It seemed like a good idea right up to the point where I had to get up early this morning to catch a train to London. To be honest I didn't feel particularly well and wondered all the way down whether to just turn around and catch a train home and go to bed. But I didn't. Which means I can tell you about my day with Bill rather than my day in bed feeling sorry for myself.
The format of the day was simple, we asked questions, Bill answered them and we clarified, added to and generally explored the issues being raised. Most of the day followed this pattern. We talked about how to handle conflict, how to share with the church the new things God was speaking to you about, what impact the downturn might have on budgets. This last point raised some helpful insights.
Firstly, don't look at the potential for the pot of available finance through giving to shrink, rather look at the reasons some people don't tithe. Willow's own research suggests that of the highly committed group within the church, less than 50% actually tithe. That suggests that there is a large resource that isn't being released for ministry. And then came the question. Do these particular people not tithe because out of fear or rebellion? In other words do they not trust God to have their best interests at heart and their future in mind. Interesting.
Another good area of discussion was the vexed question of meetings. One comment stood out: Don't have meetings to manage people. Have meeting to energise someone or something.
Leadership capacity also came up. Romans 12 speaks about ministry being done according to the measure of faith given, or words to that effect. We were challenged to fulfil our potential and neither under-do or over-do our ministry.
Someone else raised the question about how divorce rates, abuse etc don't look statistically different between Christians and non-Christians. Bill's take on this was quite interesting. While not denying the truth of such statistics he suggested we looked at where a person began rather than their current behaviour in order to make our assessment.
If a Christian's behaviour portrays them as difficult, abrasive or generally downright nasty, they may have started out life much worse! Where they are now is a point on a journey, it's not the end of the journey.
We finished with some reflections on how to guard your heart as a leader.
Overall quite a tiring day, but there was enough in it to have made the journey worthwhile. And although I don't feel great, I'm glad I chose not crawl back under the covers.
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