In Depth:  church

scattering seeds of hope

Ruth Bradshaw

During the early summer months, many churches see an increase in attendance from families hoping to secure a place at a local Church of England (CofE) school. In my area, this is particularly noticeable because of the reputation of our local CofE secondary school, which is highly sought after and described as "world-class".

I know this can provoke a range of reactions among regular church members. Some may feel cynical about people's motives, while others may wonder whether church attendance should play any role in school admissions at all.

Kay Morgan-Gurr

In the news recently, we heard the shocking story of a child being "thrown" into the crocodile enclosure at Johnson’s Zoo in Cambridgeshire. Thanks to the bravery of the zoo owner's wife, the child – a three-year-old boy – survived but with serious injuries.

Of course, there has been an outcry from the public when it was made known the man arrested at the scene was a 20-year-old man with severe learning disabilities. He was at the zoo with two carers; apparently – from eyewitness accounts – enjoying his time there.

Lizzie Harewood

We’ve been studying Romans 14 at church recently, and the teaching has covered "disputable matters" – issues where Christians, in good faith, may disagree.

Politics, preferred Bible translations, and permitted leisure activities on a Sunday are all examples of what might fall into this category nowadays. But one such "disputable matter" is rapidly moving up the agenda for many Christian families: just what should we do about smartphones and children in the church?

Jonny Pollock

One of the uncomfortable tests of leadership development is less about whether people grow under us, but whether we are willing for them to grow beyond us.

Most church leaders would say that we want to raise up leaders as a core conviction, yet sometimes we can unconsciously shape people only to the size of our own ability. We develop leaders who can help us, but perhaps not challenge us. We want Shetland ponies—loyal, manageable, small—whereas God may be giving us racehorses. And racehorses are sometimes hard to handle.

Kay Morgan-Gurr

Disability affects 12 per cent of children, 25 per cent of working-age adults, and 45 per cent of people over State Pension age.

Many people in these figures will have been born with a disability, but the greater proportion of those with a disability have become disabled, due to either illness, a sudden medical event or an accident.

Peter Lynas

In recent months, I’ve noticed something shifting. Church leaders across the UK tell me that political conversations are becoming more contested, pastoral pressures are continuing to grow, and more people are turning up at church. This doesn’t feel like a passing phase, but part of something bigger.

Some have described the larger cultural moment as a "polycrisis" – not one crisis, but many, colliding at the same time. War in Ukraine and the Middle East; persistent cost of living pressures; a political landscape fracturing in ways that feel genuinely new; and artificial intelligence arriving faster than most of us can process, raising real questions about work, identity and what it means to be human.

Fran Kirby & Graham Nicholls

"Egalitarian" and "complementarian" are broad categories. However, they do sum up a primary distinction between those who believe that leading and preaching in the church can be a role for either men or women (egalitarian) or those who, like us (Fran Kirby and Graham Nicholls), believe that the church should reflect the household by reserving particular leadership roles for men (complementarian).

We have noticed recently that some complementarians have a tendency to downplay their position – either that or they are inclined to apologise for it, to over-compensate for it, or to try and work around it by creating ministry titles and roles.

Phil Moon

What do you think is the opposite of a "control freak"?

I found that question difficult to answer, so I put it into You-Know-What and it came up with lots of suggestions, including "pushover", "soft touch" and "doormat".

Dave Williams

If you’ve heard of Bethel, Redding, California then chances are that you associate them first with their music - a lot of churches sing worship songs composed and produced by Bethel or associated organisations like Jesus Culture.

Secondly, you may think of their reputation as a hyper-charismatic church with a commitment to revivalism.

Kenneth J. Stewart

Once more, this late winter, we have begun to hear and read about the observance of Lent.

In recent days, I have read three blog articles which were supportive (in varying degrees) of the practice. The religion pages of our weekend newspaper gave us much the same news: it’s time for Lent and thoughtful Christians will, of course, be observing it.

John McLernon

Don’t get me wrong, every missionary is grateful for the financial support they receive from churches.

They’re also blessed by knowing that churches are praying for them from the moment they leave these shores until they return at some future point. In fact, I was just sharing with a church yesterday that when a missionary says they’re travelling from one place to another and would like people to pray, they really mean it. It isn’t a filler item in a list of prayer points; the journey probably involves dangerous, ice-covered or corrugated desert roads, or even the risk of hijacking.

Alistair Chalmers

We live in a golden age of Christian content, but at the same time it is a fragile age for Christian community.

Sermons stream instantly. Conferences draw thousands. Podcasts, platforms, and personalities shape how many believers think about faithfulness.

Russell Phillips

This is not a post about Brexit. But I am going to use the 2016 Brexit referendum in the UK as an analogy. 

To refresh your memory, in 2016 a referendum was held in the UK on whether or not to stay in the European Union (EU). This had been a longstanding issue for debate ever since the UK first joined the EU in 1971.

John-Edward Funnell

A sermon clip of Alistair Begg has been repurposed by "influencer" Josh Howerton, who called it “the best 3-minute sermon ever preached.”

The premise is that the thief on the cross who acknowledged Jesus as Lord would that day be in paradise. He was not baptised, did not go to a Bible study, and did not hold any formal membership in a local church. The thief on the cross simply arrived into eternal glory because the “man in the middle said I could come.” Such is the grace of God. Amen.

John-Edward Funnell

January is widely recognised as the peak month for job changes, driven by post-holiday career reflection and the "new year, new me" mindset. 

In January, the recruitment market opens as staff churn and new budgets are handed out for the year ahead.

Kay Morgan-Gurr

Culture – in the evangelical church, we often talk about this in the context of mission and those of different cultures to the majority in our churches. We talk about being multicultural churches, referring mainly to race and sometimes to age-related "culture" such as youth.

In a country full of different cultures, many churches are working hard in their outreach to connect with many of them.

Jason Roach

It's sometimes said that culture is like a river. To fully appreciate its flow, you need to get in it. I had the privilege of putting this into practice recently when I visited a church with a predominantly Nigerian membership.

Rather than observing from a distance, I got to swim in the stream of their worship. It highlighted several ways in which my own multi-ethnic church values certain things differently. This doesn't automatically mean either set of practices is better or worse. But the customs reveal the creeds underneath. Experiencing the differences first-hand helped me sense what was going on under the surface.

Phil Moon

I used to be the senior minister at a church named after a Victorian missionary martyr - so I thought we’d better take world mission seriously, and therefore take our mission partnerships seriously, too.

But why should that be reserved for the handful of churches who think they ought to do that because of what they’re called?

David Shepherd

Several years ago, I attended a truly uplifting worship session at a mega-church in Leatherhead. Yet, at the conclusion of that session, I was disappointed to hear the Senior Pastor trot out the usual shop-worn arguments for the continuance of tithing in the New Testament.

Of course, I can understand churches’ attraction to having a substantial and predictable source of church funds. However, stretching the applicability of an Old Testament regulation to our New Testament era is not the way to do it.

John-Edward Funnell

I have just returned home from a missions conference in Constanta on the Black Sea, where I was invited to speak on “Gen Z and the exclusivity of Jesus.” 

Hundreds of people attended from across Europe, Asia, Africa and even South America, yet we met together as one, to worship the same Father in Heaven. We had a beautiful time together.

Jonny Woodbridge

There has lately been a big push back in youth and children's ministry against leaving the job of discipling young people just to the "professional", the church youth and children's worker.

Instead there has been more of a return to the Biblical idea that God has given the responsibility of bringing children up to love the Lord primarily to their parents. This shift has encouraged churches to work with families and help them to do this discipling work, rather than just employing a youth and children's worker to do it instead.

youth ministry

Jonny Woodbridge

Anyone who has prepared a youth or children's programme for a church weekend away will know the feeling: your minister is due to chat to the speaker, and once they have, you will have your theme for the weekend.

We try to teach the youth and children the same thing over the weekend as the adults, so this is a big moment - if the theme is Jonah, you're laughing; Lamentations (as we once had) - less so! So you can imagine how I felt when the theme came through as "learning to groan well," looking at three tricky psalms of lament! My initial thoughts were "no thank you, let's do something completely different," but my fantastic team convinced me to think again.

the pastor's toolkit

Phil Moon

We are told in Romans (12:13) to "practise hospitality" (as it is spelt with British English, or, if you are American, to "practice hospitality"!).

I’m not sure that hospitality is just when people come round to your house though. Church services – they’re a teeny bit like having your neighbours around for dinner, or the football, or a ‘brew’. So wouldn’t they too be a place and a time to "practise hospitality"?

lessons from Jude

Tom Forryan

The letter of Jude is consistent with the rest of Scripture in highlighting the importance of a Christian leader’s good character.

No Christian would be wise to accept as "shepherds" (v.12) of their soul anyone who is anything like the people Jude describes. But how does that work when our favourite preacher ministers online and belongs to a local church half-way round the world?

youth ministry

Jonny Woodbridge

There has been an article that has caused a bit of stir recently; arguing for children to remain with their parents in the main church gathering rather than leaving to key into different age groups.

It is quite in vogue to make these sorts of arguments and while this piece won't address all of those, I thought it might be good to be reminded of some of the benefits of having groups for different aged children (and maybe also youth!).

the pastor's toolkit

Phil Moon

How are your notices? Highlight of the service, or a necessity that is dull as ditch-water?

For most of us, they’re probably too long and just a bit awkward. Like an Aunt who’s come for Christmas but, love her as you do, you don’t quite know what to do with her, and everyone can all relax once she’s gone home. So, can the notices be improved? Or moved? Or removed?

David Shepherd

In the four years of writing for Evangelicals Now, the published responses to my articles have been few and far between. The responses sent by post to me (c/o Beacon Church Camberley) have been even rarer.

That’s why the letter I received in response to my last article (How do Christian legal principles help us navigate scandals?) caught my attention.

lessons from Jude

Tom Forryan

What does it mean to 'contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints' (Jude 3)?

Here is a clear call to disagree, to argue, to oppose, to speak against, to condemn – but is this only a matter of doctrine?

John-Edward Funnell

I was interested to see the demographic breakdown of our church's YouTube channel.

Scrolling through the various analytics, I was surprised to find that a majority are males - 55%, watching our content. This trend is being recognised across many other theologically based YouTube channels with some reporting up to an 86% male audience.

Dave Burke

Someone once said that the purpose of the news media is the manufacture and maintenance of anxiety. I think he was right, but I also think that some churches do something similar.

That famous quotation, 'If Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him'^[1], is true. But sensitive souls are vulnerable to a dangerous distortion: 'If Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice I make can ever be enough for Him'. I wonder if this explains an unhealthy drivenness in the churches?

David Shepherd

Throughout my Christian life, I have experienced acceptance and belonging in church by publicly identifying as (what some would call) a ‘card-carrying’ evangelical.

On reflection, I must confess that, among fellow evangelicals, the experience that I have most enjoyed has had little to do with being perceived as sacrificially loving, or exceptionally forbearing. To be brutally honest, neither of those virtues is my strong suit. Instead, as an evangelical, I’ve been choosing the far easier task of focusing on being what I call ‘confessionally sound’.

When considered in isolation, few would object to that focus. After all, for persecuted Christians, such as Martin Luther, Deitrich Bonhoeffer and even 21st century martyrs, confessional soundness has been one of the most conspicuous and admirable hallmarks of Reformed belief.

Nevertheless, there is danger in the pursuit of apparent confessional soundness at the expense of all other virtues, such love and forbearance. For example, it can result in a total lack of remorse over directing sarcastic ad hominem remarks and put-downs towards those people whom most evangelicals no longer consider to be confessionally 'sound.'

David Robertson

Of making many strategies there is no end, and many training sessions weary the body.

As I have re-entered the Presbyterian ministry in a small church, Scots Kirk in Newcastle, New South Wales, I have been reflecting on my two previous ministries and on answering the question: how do you revitalise a traditional church, which is nearing the end of its life? It’s a situation I have faced before.

Karen Soole

It is the season when supermarkets and Ikea are filled with young adults and their parents doing ‘the university shop’.

Journalists begin rehashing their annual articles: '24 tips for starting university', filled with sage advice about starting freshers with plenty of cold remedies and bringing chocolate brownies to share with new housemates. Parents are advised to 'let go and remember that their child is an adult'.