October 16, 2018
masks

On Wearing Masks In Ministry

This article appeared originally on Claire Muster’s blog. I have been in Christian ministry for 25 years. And in common with practically everyone else alive, I have worn masks. Not literally, of course. At times, a mask has been the means of self-preservation, at others a ministry preserver – and even an act of generosity and service. In other words, masks can and should have their place. To some extent. But they are also detrimental to psychological wellbeing and community life. They conceal rather than reveal. They can do even more damage to the wearer than they do to those who only encounter […]
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March 27, 2018
riptides

Riptides: When Pastors Play Power Games

Article appeared originally on Evangelicals Now, reposted with generous permission by the same.  You can’t see or even detect them… but that  is precisely why riptides are so lethal. Many an unsuspecting swimmer has been swept out to sea, or perhaps worse, immediately dragged under, by the violent currents beneath the surface. For at the very moment of realising they are in trouble, it’s probably too late. It takes seasoned tide-watchers to alert newcomers to where the dangers lie. Cultural riptides in the West The rapid cultural shifts of recent years can make western Christ-followers feel as vulnerable as swimmers […]
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February 1, 2018
pitfall

There But For the Grace… Pastors Escaping the Power-trip Pitfalls

We could call them the ‘pastor’s power pitfalls.’ There are many. Too many. It’s actually scary how much power a pastor wields – for good… and ill. It’s one of the key issues that has preoccupied me a lot about in the last few years while writing my culture of suspicion book (out VERY soon at all GOOD bookshops!). And I’ve witnessed (and struggled) under power-trip pastors. The worst thing, though, is how blissfully unaware they are of it. As one friend said of a church boss he struggled under for several years, “he’s like a drunk driver who never looks in the rear-view mirror.” So what […]
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