Topic Archives: Church Leadership

The following post first appeared (on October 24, 2016) on www.reformation21.org, a blog run by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is posted here with their kind permission. After a cracking day at the Evangelical Library in London on “Reading John Owen” (opening, it has to be said, with Nigel Graham giving what may be […]

The following extract is taken from Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, pages 249–273.  Note to the reader: before this section, Baxter spends time considering how a minister may winsomely prevail upon his people to submit to being catechised. With this treated of, he proceeds to outline how a shepherd of God’s flock can best carry […]

The following extract is taken from Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor (256 pages, £5.75), pages 168–177. The Duty of Personal Catechising and Instructing the Flock Particularly Recommended Having disclosed and lamented our miscarriages and neglects, our duty for the future lies plain before us. God forbid that we should now go on in the sins […]

I often make the same pastoral mistake. It is not deliberate, it is often well-intentioned, sometimes it is even hopeful. It is this: to presume upon the biblical knowledge of the people to whom I speak. I do not at all mean by this to deliver a backhanded insult, appearing to confess a shortcoming of […]

This review of The Pastor: His Call, Character, and Work first appeared in Ordained Servant: A Journal for Church Officers (2022 edition) published by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The Pastor: His Call, Character, and Work, by Faculty and Friends of ‘Old’ Princeton. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2020, x + 272 pages, $20.00. From time […]

On Sunday morning, August 5, 1855, 21-year-old Charles Haddon Spurgeon stepped behind the pulpit of New Park Street Chapel, London, to challenge his congregation to follow the example of one of the saints who had inspired his ministry, the apostle Paul. ‘As a preacher of the word,’ Spurgeon said of Paul, ‘he stands out pre-eminently […]

The members of First Church (not the real name of the church) consistently made false accusations against one another. They would regularly throw verbal mud at one another. At times, they would even form alliances and fight against one another. Some of their claims were silly. One elder accused a teenager of rebelliously going to […]

‘For the land has become defiled’ – Leviticus 18:24. In Leviticus 18, after Yahweh has given specific instructions through Moses to His covenant people on the various offerings for the atonement of their sins, He switches gears, as it were, and gives a long list of commands concerning sexual conduct. He begins by telling His people […]

We noticed recently a leading religious commentator acknowledging that the West will collapse without a Christian revival. There is no doubt that we are in the midst of a rapid moral decay. He went on to say that the West will fall unless it rises up against the forces that oppose it. But how is […]

One thing I love about Alaska is the pioneering spirit of independence evident in so many people here. ‘Do it yourself’ is just a way of life for many Alaskans. But this mind-set doesn’t carry over very well to a Christian’s relationship to the church. Many Christians have left traditional churches in favour of forming […]

We seem to be in a stalemate in church and state today. Problems are multiplying. The situation becomes more confusing year by year and we are in danger of losing heart: people are at a loss what to do. There is a great deal of activity but where is the substance? Maurice Roberts has said: […]

There are two helps in remembering, first, how the deacon is different from the elder or the pastor-preacher, and second, what the deacons’ duties are. 1. A Three-fold Office The church is the body of Christ, and our Saviour has a three-fold office, and so his body also has a three-fold office. i] Christ is […]

What should a church be looking for when it seeks a pastor? This is a question that should deeply exercise not only elders but every church member. What qualities should a search committee have uppermost in their minds as they look to God to provide them with a man after his own heart? Perhaps before […]

Who is sufficient for the task of spiritual leadership? The man who leads Christ’s flock needs at least two rare qualities: a compassionate heart, and also nerves of steel. No one is well equipped to guide the saints of God on earth unless he has two seemingly contradictory sides to his character. He needs to […]

Who will possibly stay in a relationship with a girl-friend or boy-friend ‘until death us do part’ unless there is a deep devotion to that one person above all others, a commitment that is based on comprehensive knowledge and respect? That is the essence of marriage, leaving all others and cleaving to the other until […]