Healthy Churches 2017
On 4 September, 80 church ministers gathered for the third Healthy Churches Conference in Richmond-upon-Thames. Organised by Jonathan Worsley (Kew Baptist Church), John Samuel (Duke Street Church, Richmond), and Robin Weekes (Emmanuel Church, Wimbledon).
This year’s topic was on authority in the life of the local church. Tricky questions, such as: ‘What biblically makes a group of Christians a church?’ and: ‘Under what circumstances would a church remove a professing Christian from its membership?’ were pondered by Anglicans and Independents alike. Navigating these conundrums was former political scientist and current editorial director for 9Marks Ministries, Jonathan Leeman. In three sessions titled: The Authority to Gather, The Authority to Bind, and The Authority to Loosen, Leeman unpacked what the Bible teaches about con-gregationalism, church membership, church discipline and the ordinances.