October 2012 – March 2013
catalyst Let your light shine before others Matthew 5:16
the leadership effect Nicky Gumbel on Jesus’ leadership model Green shoots of growth in a rural setting Fun and faith for thousands of 8-18s
making disciples, developing leaders, growing churches
making disciples, developing leaders, growing churches Mission: CPAS enables churches to help every person hear and discover the good news of Jesus Christ.
Our vision:
Our passion:
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;
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.
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.
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.
Unless otherwise stated all Bible quotations taken from Today’s New International Version (TNIV)
catalyst
Editor: 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 CPAS Sovereign 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
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).
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elcome 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
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.
‘the call and commission of Jesus was nothing if it was not 100 per cent missional’ 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 Dunnett General Director
Contents
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04 Fix your eyes on Jesus 06 Green shoots of growth
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08 Promoting CPAS in your church 09 Introducing ... Graham Archer 10 Falcon afloat!
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12 Build your church 13 Lead On
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14 Starting well
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
fix your eyes on Jesus Lead Comment: Nicky Gumbel
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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.
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.
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.
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.
‘You only need
Let’s a heart full of grace, pursue a soul saturated by love.’ 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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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.
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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.
green shoots of growth ‘I’d love to provide more opportunities for people to explore faith’
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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.
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 It’s a really difficult balance, but church is an integral part of I’m seeing my congregations village life, and to know they can grow in confidence, and people turn to it for help whenever they from the villages exploring need to. It’s humbling to see faith and encountering God. how much the people in these There are many green shoots communities care for each other of growth! I’d love to provide (and for me!), and it’s a joy to more opportunities for people see God working in pastoral to explore faith, and I’m hoping situations, whether that’s that, by working across the through church-based activities, deanery and ecumenically, we can or the relationships we have join forces to do more. with the wider community.
Leading in a multichurch 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. 07
promoting in your church 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.
Resourcing you to tell others about the work of CPAS 08
www.cpas.org.uk/promote
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.
introducing…
What was your background before your time in Southampton?
graham archer
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).
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.
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falcon afloat! 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.
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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 thoughtprovoking objects to create their own
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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 longerterm 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
‘Please carry on doing Ventures and Falcon Camps, because they’re the highlight of so many people’s summer holidays!’
‘When mum picked me up I asked her if I could go next year! Loved it.’ James, 9
Hannah, 15
‘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.’
joined our worship band, and he’s week, her worldview now going to join the youth band was challenged, and she started to think about things in a at his local church. different way. We also saw God working powerfully in Michelle*, a 13-year- For us, that’s what Falcon Camps are all about old who has been living in foster care for a while. Michelle has a lot – living out faith ‘A leader Harriet, 17 going on in her life, and struggles in community, was really kind focused around particularly with being separated to me and talked to from her mum. Her way of coping Jesus and seeing me which I thought the effect his with all that she’s going through helped me a lot.’ ‘When presence has on was to be in conflict with the I went on my Reuben, 13 camp leaders, shutting herself off bringing about first Venture, I was from relationships and sometimes change in people. pretty cynical about Our vision for the camp is being quite aggressive. God but it changed me, to see everyone on the boat take and I think it could do Through the week, we saw her another step in their journey of the same for my nonsoften. We reached an agreement faith, and we’re very thankful to Christian friends.’ with her about her behaviour, God that we saw this happen Sophie, 12 and it was wonderful to see her in a big way this year. The getting really involved in the power of loving and valuing ‘My sailing activity, and beginning to children like Jesus does is favourite bit was feel more positive. Through living incredible, and we feel when our table had in a Christian community for a privileged to be part of it. a laughing fit and everybody was just *names have been changed to protect children’s identities watching us!’ Megan, 13
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. 11
build your church 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?
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
prayer direction
discipleship
mentoring
Spirit
teamwork
Bible
growth
young people leadership truth
vision
teaching
making disciples, developing leaders, growing churches 08
Free monthly leadership email Visit www.cpas.org.uk/leadon to subscribe for free
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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.
This extract is from a recent Lead On article by John Fisher, CPAS patronage secretary:
How to keep going as a leader Leadership 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?
Read more of John‘s article at www.cpas.org.uk/leadon 13
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.
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he 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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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 48hour 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.
Jane Burgess, vicar of Bathford in Somerset, attended The Buck Stops Here before starting her first incumbency.
‘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.
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.
Feedback from recent delegates: Good structure and input that was both clearly biblical and one hundred per cent practical. These proved essential days of learning and fellowship. Thank you.
‘Pace is absolutely key,’ added Jane. ‘There is a danger of being too ambitious, trying to do too ‘A key element of our calling is to much too soon and not only be disciples and make disciples. If being swamped yourself we keep this as a focus, our own but exhausting your role as a leader is continually church members and ‘Taking on overall given a perspective and direction. ultimately losing their responsibility for the first When our leadership team is trust and support. wrestling with any new initiatives time is exciting but it can or proposals, whether it be ‘It is easy to be also be quite daunting’ anything from an infrastructure overwhelmed by project to a change in our service so many different formats, I try to continually demands. It’s easy to flag-up the question: “how will become forever reactive, this facilitate mission within our instead of finding some church and community?”. space to think about and invest in the bigger picture, ‘I know from my own experience working step-by-step with that The Buck Stops Here helps other leaders towards clear to build confidence as new skills goals, communicating these and ideas begin to develop, both well and carrying church from shared conversations and members with you.’ practical input. New incumbents
Visit www.cpas.org.uk to discover more about The Buck Stops Here, as well as other CPAS events and conferences. 15
making disciples developing leaders growing churches
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 betwee n leadership and mission driv es our work. We believe the most strategic way we can impact evangelism in the Church of England is by inves ting in leaders at all levels . We equip leaders for mission through initiatives such as Arrow, Growing Leaders and Lead On, and ensu re evangelical leade rs are in place across the UK through our patronage wo rk.
single person in the UK and CPAS exists to enable churches to help every good news of Jesus Christ. Republic of Ireland hear and discover the wonderful – helping bring people By supporting our work, you are doing something from us, and from all the men, women into God’s eternal kingdom. A big thank you Jesus Christ through our ministry. and children who have come to know the Lord
Discover more about our work at www.cpas.org.uk