Refuge for Weary Leaders

Here’s an important idea. As we head into some form of restriction (depending on where in the UK you are) there are some commonalities amongst church leaders. Chief amongst these is weariness. Most church leaders I talk to are emotionally, mentally and spiritually tired. Not just tired - exhausted.

Running on empty like this is deathly serious for church leaders. When we are run down in this way, we are operating on shaky ground. When we are trying to give and serve from a position of emptiness we make ourselves more open to temptation and - counter-intuitively - are more likely to rely on ourselves than on the Spirit who fills us.

Take refuge

As leaders at FIEC, we’ve been reading through Proverbs recently, and this is exactly the kind of application you might derive from 22:3: “the prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.”

We therefore wanted to plan something to help church leaders “take refuge”. Many of us in the office have been blessed by reading Dane Ortlund’s new book Gentle and Lowly and we realised that just as we hold out Christ to others in our own ministry, we need to allow ourselves to be ministered to and to have Christ held out to us.

Weekly Book Group

So, we are planning an online devotional book group each Monday starting Monday 16 November. Most weeks we’ll meet at 12pm for just 40 minutes: we’ll ask you to read one of the short chapters of 'Gentle and Lowly' beforehand, then in the group someone will share some applications and insights for church leaders. Then we’ll break into smaller groups, chat briefly, and pray for one another.

And because we’re reflecting on and delighting in Christ, it will do us good, it will equip us to minister to others, and our dependence upon him will be a godly example to others also.

This group is for all kinds of church leaders in FIEC churches – not just pastors or elders. Please do encourage others to join us if they can, even if it means taking a lunch hour from work to do so (you can sign up using our form). Join us as a staff team and continue the conversation afterwards.

The first week (16 November) we will meet at 2pm instead. The reason for this is that we’ll be joined by Dane Ortlund, the author of the book, to help us understand why devotion to and meditation on Christ is such an essential part of leadership. Dane is in Illinois, six hours behind the UK, so we didn’t want to get him out of bed too early, hence the slightly later start for week 1.

Brothers and sisters, I look forward to spending time with you and I look forward to us knowing and loving Christ better.

Please register your interest on this form. You can order a nice hardback copy of Gentle and Lowly from 10ofthose.com for £12.99 (RRP £15.99).