unless their immune system is like an athlete, it’s only a matter of time before the whole team gets sick.

But what if there is a far more dangerous contagion that stalks among our congregations? That contagion is anxiety.

Matt Waldock

How can my church best support the Christian Union? I was asked this question recently by a church leader. It was with great pleasure that I was able to answer, ‘Love your students well’.

Foundation

UCCF’s commitment to the local church is the very foundation of our existence. Having no students of our own, the whole missionary outfit is manned and led by students belonging to local churches. Without the local church, there are no Christian Unions. The aim of the Christian Unions may well be to give every student in Britain the opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel, but how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?