In depth | Evangelicals Now

Is there really a ministry recruitment crisis?

Lydia Houghton

“Ministry recruitment crisis.” How do those words make you feel? Do they fill you with dread? Panic? Are you tempted to let out a sigh as you mutter that you aren’t surprised?

Back in September, Carrie Sandom, of the Proclamation Trust, told us that there is a fall in the number of men and women coming forward for ministry training. What are we to think? en asked the principals and directors of some of the UK’s leading seminaries and colleges.

Christ's words to weary pastors in hard places

Pooyan Mehrshahi

The Lord Jesus has told us what to do and where to begin. “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24v47).

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1v8).

Is nostalgia fossilising your church's ministry?

Jonny Pollock

The other week I watched the new Jurassic Park movie with our eldest son, and as soon as the movie finished (and it was ok by the way!) a curious thought entered my head. How many times has Jurassic Park been rebooted since the first movie in 1993?

There was the original, then the remake, now another reboot, and never mind the kids' Netflix series. I definitely think that velociraptors have now lost their sheen. I remember vividly watching that first movie and yet it has been rebooted more times than I have renewed my passport!

pastoral care

Two ways to ruin a sermon

Steve Midgley

I remember (though I cannot now find the reference) a comment that the American pastor Tim Keller made about the connection between preaching and conversational ministry.

His message was this. If preachers spend too much of their time engaged in conversational ministry, then their preaching will suffer – because they won’t have time to prepare properly. However, if they give too little time to conversational ministry their preaching will also suffer – because they won’t truly understand the people to whom they are preaching.

A joyful reset: What ReNew gave me this year

Alice Cornes

I’ve come back from the ReNew conference with a spring in my step. The evening I got back, I told friends at dinner that I was “really very cheerful.” I said something about being heartened by time with teammates from across the country. And on reflection, here’s what blessed me most about ReNew.

Encouraged and equipped

I need all the help I can get to treasure Jesus. Bible teaching about His beautiful sacrificial leadership helped me. Singing to Him with hundreds of people helped me. News from other churches doing brave things because He's worth it – that helped me too.

Pastors get depressed, too

Howard Satterthwaite

In recent years, many of us have become more aware of the toll that emotional, spiritual, and mental struggles can take.

Christian leaders, of course, are not immune. In fact, some of us are quietly limping through discouragement, or even depression, while still seeking to lead with strength and clarity.

Tending to our souls in a distracting world

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.

Ministering in an area of deprivation today

Jonathan Macy

Reflecting on one’s journey through life and ministry is always a fascinating exercise, helping us see where God has been actively working beyond our efforts.

In 2014, I joined the Church of the Cross (Thamesmead), which is in an area of significant deprivation, at a time when it was facing significant challenges, and I quickly realised that my college hadn’t prepared me for the realities I was now stepping into.

Re-imagining the pulpit: Lectures or living Words?

Roger Carswell

I wonder how many sermons you have heard in your lifetime. I reckon I have heard at least 15,000. And just a few have left such an impression that years later I can tell you what was said, who preached them and where I was.

Each of those was characterised by an earnestness - an expression of the heart of the preacher. They fed my soul, impacted my will and exalted the Lord Jesus.

Pastor: Are you the same in public and private?

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.

The realities of ministry burnout

Tom King

In a recent article in Evangelicals Now, John Funnell describes an understanding of burnout and a way of doing ministry that seems to work for him and his family in their context, and that's great. God has most certainly used them! But, I want to offer a response.

John has done so much good for the gospel. We've never met, but we move in similar circles and so over the years I've been kept up to date with the amazing work God has been doing through him in Abersychan. God has gifted John uniquely for this work, while many others look to his ministry as an example and a pattern for their own.

Ministry burnout? Rest is part of the work

John-Edward Funnell

By God’s grace I have a busy life. I pastor a large church in a deprived area. I am a husband and a father of four wonderful children and have many other ministries and responsibilities that cause much worry to dear Christian friends.

Many have gifted me books filled with advice on how to prevent “ministry burnout.” Not only do these books add to my burden, they are often embarrassingly out of date, reminding me of the same Human Resources (HR) rhetoric I heard in business 20 years ago.

The dangers of over or underdosing the gospel

David Shepherd

In 2023, my sister was diagnosed with Stage 1B breast cancer. She immediately underwent four months of initial chemotherapy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy aimed at preventing secondary tumour formation.

Thankfully, last year, after undergoing radiotherapy at the Royal Marsden hospital, she received the ‘all clear’ from her doctor.

Pastoral thinking wide and long

Richard Underwood

Book Review A PASTOR’S HEART: Essays in Memory of Harry L. Reeder III

Read review

Training men for ministry: more correspondence

Date posted: 18 Jul 2024

Dear Editor,

Evangelicals Now recently published an open letter from John Brand, principal of Edinburgh Bible College. It’s addressed to 'church leaders training men for ministry.' Well, that kind of sounds like me, so I hope that John and en will accept an open letter in response from those of us seeking to train future pastors.

In Depth: ministry