Article

Give Your Best
–

Ray Evans

Church leadership is a huge energy drain – especially when sending workers into other ministries. So how can we find the energy to keep going?

Read Now

The Creaking on the Stairs
–

Elisabeth Smyth

Mez McConnell's latest book draws from his own story of childhood abuse and the grace of God.

Read Now

He Made His Dwelling Amongst Us
–

John Stevens

A Christmas reflection on the Incarnation.

Read Now

Plugged In
–

Caroline Davies

Dan Strange’s latest book helps us to think about our secular media consumption.

Read Now

Reviews & Appraisals
–

Ray Evans

How can we get the balance right between supporting church workers and holding them accountable for what they do?

Read Now

Spreading a Passion for Jesus
–

Phil Topham

In mid-November, Highfields Church in Cardiff was the venue for BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Worship. So what was it like to be featured on the radio?

Read Now

Action Points
–

Ray Evans

As a church leadership team, you might have lots of great ideas, but how can you make sure they actually become reality?

Read Now

Hidden Evil
–

Johnny Prime, Elinor Magowan

The problem of domestic abuse is often not dealt with well in churches. This book by Eryl Davis tackles the subject head-on.

Read Now

Church Planting: the next wave?
–

Andy Paterson

How do we reach the vast numbers of towns and villages across the country that are not large enough to sustain a church plant?

Read Now

Primer 09: All Being Equal
–

How to know and worship God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Read Now

God’s Design for Women
–

Elinor Magowan

New challenges call for thoughtful and practical ways forward. A revised edition of 'God’s Design for Women' is a book that offers real hope.

Read Now

A Harvest of Hope?
–

Anne Henwood

Environmental issues are receiving a great deal of media coverage at the moment. But as Christians, to what extent ought we be caring for the planet?

Read Now

Called to the Mountains
–

Kenny Rogan

Swapping the bright lights of the city for a life in the mountains wasn’t Kenny Rogan’s dream, so why move from London to the Scottish Highlands?

Read Now

Giving Thanks
–

Elinor Magowan

It’s important to give thanks and avoid grumbling as we serve Christ. But how can we always be thankful in our work and ministry?

Read Now

Remembrance Hymn
–

Colin Webster

A new piano score of a song that was written for 2018’s Remembrance services has been published in time for this year’s commemorations.

Read Now

Family Fun with a Gospel Purpose
–

Jane Beckett

Woodgreen Church relocated to be at the heart of a huge new housing estate. Here's an insight into the planning behind their annual Family Fun Day.

Read Now

A Call to Prayer
–

Mark Howson

As the political turmoil in our nation continues, how should we, as evangelical Christians, respond?

Read Now

Growth from Transatlantic Partnership
–

Daphney Byrd

A church on a deprived housing estate is increasing its community impact with the help of American missionaries.

Read Now

A Church Weekend with a Difference
–

Pete Greasley

Would your church join with others for a weekend away? Christchurch in Newport did, and is now celebrating stronger links with five FIEC churches.

Read Now

Leading All-Age Services
–

Adrian Reynolds

How can you plan good all-age services where the whole congregation benefits? Here are five pointers.

Read Now

Another Learning Experience
–

Dave Williams

Are you one of the thousands of teenagers heading to University this year? If so, how will you decide which church to be part of?

Read Now

Music Without Musicians
–

Adrian Reynolds

How do you resource a church with sung worship when there are very few (or no) musicians? Here's one tool that offers a solution.

Read Now

Moving Forwards in Faith
–

Hannah Langley

Magdalen Road Church have left their home of 140 years and moved into a new building which the church hopes to call home for generations to come.

Read Now

What kind of church would I like to belong to?
–

Trevor Archer

Trevor Archer offers six answers to the question – based on a weekend away with an eldership team.

Read Now

Inner City Planting
–

Sam Gibb

Sam Gibb tells the story of Hope Church Vauxhall, a church plant on an inner-city housing estate in England’s capital.

Read Now

A Pastoral Podcast
–

Phil Topham

Graham Nicholls explains to Phil Topham why Christ Church Haywards Heath started a weekly podcast called 'Ordinary'.

Read Now

From Revitalisation to Planting
–

Rachel Dalby

Beginning to see gospel fruit from its three years of revitalisation, Calvary Baptist Church in Spalding is now looking to plant.

Read Now

Evangelism in a Skeptical World
–

Adrian Reynolds

Adrian Reynolds reviews a book on evangelism which goes one better than “yep, I could do that.”

Read Now

Prayers led to Plant
–

Karen O’Byrne

Almost two years ago, two groups of Christians agreed that something was missing in Cornwall's largest town.

Read Now

Premises Pledges Smash Target
–

John Douglas

A little over a year after launching as a new church, Hope City Church Edinburgh were looking for a new meeting place. This is their story.

Read Now

Evangelistic Momentum 5: The Example of Acts 16
–

Ray Evans

In the final part of this series on building evangelistic momentum, Ray Evans takes Acts 16 as his starting point to stimulate us to action.

Read Now

Evangelistic Momentum 4: Practical Steps
–

Ray Evans

How leaders can start to move their churches into intentional evangelistic growth.

Read Now

Taking the Gospel to Sportspeople
–

Jonny Reid

Jonny Reid explains how his church in Oxfordshire is engaging with sportspeople of all ages this summer.

Read Now

Evangelistic Momentum 3: Contemporary Morality
–

Ray Evans

How do we shape our evangelism based on the trends we’ve seen in society over the past decade?

Read Now

Evangelistic Momentum 2: Overwhelming Need
–

Ray Evans

Ray Evans and Jon Putt draw implications for our gospel witness from 'Our Times' by A N Wilson.

Read Now

Primer 08: How Great a Being
–

Exploring and applying the classical doctrine of God.

Read Now

Evangelistic Momentum 1: Looking Carefully
–

Ray Evans

How can we build evangelistic momentum in our churches? We begin by looking carefully.

Read Now

59 ‘One Anothers’
–

Ray Evans

A lot is written about how church leaders can work smarter to take a ministry forward. But less is said about how members can support one another.

Read Now

Revitalisation: Costly but Vital
–

Mark Herbert

True partnership between churches is costly. It can involve ‘giving away’ valuable time, people and resources. So why bother?

Read Now

Team Structures
–

Ray Evans

Most churches know that they need to develop effective structures as a church grows. But how do you go about it?

Read Now

Training Women: A Priority for Pastors
–

Johnny Prime

The elders at Christ Church Haywards Heath are seeking to provide ministry training for women in the church. Johnny Prime finds out what's involved.

Read Now

Developing Deacons
–

Ray Evans

Ray Evans has been considering the role of deacons. How does a church go about appointing them and how does that work in churches of different sizes?

Read Now

Honouring God’s Servants
–

Derek Prime

How do we properly honour and support our pastors? Derek Prime offers some advice gleaned from more than 50 years in pastoral ministry.

Read Now

Developing Elders
–

Ray Evans

How do we develop teams of elders in local churches? It doesn’t matter if your church is small, medium or large. This question is always vital.

Read Now

Pruning Enables Growth
–

Rachel Dalby

When change-management expert Kevin Cowdrey arrived to pastor a Lincolnshire church in 2016, he found it on ‘life-support’.

Read Now

Rethinking Sundays
–

Rachel Dalby

While some churches struggle to maintain attendance levels, an FIEC church in Hampshire has been experiencing a different kind of issue.

Read Now

Stress at Work
–

Ray Evans

Stress is something that will come to every ministry worker, so church leaders need to work out what de-stresses them and develop a healthy balance.

Read Now

Jesus in the Middle
–

Johnny Prime

What reassurances does the horrific crucifixion of Christ give to all believers? Johnny Prime helps us to reflect on the Easter story.

Read Now

Pray for the World
–

Nathan Weston

There are sound biblical reasons why we should be praying publicly for the world.

Read Now

Barbie Girl, Barbie World
–

Linda Allcock

The Bible teaches us about the importance of godly women as role models. But society usually peddles a different type of role model.

Read Now

Changing Times
–

Elinor Magowan

Elinor Magowan reflects on the assurances we’re given by God when we experience changing seasons in our own lives.

Read Now

Bringing Church to the Community
–

Debbie Hurdle

Send Evangelical Church is in a semi-rural village near Guildford in Surrey. What does evangelism look like in a large village setting like this?

Read Now

Navigating Change
–

Ray Evans

Organisations and churches will always need to be on a journey of change if they are to see growth and maturity.

Read Now

A Recurring Ministry Problem
–

Ray Evans

One of the great dangers in church leadership is the temptation to work harder and longer because we think that’s the only way to make a difference.

Read Now

Communication 101: What’s Getting in the Way?
–

Ray Evans

PART 6: At the end of his series on giving a great talk, Ray focuses on the way a talk is delivered, heard and received.

Read Now

How to Avoid Lazy Praying
–

Adrian Reynolds

How do we avoid laziness when it comes to our public and private prayer life? Here are five practical guidelines.

Read Now

Communication 101: The Place of Prayer
–

Ray Evans

PART 5: In this penultimate part of Communication 101, Ray Evans focuses on the key ingredient of a great talk.

Read Now

Should Your Church Become a CIO?
–

Edward Connor Solicitors

What are the advantages of your church becoming a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)? And how would you go about making the change?

Read Now

Communication 101: Mind Your Language
–

Ray Evans

PART 4: How can we engage our audiences more effectively? Ray Evans considers the preacher’s use of words and illustrations.

Read Now

Property Transactions
–

Edward Connor Solicitors

What do you need to think about when your church is looking to buy or sell property?

Read Now

Communication 101: Loving Your Listeners
–

Ray Evans

PART 3: There may be a difference between what people hear when you preach and what you think they should hear.

Read Now

Communication 101: Making it Personal
–

Ray Evans

PART 2: As preachers work on the passage in front of them, they need to pay special attention to sermon headings.

Read Now

The Whole Counsel of God
–

Oli Tucker

Which parts of Scripture are most popular with Bible-preaching churches? Oli Tucker has spent some time exploring selection bias by preachers.

Read Now

Communication 101: Preaching the Passage
–

Ray Evans

PART 1: Ray Evans unpacks some advice for preachers. Here he begins to explore what it means to preach the passage.

Read Now

Rediscovering Spurgeon’s Treasure
–

Adrian Reynolds

Adrian Reynolds outlines Spurgeon’s sermon on ‘progress’ from ‘An All Round Ministry’. It's a subject close to Adrian’s own heart.

Read Now

Primer 07: Show & Tell
–

The meaning and the role of apologetics.

Read Now

Prioritising “Together Prayer”
–

Johnny Prime

This article is a “how to” guide for holding a prayer meeting in your church.

Read Now

Organic or Organised?
–

Ray Evans

Following his article on the marks of a healthy church in Acts 2, Ray Evans reflects on Acts 6.

Read Now

Copyright and Your Church
–

Edward Connor Solicitors

If you're using images, film or music in your church activities or advertising then you need to make sure you're not infringing copyright law.

Read Now

They Were Devoted
–

Ray Evans

What does Acts 2 teach us is distinctive about a true church?

Read Now

Not an Exact Science
–

Ray Evans

Sometimes it’s not clear what the right leadership decision should be. So here's some guidance from a couple of chapters in Acts.

Read Now

Vivid Imagery
–

Adrian Reynolds

Many Bible stories contain vivid imagery, so how can preachers and teachers wrestle communicate these colourful pictures in their ministry?

Read Now

Why Read One-to-One?
–

Johnny Prime

Reading the Bible with others, one-to-one, is a vital part of pastoral ministry. Find out why and get some practical advice to help you along.

Read Now

Training Women to use their Gifts
–

Linda Allcock

How does a complementarian perspective affect what Biblical women’s ministry can look like in our churches?

Read Now

First Aid
–

Edward Connor Solicitors

What do churches need to think about when it comes to first aid requirements on a Sunday and for regular clubs and church events?

Read Now

Who’s to blame?
–

Adrian Reynolds

In a culture that doesn’t like to take responsibility, our gospel preaching needs to constantly address the heart.

Read Now

Effective Lay Leadership 2
–

Ray Evans

In the second of this two-part series, we see how lay leaders can effectively work alongside other unpaid leaders and use their gifts.

Read Now

Five Ways to Spend a Legacy
–

Adrian Reynolds

If you unexpectedly received some money for your church, what would you do with it? Here are a few different ways you could invest it for the Kingdom.

Read Now

The Grid
–

Adrian Reynolds

Establishing leadership training in the local church.

Read Now

Primer 06: Newness of Life
–

Exploring the gift and the challenge of holiness.

Read Now

Effective Lay Leadership 1
–

Ray Evans

The first part of a two-part series aimed at both pastors and lay leaders. How can lay leaders can be most effective in their calling?

Read Now

The Three Cs 3: Chemistry
–

Ray Evans

In this final article on The Three Cs of leadership, we see how leaders need to work hard at making sure there is good Chemistry in a ministry team.

Read Now

Making up for Lost Time
–

Reading the Bible one-to-one with another Christian was never part of the job description during ministry. Here's why I would recommend it now.

Read Now

The Three Cs 2: Capability
–

Ray Evans

In this second article on The Three Cs of leadership we look at Capability: the vision and organisation that all capable leaders need.

Read Now

The Three Cs 1: Character
–

Ray Evans

In this first of three articles exploring The Three Cs, we examine how Character relates to the work and ministry of a church leader.

Read Now

Lessons from Tesco
–

Ray Evans

There's a book by the man who used to lead Tesco. What did he learn about leadership? And is there anything we can apply to church leadership.

Read Now

First Among Equals?
–

Ray Evans

"Primus inter pares." First among equals. In theory that’s what the Prime Minister is. But what about in Independent church leadership?

Read Now

Ministry Discouragement
–

Adrian Reynolds

How should we deal with discouragement in ministry? Here’s some advice from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians.

Read Now

Moving the Family
–

Carolyn Lacey

One of the realities of ministry is that God’s call might move you to pastures new. What effect can such a calling can have on your family?

Read Now

A Growing Staff Team
–

Ray Evans

If your church grows and you have to take on more paid workers, you’ll need to clarify responsibilities. Otherwise things will soon get overstretched.

Read Now

Stand Up and Deliver
–

Ray Evans

Connecting with your listeners is a vital part of your preaching ministry. So how can you make sure that connection happens?

Read Now

Staying Safe Online
–

Linda Allcock

How can we help our children to navigate the digital world when they often know more about it than we do?

Read Now

Quality Teaching
–

Ray Evans

How do you plan your church preaching programme? Here are some tips about long-term planning, short-term planning and how you should follow this up.

Read Now

Quality Control
–

Ray Evans

The quality of your welcome, your teaching ministry and your hospitality are all vital to church health.

Read Now

Knowing Our Times
–

John Stevens

In this short book, John Stevens helps us to interpret the times we are living in – both inside and outside the church.

Read Now

Three Pressure Points
–

Ray Evans

Spiritual pressures will come for every leader. But how do you overcome them?

Read Now

Church Membership
–

Ray Evans

How do you welcome new people into church membership? It’s an important question to ask because doing it well is vital to the health of your church.

Read Now

Attendance, Migration, Community
–

Ray Evans

We held a small consultation with leaders from churches in rural, city and town locations. These are three big themes that stood out.

Read Now

Evangelistic Energy
–

Ray Evans

Keeping your evangelistic zeal is one of the hardest things for church leaders. But it’s vital to maintain that energy.

Read Now

Learning to SOAR
–

Ray Evans

Most of us have come across the term 'SWOT Analysis'. But have you heard of SOAR? It will help you move forward with a gospel vision.

Read Now