Open Webinar for Church leaders

Dear Church Leader,

What sudden and turbulent times God has put us in and yet our confidence is surely that in His providence, we are here, ‘for such a time as this’. I’ve always found this comforting in the chaos of pastoral care, particularly when the issues are deeply perplexing. The Lord knows what He is doing and putting us, as Church leaders, in the eye of the storm is all His doing; He doesn’t make mistakes. I’m sure that once the scramble to get up to speed with streaming and phone conferencing has settled down, we will begin to appreciate the new context that the Lord has put us in. It seems that in just a few weeks we have gone from being part of a culture that seemed anesthetised to the Gospel by materialism and pleasure, to one where people are emerging to the reality of their own mortality and the prospect of dying. At the sametime we are unable to meet together and function in the way we have always done. We now have to find a way of providing Bible ministry, pastoral care and ministries of mercy, without meeting together. Suddenly all our familiar church structures appear kicked away; what a great challenge! If anything should take us back to God in prayer, this should.   

As hard and shocking as our new context is, I am looking forward to finding the hearts that will be open to the gospel at this time. As well as securing the care and support of our own people, we must be eager to spot the new gospel opportunities that the Lord is giving us. We have every reason to be positive, as the Lord knows what He is doing. And He is with us! However, at the moment it is probably that this may seems a bit overwhelming to you. Perhaps one of the most helpful things we can do at a time like this is to talk together, share ideas and learn how to pray more specifically for each other. To help with this in the initial weeks we are organising an online weekly surgery, where we can come together for a short time and talk together. You can register here and join us tomorrow (Thursday 19th) from 8pm. Please join in as I am sure this will be a help to you, and you will definitely be a support to others. It will at least give you a clearer sense of what to pray for. God bless you in all that you are doing and give you much endurance.

Phil