Stephen Matthew has become a friend whose wisdom I appreciate greatly, he has been very generous with his time and encouragement, mentoring me individually through numerous conversations over in Bradford and also coming across to meet with some of our leaders at Ivy recently as we prayed and planned into our future. He is a surveyor by background and combines theological acumen, practical skills and a pastoral heart through 25 years of ministry to be a man with a brain worth picking for anyone who wants to build a prevailing church. Here’s my notes on his talk at the ALC Network day this week: There are only two kinds of churches: The church everybody wants to build (It’s there in Acts 2, and the ideal church, it inspires us). The church God wants you to build. If you try and copy the church ‘out there’ you’ll always fail. God wants to speak to YOU about YOUR people and place. It’s always bespoke. You work the process and start to build from scratch or reinvent what’s been built so far. What […]
