Blog entries from David Lawrence

How to Change a Church

David Lawrence — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:39:49 +0100

Philip and I recently led a session for people training for Christian ministry at Trinity College in Bristol. The students were approaching the end of their course and beginning to anticipate some of the challenges of their first ministerial appointments. Several of them were headed for smaller churches which were very traditional in their outlook.

The students had big dreams and knew what they wanted to do to move their churches into 'mission mode' - but were concerned about the proRead More...

Surprised by Theology

David Lawrence — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:05:55 +0100

Book Review : Surprised by Hope, Tom Wright

OK. Let’s play word association. I say ‘Heaven’ and you say ‘Hell’; I say ‘Resurrection’ and you say ‘Easter’; I say ‘Left’ and you say ‘Behind’; I say ‘eschatology’ and you say ‘what?’ or cheat and say ‘Second Coming’.

If that’s something (anything) like the way the game would go, then you’llRead More...

Men and the Church

David Lawrence — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:29:20 +0100

The 'Religious Trends 6' report found that adult males constitute just 41% of church goers in the UK, whereas Tearfund's 'Churchgoing in the UK' report put the figure even lower at 37%. Chris Ducker of Redcliffe College carried out further research which indicated that:

A clear majority of men (68%) said they felt women were more "at home" in church.

67% of men thought that church services appeaRead More...

Creating an Outreach Structure

David Lawrence — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:50:22 +0100

We have been working with Stephen Newell, the minister at Zion United Church, for nearly two years now.

Completing the WinningWays leadership consultation gave Stephen fresh perspectives on church life and health. In his words :

“We found the ‘three circles’ model of church health beautifully siRead More...