making disciples, developing leaders, growing churches

catalystOctober 2012 – March 2013

the leadership effectNicky Gumbel on Jesus’ leadership model

Green shoots of growth in a rural setting

Fun and faith for thousands of 8-18s

Let your light shine before othersMatthew 5:16

Our passion:We are a committed evangelical mission agency, and since 1836 we have been working for the evangelisation of the UK. In what seems to be an environment of ever-growing secularism across the UK and Republic of Ireland, the urgency of the gospel has never been clearer.

We are fundamentally committed to the local church. Our founders made an obligation to support the evangelistic endeavours of local churches, while our support now focuses on developing and equipping the leaders of local churches.

We believe the message of the cross is real and relevant to all people. It is a good news story: of grace (God’s unmerited favour towards us), mercy (forgiveness when we deserved punishment) and love (John 3:16).

We are passionately committed to the revitalisation of the Church of England. We have never wavered in this passion and our commitment to patronage, Ventures and Falcon Camps and leadership development flows out of our aspirations for the Church of England.

Our vision:We long to see a Christ-centred, Bible-based, mission-focused Church where leaders are clear about their call to discipleship, growing in Christ-like character, and competent to lead in a time of rapid change;

where leaders discern God’s direction, enable action, build teams, develop leaders, facilitate communication, and nurture people;

where leaders work in teams, reflecting the diversity of ministries, and model themselves on the servant character of Jesus;

where leaders help transform inherited churches, pioneer emerging churches and deliver creative residential ministry, effectively helping children, young people and adults hear and discover the good news of Jesus Christ.

Mission: CPAS enables churches to help every person hear and discover the good news of Jesus Christ.

catalystEditor: Olly Du Croz Design: Catherine Jackson

Copyright CPAS 2012. All rights reserved. Permission is granted for the reproduction of text from this publication for CPAS promotional use only. For all other uses, please contact us.

This magazine is printed on paper from farmed forest: for each tree felled, another is planted. The paper is chlorine-free and environmentally friendly.

Contact CPASSovereign Court One (Unit 3), Sir William Lyons Road,University of Warwick Science Park, COVENTRY CV4 7EZ T 0300 123 0780 E info@cpas.org.uk W www.cpas.org.uk

Church Pastoral Aid Society Registered charity no 1007820 A company limited by guarantee Registered in England no 2673220 Registered office at address above

Unless otherwise stated all Bible quotations taken from Today’s New International Version (TNIV)

making disciples, developing leaders, growing churches

life – reaching out to men, women and children with the ‘living water’ of God’s grace.

Furthermore, when it came to commissioning his disciples Jesus could not have been clearer about his missional aspirations for them. He told them they were to ‘go and make disciples’ (Matthew 28:19), to ‘preach the gospel to all creation’ (Mark 16:15) and to be ‘witnesses’ (Luke 24:48).

Finally, Luke records for us that, in his parting words to the disciples, Jesus promised the accompaniment of his Spirit for mission empowerment (Acts 1:8).

I hope that you enjoy reading this edition of Catalyst – and as you do that you might also be inspired and challenged to see the essential connection between leadership and mission.

Please pray that church leaders all over the UK and Republic of Ireland will be encouraged and strengthened at this time in their understanding of the call of Jesus to mission.

And pray too that the church might be renewed for witness and enabled by the daily grace of God to ‘make disciples’ for the glory of God.

John DunnettGeneral Director

04 Fix your eyes on Jesus

06 Green shoots of growth

08 Promoting CPAS in your church

09 Introducing ... Graham Archer

10 Falcon afloat!

12 Build your church

13 Lead On

14 Starting well

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Contents

Welcome to this edition of Catalyst and to a range of stories and articles that I hope will inspire and inform you.

Among the articles in this edition, we are delighted to offer Nicky Gumbel’s summary of his keynote address at the recent HTB Leadership Conference, to introduce you to our new director of ministry Graham Archer, and to update you on work in one of our Falcon Camps and patronage parishes.

Each of these articles (and indeed everything that CPAS commits to) has at its heart a missional DNA: a desire to see the gospel made known through both proclamation and demonstration. And this is for a very good reason – namely that the call and commission of Jesus was nothing if it was not 100 per cent missional.

In the first instance, Jesus’ call to his disciples was not just to follow him, but to ‘fish for people’ (Matthew 4:19). It has also been said that ‘to follow is to fish’!

Secondly, the example that Jesus, as Rabbi and Lord, gave his disciples was one of a missional

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‘the call and commission of Jesus was nothing if it was

not 100 per cent missional’

fix your eyes on Jesus

Lead Comment: Nicky Gumbel

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Mark 10:45

L eadership is key. Leadership is about influence. It is key to government, businesses and the Church. Everything

rises or falls on leadership.

Jesus is undoubtedly the greatest leader of all time. With 2,300 million followers today, no one has ever been more influential than Jesus.

Yet his model of leadership is radically different from the world’s (Mark 10:35-45). He says to

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his disciples in the context of leadership, ‘Not so with you’ (v.43). So, what does Jesus’ model of leadership look like?

It is not about being served; it is about serving others.

Jesus said, ‘Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all’ (v.43-44). In the King James Version of the Bible the word ‘leader’ appears six times. The word ‘servant’ appears 900 times.

We are not rivals. We are in the same business. We are one body. We need to stop fighting one another. Truth matters, of course, but if we do not have unity, we do not have the whole truth because Jesus is the truth. The more united the Church is, the more we will understand together the truth that is in Jesus.

It is not about power; it is about being visionary.

Jesus said, ‘The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’ (v.45). There was nothing weak or small scale about Jesus’ vision. He came to give his life for the many. He had a very clear vision of what he wanted to achieve.

Let’s pursue a big vision – a vision to see this nation re-evangelised; to see our society transformed, to see marriage and family life re-established again as a foundation of a strong society; to see the prisons emptied; to see the nation again with Jesus Christ at its centre. That is a vision worth going for and I believe it could happen in our generation.

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It is not about position; it is about example.

Jesus continued by saying, ‘For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’ (v.45). These words of Jesus came after the disciples had been having an argument about who was going to be greatest – who would sit at his right hand, who would sit at his left hand. Jesus replied to them, ‘Not so with you’ (v.43). Don’t go after position, but lead by example.

Leadership is not about bossing people around. Eisenhower said, ‘You don’t lead by hitting people over the head – that’s assault, not leadership.’

You do not need position to lead. Nelson Mandela led a nation from his prison cell. Martin Luther King said, ‘Everybody can be great ... because anybody can serve. You don’t need a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul saturated by love.’

Jesus had no position but he is the world’s greatest leader. Jesus’ act of giving his life as a ransom for many is the supreme demonstration of what it means to lead by example.

It is not about rivalry; it is about unity.

The disciples were competing with each other for fame, success and glory (v.37–41). Jesus says to them, ‘Not so with you’ (v.43). The Kingdom of God is not about rivalry; it is about unity.

Nicky Gumbel is vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) in

London, a CPAS patronage church, and he is widely

known for the global success of the Alpha Course. The article below is an edited version of his address at

the 2012 HTB Leadership Conference, where Rick

Warren and former prime minister Tony Blair were

keynote speakers.

‘You only need a heart full of grace,

a soul saturated by love.’

A fter four great years as an ordained local minister of a parish ten miles down

the road from where I am now, I realised God was calling me to stipendiary ministry. I did my curacy in the town parish of St Gregory’s, Sudbury. The experience of working in this setting was invaluable, but I very much felt that my longer-term calling was to rural ministry, so I was delighted to be appointed priest-in-charge of four such wonderful parishes. I’m very much a people person, which is really important in this setting, as much of the church’s ministry is relationship-based and centres around hospitality, social events and pastoral care.

According to CPAS patronage secretary John Fisher, making good evangelical appointments is

all about ‘God’s right person in God’s right place’.

With a background in rural ministry elsewhere in St Edmundsbury and Ipswich diocese,

Jenny Seggar’s gifts, experiences, passion and personality made her an ideal candidate to be priest-in-charge of the Suffolk villages of Little

Blakenham, Baylham and Nettlestead.

Jenny was appointed to this CPAS parish (and its neighbour Bramford) in May 2011,

and shares her story so far.

green shoots of growth

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‘I’d love to provide more opportunities for people to explore faith’

Leading in a multi-church benefice

CPAS runs a Leading Edge training day for leaders of multi-church benefices, which has been well received in many areas around the country. Visit www.cpas.org.uk/leadingedge for more details.

As well as this, we are launching a new partnership with Lead Academy (www.cpas.org.uk/leadacademy) to run a two-year learning community for those leading in this context, and we will also be producing a new resource for multi-church benefices.

Because my congregations are small, our joint services are very special occasions. Each of the three smaller churches hold two services a month where practical, in addition to these larger gatherings. Many of those who attend services are from families who have been involved in the church for generations, but we also have a number of commuters as we are only an hour from London by train.

As the PCCs are involved in organising community events and overseeing village life as much as church life, church and community become very intertwined in a way which doesn’t happen in a more urban setting. This creates wonderful opportunities for ministry. We held a number of events over the Diamond Jubilee weekend, including a hog roast, a tea party and a beacon-lighting event, with most of the villages involved in some way or other.

Rural ministry can be very challenging, not least because of the issues that arise when a small core of people are responsible for maintaining grade one and two listed medieval buildings. The upkeep of our churches is essential to our ongoing ministry, but the administrative and financial burden can easily become a distraction from the work God is calling us to.

It’s a really difficult balance, but I’m seeing my congregations grow in confidence, and people from the villages exploring faith and encountering God. There are many green shoots of growth! I’d love to provide more opportunities for people to explore faith, and I’m hoping that, by working across the deanery and ecumenically, we can join forces to do more.

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Like in many rural parishes, a lot of what we do as a church is linked in with the activities of the wider community. We have a monthly drop-in event called ‘The Gathering’ which is run with Age UK. Church people volunteer to help with this, providing transport, entertainment and refreshments. This is a great support for the 20 or so elderly people who come along, many of whom are housebound.

My vision for the four parishes I oversee is for each to be a linchpin for its community, and for everyone to feel that the church is an integral part of village life, and to know they can turn to it for help whenever they need to. It’s humbling to see how much the people in these communities care for each other (and for me!), and it’s a joy to see God working in pastoral situations, whether that’s through church-based activities, or the relationships we have with the wider community.

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promoting in your church

Resourcing you to tell others about the work of CPAS

www.cpas.org.uk/promote

Please visit www.cpas.org.uk/promote to request free posters, DVDs and display materials, as well as leaflets to hand out or extra copies of magazines and updates about our work. You can also order items such as CPAS pens, collection boxes and Gift Aid envelopes.

What was your background before your time in Southampton?

I studied biochemistry at university and had a short spell working in that industry, but then spent two years working for a missionary society in Japan. I then returned to England to train for ordination at St John’s Nottingham, and served as a curate at St Matthew’s Ipswich. My ministry was then focused on planting churches in the Ipswich and Felixstowe areas for the next 14 years before my appointment at Highfield in 1999.

How will you remember your ministry at Highfield?

During my time at Highfield, I focused on creating a strategic emphasis on mission rather than maintenance. The church developed its work with young adults and students, and also became a catalyst for unity through the Southampton Christian Network. Highfield also started various missional communities to strengthen its connections with the community.

How much did you come across CPAS in your parish role?

We had several connections with CPAS in Southampton, including sending several leaders and young people on Venture holidays each year. We ran both

Growing Leaders courses and I was also involved in

the steering group for the National Larger Anglican Churches Consultation

(NLACC).

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What else excites you about the work of CPAS?

It’s crucially important to get the right clergy in the right jobs through the patronage work, and there are other aspects of quality training and mission where CPAS makes a significant impact. There are some excellent people at CPAS who I’m looking forward to working alongside and also learning from.

What are your main interests outside work?

I am a passionate motorcyclist, as well as an amateur musician, sportsman and carpenter with varying success rates, but they help me enjoy life. Despite the fact that my children are now grown up I am still an enthusiastic family man and love hanging out with them.

Now you’re in this national role, how do you view the missional landscape for local churches across the UK and Republic of Ireland?

I’m a local church leader who passionately believes that the answer to our nation’s malaise is vibrant Christian worshipping communities. Nationally, I think we’re in a really opportune time. People are looking for something and someone who is good and honest and trustworthy – the nation is beginning to hunger for Jesus. Now is the time for local churches to become better at grabbing this opportunity.

introducing… graham archer

Graham Archer, vicar at Highfield Church in Southampton for the past 13 years, is the new director of ministry at CPAS.

In this new role, Graham will use his significant experience of church leadership to support general director John Dunnett in driving forward the ministry of CPAS across all three areas: leadership development, Ventures and Falcon Camps and patronage.

Essex-based youth workers Andy and Alice Smith are passionate about bringing the life-changing love of Jesus to young people in their local area. They share how a week on a converted lighthouse ship with 20 excitable 10-14 year olds helps make that vision a reality.

falcon afloat!

response. When the theme was identity we learned about how we are all made in the image of God, and one group decided to make fingerprints in clay to remind them of their uniqueness and worth in God’s sight.

Most of the children come on the camp through links they have with other Christian youth workers working in schools and communities in Essex, and it’s great that so many have longer-term links with camp leaders and other Christians. Around eight were from a school-based youth club Andy leads on a Friday night for children living in challenging circumstances.

We had one 14-year-old lad from this group called Mark*. His day-to-day life is not easy, but he’s a real musical prodigy. As the oldest of four brothers, some of whom have serious behavioural problems, his home life can be pretty manic at times. He struggles with anxiety and confidence and also has medical issues which mean he is on growth hormones. But give him a piano and he’s Jamie Cullum!

Mark began the week not believing in God, but then allowed us to pray with him that he wouldn’t be afraid of the dark anymore. He said he felt peaceful after we prayed, and by the end of the week, he had

L eading Falcon Afloat! is one of the most worthwhile things

we do, in terms of the transformational effect it has on the children who take part. 2012 was our fifth

year as overall leaders, and we had another fantastic week

away. Like all Falcon Camps, Falcon Afloat! is specifically aimed at young people facing difficulties in their day-to-day lives, including social, economic and educational disadvantages.

For some, Falcon Afloat! is the only holiday they’ll go on this year, and is a much-needed opportunity to enjoy relaxing and having new experiences. This summer, the children particularly enjoyed the sailing and raft-building we did as a whole group, and the trip to Adventure Island at Southend beach – rollercoasters galore!

Because the majority of the children have little or no experience of church, we make sure the times of teaching and worship are as accessible as

possible. This year, we started with a short talk, and the children then broke into smaller groups and were given a box of craft materials and thought-provoking objects to create their own

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joined our worship band, and he’s now going to join the youth band at his local church.

We also saw God working powerfully in Michelle*, a 13-year-old who has been living in foster care for a while. Michelle has a lot going on in her life, and struggles particularly with being separated from her mum. Her way of coping with all that she’s going through was to be in conflict with the camp leaders, shutting herself off from relationships and sometimes being quite aggressive.

Through the week, we saw her soften. We reached an agreement with her about her behaviour, and it was wonderful to see her getting really involved in the sailing activity, and beginning to feel more positive. Through living in a Christian community for a

‘Please carry on doing

Ventures and Falcon Camps, because they’re

the highlight of so many people’s summer holidays!’

Hannah, 15

‘When mum picked me up I asked her if I

could go next year! Loved it.’

James, 9 ‘I’ve made lots of new friends,

which has been a huge encouragement to me.

We all plan to pray for each other and help one another

with whatever we’re struggling with.’

Harriet, 17

‘When I went on my

first Venture, I was pretty cynical about

God but it changed me, and I think it could do the same for my non-

Christian friends.’

Sophie, 12

‘A leader was really kind

to me and talked to me which I thought

helped me a lot.’

Reuben, 13

‘My favourite bit was

when our table had a laughing fit and

everybody was just watching us!’

Megan, 13

week, her worldview was challenged, and she started to think about things in a different way.

For us, that’s what Falcon Camps are all about – living out faith in community, focused around Jesus and seeing the effect his presence has on bringing about change in people. Our vision for the camp is to see everyone on the boat take another step in their journey of faith, and we’re very thankful to God that we saw this happen in a big way this year. The power of loving and valuing children like Jesus does is incredible, and we feel privileged to be part of it.

As well as various Falcon Camps across the UK, we run around 90 Venture holidays each year. During the summer holidays in 2012:

3,959 young people attended Ventures and Falcon Camps.

Over 150,000 meals were prepared and cooked during the six-week season.

813 new people joined the ranks of committed volunteer leaders.

*names have been changed to protect children’s identities

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What builds churches for mission?

discipling young people developing leaders discovering God’s call releasing God’s vision leading with others proclaiming the gospel modelling Christ-likeness enabling mentoring

Have your say and find out how we can help at www.cpas.org.uk/build

Church leaders are regularly faced with an array of different priorities for growth.

CPAS makes a contribution towards local church mission in all kinds of ways as we enable churches to share the good news of Jesus with more men, women and young people.

So what do you think is the top priority for growth in your church?

prayer

direction discipleship

mentoring Spirit

truth

teamwork Bible

growth

leadership vision

teaching

making disciples, developing leaders, growing churches

young people

your churchbuild

lead n

Free monthly leadership email

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Nearly 2,000 people already receive our new monthly leadership email, Lead On. Each edition contains concise insights, reflections and advice covering topics such as sustaining momentum, keeping mission as a priority and disciple-making in a consumerist culture.

Based on the philosophy of resourcing ministry ‘leader to leader’, Lead On is written by CPAS staff, associates and others with particular experience and expertise in church leadership. Each Lead On includes a reflection, training article, resource review and thought-provoking quote.

How to keep going as a leaderLeadership is demanding. There are demands from individuals in our churches, from local church structures, from the wider church institution, and this is not to mention the demands from the busy personal and family lives we all live today.

For the busy, hard-pressed leader life is a juggling act keeping all the balls up in the air without dropping any. When they do drop (and they do!) that is when we tend to pause and reflect. We might ask; ‘What went wrong?’ ‘How do I keep going?’ ‘What motivates me?’

If we keep dropping the balls we have a problem! It can feel as if we lurch from one crisis to another never quite in control of our own lives, or comfortable with the level of demand upon us.

In this article I want to suggest some ways to keep going as a leader, so we handle demands wisely and think strategically about sustaining our ministry for the long term. No one wants to drop everything and deal with the level of fallout this brings, so how do we keep going?

This extract is from a recent Lead On article by John Fisher, CPAS patronage secretary:

Visit www.cpas.org.uk/leadon to subscribe for free

Read more of John‘s article at www.cpas.org.uk/leadon

discipleship

Bible

vision

build

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starting well

Parish ministry has a unique set of challenges for leaders, and the move into overall responsibility as a first-time incumbent is always a significant step.

With leadership being such a key aspect of church growth, investing in clergy at this vital stage in their ministry enables them to focus on their primary task of sharing the good news of Jesus with people in the villages, towns or cities where they’re called to lead.’

The Buck Stops Here is a 48-hour residential conference which covers several key themes, including:

Expectations of leadership. Changing roles. Managing a PCC. Self-organisation / planning. Managing change. Leading in different contexts

(e.g. multi-church benefices).

There is also space for reflection, discussion, prayer, worship and Bible teaching.

The Buck Stops Here conferences help prepare and equip clergy for this

major transition, providing a unique opportunity for clergy near to the start of their new responsibilities, especially curates moving on to become incumbents.

John Dunnett, CPAS general director, said: ‘Taking on overall responsibility for the first time is exciting but it can also be quite daunting, so The Buck Stops Here prepares clergy for the leadership challenges ahead and equips them for a fruitful ministry.

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‘I found that The Buck Stops Here was key to a successful transition into overall parish responsibility,’ said Jane. ‘It allowed me space to think through important leadership issues with excellent input to steer and guide my thinking. It also provided very helpful tips in the practical running of a parish, which have since proved invaluable.

‘A key element of our calling is to be disciples and make disciples. If we keep this as a focus, our own role as a leader is continually given a perspective and direction. When our leadership team is wrestling with any new initiatives or proposals, whether it be anything from an infrastructure project to a change in our service formats, I try to continually flag-up the question: “how will this facilitate mission within our church and community?”.

‘I know from my own experience that The Buck Stops Here helps to build confidence as new skills and ideas begin to develop, both from shared conversations and practical input. New incumbents

are helped to think strategically about their new parishes in a way they may not have had to during their curacy.’

As well as preparing leaders for their next steps, The Buck Stops Here also helps clergy avoid some of the pitfalls of their vocation.

‘Pace is absolutely key,’ added Jane. ‘There is a danger of being too ambitious, trying to do too much too soon and not only being swamped yourself but exhausting your church members and ultimately losing their trust and support.

‘It is easy to be overwhelmed by so many different demands. It’s easy to become forever reactive, instead of finding some space to think about and invest in the bigger picture, working step-by-step with other leaders towards clear goals, communicating these well and carrying church members with you.’

Visit www.cpas.org.uk to discover more about The Buck Stops Here, as well as

other CPAS events and conferences.

‘Taking on overall responsibility for the first time is exciting but it can

also be quite daunting’

Jane Burgess, vicar of Bathford in Somerset, attended The Buck Stops Here before starting her first incumbency.

These proved essential days

of learning and fellowship.

Thank you.

Good structure and input that was both

clearly biblical and one hundred per cent

practical.

Feedback from recent delegates:

We believe all effective Christian leaders are followers first. Call, character and competency are key elements of our leadership programmes, resources and events.

Our mentoring resources equip people to do the work God is calling them to. Discipling young people sits at the heart of our Ventures and Falcon Camps.

The link between leadership and mission drives our work. We believe the most strategic way we can impact evangelism in the Church of England is by investing in leaders at all levels. We equip leaders for mission through initiatives such as Arrow, Growing Leaders and Lead On, and ensure

evangelical leaders are in place across the UK through our patronage work.

CPAS exists to enable churches to help every single person in the UK and

Republic of Ireland hear and discover the good news of Jesus Christ.

By supporting our work, you are doing something wonderful – helping bring people

into God’s eternal kingdom. A big thank you from us, and from all the men, women

and children who have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ through our ministry.

Discover more about our work at www.cpas.org.uk

making disciples developing leadersgrowing churches