Resources e-letter 20:3 - June 2020
There are another two sets of Training Notes just added to the Resources section of the website: TN124, What's the point of church? and TN125, How to take major decisions. Also a reminder about TN123, How to speak to camera, and the use of the various indexes available online.
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NEW: What’s the point of church?
These new notes aim to answer this key question, which needs to be the starting point for any decision-making, programme planning or administrative exercise.
The first section takes an overview of what Scripture says on the issue which leads into a listing of how churches too often centre their thinking on different ideas. This is followed by four developing answers as to what we as church members might be:
- Viewers – of a building
- Attenders – of services
- Members – of a body
- Disciples – of Jesus Christ.
The answers given by other writers lead into a three-fold suggestion for a way of answering our question. Any church should own:
- A God-ward development: growing in our relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- An ‘us-ward’ development: growing in our relationship with each other.
- An outward development: growing in our relationship with the world.
There are then six tests for any church’s ‘purpose statement’.
Training Notes TN124, What’s the point of church?, are now available without charge from the Training Notes index page of this website.
NEW: How to take major decisions
These notes are designed to help churches where important decisions need to be made in a group context. Such decisions are all about change and so can heighten emotions. This topic is particularly relevant as lockdown starts to be eased.
There are ten suggestions, with explanation for each one.
- Learn from biblical patterns
- Discover the real issues
- Select the decision-makers
- Decide on the process
- Choose facilitators, venues and times
- Undertake research
- List the options
- Minimise hurtful conflict
- Select how to decide
- Clarify next steps
Training Notes TN125, How to take major decisions, are now available without charge from the Training Notes index page of this website.
COVID-19 issues
A reminder that in April I wrote Training Notes TN123, How to speak to camera, as an additional set of notes giving advice to all who speak, lead intercessions, read Scripture or give out announcements in a recorded or live-streamed service.
Make use of the website indexes
Within the Resources section of the website, the Articles, Training Notes and Health-checks index pages will be the ones you probably use most.
If you know the item’s title, the Alphabetical index will find it quickly.
If you are looking for what there is available on a particular theme, the Topics index will show you what is available. You can check out each item listed and then return to the index page to click for the next one.
What ‘church’ will look like in future is not yet clear, but it will not be the same as a few months ago. Wishing you God’s peace in these uncertain times.