In Depth:  Julian Mann

A fresh influx of old ladies converted to lively Christian faith in their 80s is now sorely needed to revitalise small local churches.

An influx of old gentlemen of that generation would also be wonderful but an old lady born in 1930 brings the following benefits to a local church that is in urgent need of major spiritual surgery:

The Reformed constituency in the Church of England needs to get solidly behind the end-of-Piccadilly-line Oak Hill, rather than steering its ordinands towards ‘evangelical’, liberal leaning theological colleges in old universities. Here are some reasons why from a parish plodder:

* Oak Hill is the only dog on the track. Our constituency needs a distinctively Reformed evangelical ministerial training centre in the Church of England to nourish us with the best possible theological water supply and enable us to have a real, positive influence for the gospel in the wider church and in post-Christian Britain. The influence of the independent Kingham Hill Trust allows for evangelical succession in Oak Hill’s principal. Of course, Richard Turnbull is doing a fantastic job as principal of Wycliffe Hall in Oxford. But, without the safeguard of an independent trust, Wycliffe will be the victim of ecclesiastical Buggins’s turn. With respect, what planet are you on if you think Wycliffe won’t go to a Fulcrum ‘evangelical’ when Dr. Turnbull goes?

The larger university and suburban churches and their church plants have little difficulty in gathering together an army of young graduate ‘apprentices’ looking for ministry experience. But smaller parish churches in the north of England, such as ours, find it much more difficult to recruit even one person.

We were unable back in 2003 to recruit anybody and I had to return the money charitable trusts had very generously given. By God’s grace we got a young man in 2004 who had seen our advert in St. Ebbe’s, Oxford. The Ebbe’s-based 9:38 network, which runs conferences for those considering full-time ministry and encourages apprenticeships in local churches, had kindly displayed it.

My theological convictions have not changed — they remain firmly Reformed evangelical — but my approach to ministry has changed radically through the privilege of serving a small church in a South Yorkshire parish. Inevitably, this is a personal journey and so is bound to be subjective, but hopefully will help other evangelical ministers, especially perhaps those starting out in frontline parish ministry for Christ.

Sydney is more than capable of arguing its corner in terms of the bad ministerial practices it felt needed correcting in the UK: too much emphasis on psychological counselling — ‘stop counselling! The problems are too deep-seated for you to be able to solve’; too much sick visiting — ‘when I’m sick I don’t want a Bible teacher’; not enough time on growing leaders — ‘guard your diary! Spend your time with young Timothys’. In short, too much hand-holding and not enough focus on multiplying ministries.