Firstly he took us to Acts 11:19-30 and pointed out that though the Jerusalem church and the church in Antioch were different in many ways yet they were alike in the only way that mattered - as brothers (and sisters) in Christ (11:29).  As a result of this they:

• Shared Information
• Shared people
• Shared money
• Shared vision

In God’s providence this sharing and working together was driven by persecution  (11:19) and famine (11:27).

We were reminded that the apostle Paul’s vision was broader than just the local church (2 Cor 11:28) and the way this concern shaped his ministry which was characterised by:

• Church planting mission
• Apostolic relief fund (a perhaps surprisingly significant emphasis in his letters)
• Apostolic letters
• Apostolic teams

And in the light of all of this, we were encouraged to consider the FIEC’s vision in the following way:

“The FIEC exists to equip gospel churches to make disciples together”

We love the use of the word ‘together’ and the emphasis that came across the whole session on the importance of interdependence and relationship.  A particular strength of this interdependece was the possibility of seeing the ‘big picture’, and letting the gospel drive our agenda (and our fellowship – so that we can be generous on secondary issues whilst holding fast to what is primary).

He identified ministry priorities for the FIEC in the following way:

Churches on a mission together to

• Reach the lost
• Grow leaders
• Care for churches

And of course these are all priorities we share.  Praise God that the leadership of the FIEC is thinking in these ways.  Pray that God would give individual churches the same vision inasmuch as it is a Biblical one.

 

 Bible College is only part of the picture though.  There is the before and the after.  It is good to see the develpment of Apprenticeship schemes although independent churches perhaps have some catching up to do with their Anglican brothers. 

The other side of the coin is what happens after college.  The Anglican Church has an established curacy system.  Can interdependence enable us to develop something similar and appropriate?

 A third consideration might be whether or not there are some men who are called to pastoral ministry for whom attending college is not practical, or neccessarily the most effective way of learning. 

 Finally, we want to encourage the training of elders, deacons and preachers within churches, not just full time pastors.

 How might these things happen?

1. One good starting point must be the Learning to Lead and Prepared for Service courses offered through the FIEC

2. Is there a place for churches to work together by

a. Sharing the task of mentoring and coaching Apprentices

b. A few churches might club together to support someone responsible for training apprentices as a full time task

c. Smaller churches might twin with larger churches when taking on a new pastor.  This might mean that a young man looking for the equivalent of an assistantship could go into a church currently without a pastor but with the support of an experienced man at the twinned church.