Equipping the Church

Yesterday, Milton Keynes Christian Centre, launched a brand new website: equip.mkcc.org.uk.

Our journey as a church over the years has taken us through many twists and turns, highs and lows. God shaped us by this unique journey and by the amazing people he has connected us to. We have made mistakes and learned lessons. We have been thankful for the many helping hands along the way. These include: Andrew Shearman & the G42 Leadership Academy, AOG UK, Hillsong, Saddleback Church, Willow Creek UK, LifeChurch.TV, Newspring Church, Tony Morgan & The Unstuck Group and many more.

Equip.mkcc is our attempt to give others a helping hand. Not that we think we are experts in any way but we passionately believe in the local church and want to do all we can to help in any way we can other local churches.

Equip offers:

Free Resources

These presently include a few of our teaching series graphics and video packages, leadership resources and Children's Curriculum. We will be adding much more as we go. If its not there ask as may have something in the pipeline.

Conferences

These will have an emphasis on equipping, giving you tools to use and next steps to implement. Our first event is in November when we welcome author Dave Kraft for a seminar Mistakes Leaders Make.

Then in June 2016 we are excited to host our first Children's Ministry Conference, Elements: Connecting the components for change.

Lastly we will be offering a series of Coaching opportunities, workshops & planning events.

Check it out and please share with other churches who may be interested.

Equipping churches to bring people to Jesus and develop them to be fully devoted followers of Christ. Providing free resources as well as conferences & coaching

Taking the Lonely out of Leadership

The other day I spent a few minutes talking to a pastor who I'd never met before. We chatted as we waited for a meeting to start. It was great to find out a little about him, his family and his journey. He and the church was doing great but he described the loneliness he felt in the role. It is certainly not the first time I have heard this from church leaders. In fact if you get behind the front that many of us project, it is a deep struggle for so many of us.

I have spent all of my leadership life at MKCC as part of a leadership team, so to be honest this feeling was foreign to me. My journey as a pastor has never felt lonely, challenging, but never lonely. But he was in a very different situation. He was the only pastor from what he described as a small church.

No matter the size of church leadership can be lonely and I am sure this can be magnified for Senior Leaders. It's not that leaders do not have great friends but they also need great friends that understand the life of a leader. But I don't believe leadership in the community of believers should be lonely. So here are some thoughts on things we can do to reverse this feeling of loneliness.

1. Your No. 1 relationship is with God.
2. Develop a healthy relationship with your family.
3. Pursue a hobby and cultivate the friendships you find there.
4. Deal with your insecurities they kill relationship, its about Jesus not you.
5. Deal with your insecurities they kill relationship, its about Jesus not you.
6. Take the mask off and be authentic.
7. Purposely develop and release other leaders.
8. Develop a leadership team built around the meal table as well as the boardroom table.
9. Stay at the table, no matter what.
10. Pursue relationship with leaders you admire.

I'm going to dive into each of these in more detail over the next few days.

Maybe you can suggest other ideas?

Amplify: Turn up the volume of hope

An video introduction to our teaching series at MKCC through September and October.

27 Years : No regrets

After 27 years of marriage here are 27 things I know and love about Nicola.

1. She loves Jesus with a passion
2. She has an adventurous spirit
3. She puts in to practice what she learns
4. She talks to anyone and everyone with ease (unlike me)
5. She is VERY competitive (a bit like me)
6. She does not have a lazy bone in her body (unlike me)
7. She is a fantastic leader (unlike me)
8. She loves people more than the task (unlike me)
9. She does not like the colour grey as she regularly visits the hairdresser for a colour. lol
10. She seems to have a gift that people feel free to open up to her when then need help, advice or a shoulder to cry on. (unlike me)
11. She lets me go to and watch sport any time I want without ever complaining. (and sport takes a lot of my time)
12. Family is important to her. Especially her kids and mum and dad. (well she is really a daddy's girl)
13. She is passionate about children discovering Jesus on their level.
14. She enjoyed shooting in a Florida range a little too much for my liking.
15. She is pretty good at decorating. (unlike me - thank you Jesus)
16. She likes a night in with nibbles and a cheap bottle of rose (otherwise a cheap date lol)
17. She juggles a demanding job, studying for a degree, family and home without ever saying how busy she is.
18. She has a boot fetish.
19. She ignored lots of people advice even her pastor and still married me!
20. She is an encourager not a critic
21. She is not good company on a long drive as she dozes off as soon as we leave the drive.
22. She puts up with emotional roller-coaster that is me.
23. She has saved me lots of money on hair cuts.
24. She NEVER betrays a confidence.
25. She really doesn't understand how incredible she is.
26. Best of all she loves me!
27. She truly is a wife of noble character - Proverbs 31:10-31

A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds. Her husband trusts her without reserve, and never has reason to regret it.

I have NO regrets only gratefulness!