Check out this excellent video.

Let’s hope and pray that God uses it to bless many people looking for meaning and purpose in life.

If you don’t feel excited about it yet, check out the promo video below and think about who you could invite to find out more about the most loved and hated person in history, Jesus Christ.

More info. about our Alpha Course is available by clicking here.

Caretaker (Part or Full-Time)

To provide practical support facilitating the smooth running of services, meetings, events and conferences at Westminster Chapel (WC), including: room set up/set down, serving as the fire safety officer, premises lock up/opening up, preparing the Auditorium for Sunday services and basic maintenance.

Must have the ability to physically perform the responsibilities of the job, including lifting a minimum of 50lbs on a regular basis and a hearty endorsement of WC’s Mission, Vision and Values and the biblical and theological orientation of its leadership. A combination of carpentry, decorating, plastering, electrical and plumbing knowledge, skills and qualifications preferred but not required.

Salary: £12,600-£18,000 (depending on hours worked) | Hours: 28-40 hrs per week (subject to skills and experience) | Closing date: EXTENDED to 3 October 2010 | Duration: 1 November 2010 (or later by agreement) – 31 October 2011 (with the possibility of extension or progression to an open ended employment contract)

Children and Families’ Director (Full-Time)

To oversee WC’s Children (age 0-10) and Families’ Ministry. He/she will be responsible for the development and implementation of an annual Children and Families’ Ministry Strategy. He/she will provide leadership and direction to volunteers and represent the interests and concerns of children and their families in WC and the local community to WC’s leadership. He/she will also be expected to support 1-2 other ministries, in line with his/her gifting and experience, such as Alpha, CityLifeGroups, Parenting, Marriage, and Mercy Ministries.

Must have proven experience of working with children, good organisation and administrative skills, a hearty endorsement of WC’s Mission, Vision and Values and the biblical and theological orientation of its leadership.

Salary: £22-28,000 (subject to qualifications and experience) | Closing date: 3 September 2010 | Start date: 1 November 2010 (or later by agreement)

Further information, detailed job descriptions and application forms for either job can be obtained by emailing office@westminsterchapel.org.uk.

The main quality/comeback characteristics they identified were: leadership, three faith factors (renewed belief in Jesus and the mission of the church, renewed attitude for servanthood, and strategic prayer efforts), worship and preaching, intentional and strategic evangelism, connecting people to spiritual maturity, motivating and mobilizing people out of the pews (helping people discover their spiritual gifts), and connecting people through small groups.

Leadership

Proactive Leadership: “Comeback leaders took the initiative for change” (praying Matt 9:37-38 regularly and passionately and model evangelistic passion). pp.39-41

Sharing Ministry: “Comeback leaders shared the ministry…made choices about those in whom they invested their time and how they invested their time…[and] quickly gave away nonministry tasks.” pp.42-43

Intentional Planning: “Comeback leaders intentionally used their time and the time of others differently…[and] intentionally planned to spend more time doing “people stuff.”” pp.44-45

Vision: “Comeback leaders agreed that having a clear and compelling vision was foundational in the transformation of their churches.” p.45

Developing Leaders: “Comeback leaders multiplied themselves.” p.50

Three Faith Factors

Renewed Belief in Jesus Christ and the Mission of the Church: “Comeback churches got back on mission” and grew “deeply in love with Jesus” and comeback leaders “helped churches grow in love with the community through their preaching, teaching, and praying…[and] helped their churches grow to love the lost…turned their churches outward.” pp. 58-61

Renewed Attitude for Servanthood: “Comeback leaders led their churches to develop the same passion, having a heart for service…comeback churches led people to care more about their communities than their preferences…comeback churches don’t focus exclusively on their own spiritual maturity or demand their preferences.” pp.63-67

Strategic Prayer Efforts: “Comeback churches are praying churches…Comeback leaders led their churches to pray, especially for their communities and then act on those prayers.” pp.68-71

[Extra factors: Goal Setting (comeback leaders made plans) and Valuing Relationships and Reconciliation (comeback leaders saw the value of reconciling relationships). pp.71-73]

Worship and Preaching

Worship: “Almost all comeback churches identified their mood of worship as celebrative and orderly…with a significant emphasis on being informal and contemporary.” p.78

Preaching: “Comeback churches practiced biblical preaching…” that is “more than just persuasive speech.” pp.90-93

Intentional and Strategic Evangelism

“Principle #1: The greatest motivation for evangelism is our own relationship with God, compelling us to love those He loves. Comeback pastors are able to case a compelling vision for outreach that is shared by the leadership and then the congregation.” p.100

“Principle #2: In order to train people to “go and tell,” we will need to teach them to live like Jesus-to live like a messenger of God in this world.” p.101

“Principle #3: Organize for evangelism using multiple methods.” p.102

“Principle #4: Comeback churches have learned that it takes a whole church to win a community, but it takes a leader to helm them do so.” p.103

“Principle #5: Comeback churches know that the whole church has to embrace the mandate for evangelism. Everyone can be involved as a prayer, bringer, and/or teller, and should be trained and mobilized in one or more of these areas.” p.104

“Principle #6: Comeback churches said that creating an environment in which spontaneous and planned evangelism can take place is a key.” p.105

“Principle #7: Comeback churches recognized, purposefully planned for, and utilized “doors of entry” [e.g. outreach events] to the church.” p.109

Connecting People to Spiritual Maturity

“Comeback churches used strategies that help people stay and grow…When a guest fills out a card, the first follow-up should include-at the very least-a letter and a call from the pastor or outreach leader. However, follow-up is not complete until the guest connects with a small-group leader.” pp.118-119

“People need to connect in community to consider the truth claims of the gospel…There really are two conversions – the first to community (“I like and trust these people and want to learn with them) and then to Christ (“I make a dangerous decision for Christ in a safe community of friends”).” p.121

“William Hendricks argues that new Christians are likely to leave the church within the first six months if they don’t develop at least seven significant relationships in the congregation during that time.” p.122

“Many comeback churches – 53 percent – raised the requirements of membership, challenging people to live out the privileges and responsibilities of the covenant community described in Scripture.” p.124

Motivating and Mobilizing People Out of the Pews

“For churches to be able to grow most effectively and reach their full potential, a change has to take place in the role of the pastor, and the people have to step up and use their spiritual gifts.” p.132

Create an Atmosphere of Expectation: “In many comeback churches, the people were taught that they were responsible for the ministry of the church.” p.139

Create an Atmosphere of Equipping: “Comeback churches utilize a strategy, or process, to identify and equip people for ministry as servant leaders. Part of that equipping is discovery of gifts…churches must help people discover their spiritual “equipment” and give them opportunities to use it.” p.140

Create an Atmosphere of Empowerment: “an environment where people feel empowered or enabled to do ministry. In many cases, empowerment occurs through preaching, teaching, and training. Don’t expect people just to “get it.” If you are like most of us, you want to ask people to do things and have them run off and to it. Comeback leaders understand that people have to be taught, trained, and encouraged to be effective ministers…Comeback churches understand that communication is a big part of empowerment…Comeback churches explain biblical guidelines, expectations for people in ministry, awareness and identification of gifts, and available training. They appreciate people in simple ways.” p.142-143

Connecting People through Small Groups

“Comeback leaders exemplified the power of small-group community.” p.147

“Comeback leaders multiplied their ministry through small-group leaders.” p.155

“Comeback leaders made it a priority to start new groups.” p.157

Other Comeback Factors

Facilities: “Comeback churches often changed their facilities to help facilitate their growth.” p.161

Marketing: “38 percent of comeback churches indicated that marketing had a significant impact upon their revitalization”. p.166

Staffing: “six of seven comeback churches experienced staff change prior to their comeback. It is an escapable fact that most comeback churches changed staff…63.6 percent of the respondents indicated that the church’s turnaround coincided with a change in the role of lead or senior pastor.” p.177

In 1994-1996 a major research project was conducted on the causes of church growth: 32 countries, 30 members from each participating church, 4.2 million responses (Schwarz, Natural Church Development Handbook, 1998). It enabled a “quality index” to be developed, based on 8 quality characteristics: empowering leadership; gift-orientated ministry; passionate spirituality; functional structures; inspiring worship services; holistic small groups; need-orientated evangelism; and loving relationships (see below for a summary). Schwarz argues that measures should be developed for each characteristic based on quality not quantity:

“The point of departure for natural church development is, therefore, not goal setting in the area of quantity (3,400 in church by 2002), but in the area of quality (By the end of November, 80 percent of all regular attenders at worship services will know their spiritual gifts). In this area, we dare not neglect setting challenging, attainable, time-bound, and measurable goals.”

Empowering Leadership

“Leaders of growing churches concentrate on empowering other Christians for ministry. They do not use lay workers as helpers in attaining their own goals and fulfilling their own visions. Rather, they invert the pyramid of authority so that the leader assists the Christians to attain the spiritual potential God has for them. These ministers equip, support and motivate and mentor individuals, enabling them to become all that God wants them to be.”

Gift-orientated Ministry

“The gift-orientated approach reflects the conviction that God sovereignly determines which Christians should best assume which ministries. The role of church leadership is to help members to identify their gifts and to integrate them into appropriate ministries. When Christians serve in their area of gifting, they generally function less in their own strength and more in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Passionate Spirituality

“The concept of spiritual passion and the widespread notion of the walk of faith as “performing one’s duty” seem to be mutually exclusive…The nature of this quality characteristic becomes evident by examining the prayer life of the Christians surveyed. While the amount of time (quantity) a Christian spends in prayer plays only a minor role with regard to the quality and growth of a church, the question as to whether or not prayer is viewed as an inspiring experience, has a significant relationship to the quality and quantity of the church.”

Functional Structures

“One of the 15 sub-principles comprising the quality characteristic functional structures is the “department head principle”. I have chosen this sub-principle because it typifies the core of the quality characteristic: the development of structures which promote an on-going multiplication of the ministry. Leaders are not simply to lead, but also to develop other leaders. Anyone who accepts this perspective will continually evaluate to what extent church structures improve the self-organisation of the church. Elements not meeting this standard (such as discouraging leadership structures, inconvenient worship service times, demotivating financial concepts) will be changed or eliminated. Through this process of continual structural renewal, traditionalistic ruts can, to a large extent, be avoided.”

Inspiring Worship Services

“The word “inspiring” deserves clarification. It is to be understood in the literal sense of inspiration and means an inspiredness which comes from the Spirit of God. Whenever the Holy Spirit is truly at work (and his presence is not merely presumed), he will have a concrete effect upon the way a worship service is conducted including the entire atmosphere of a gathering. People attending truly “inspired” services typically indicate that “going to church is fun”.

Holistic Small Groups

“They must be holistic groups which go beyond simply discussing Bible passages, to applying its spiritual message in daily life. In these groups, members are able to bring up the issues and questions that are their immediate personal concerns…The meaning of the term “discipleship” becomes practical in the context of holistic small groups: the transfer of life, not rote learning of abstract concepts…it allows us to infer the level of importance given to small groups in growing churches: they are not a supplement, like a nice but dispensable hobby. No, much of the essence of true church life is worked out in small groups. Our research confirms that the larger a church becomes, the more decisive the small group principle will be with respect to her further growth.”

Need-orientated Evangelism

“Our research shows that in churches with a high quality index the leadership knows who has the gift of evangelism, and directs them into a corresponding areas of ministry…The key to church growth is for the local congregation to focus its evangelistic efforts on the questions and needs of non-Christians.”

Loving Relationships

“…it can be demonstrated that there is a significant connection between laughter in the church and that church’s qualitative and numerical growth…Unfeigned, practical love has a divinely generated magnetic power far more effective than evangelistic programmes which depend almost entirely on verbal communication. People do not want to hear us talk about love, they want to experience who Christian love really works.”

Wow…what a GREAT service we had on Sunday evening launching our new, exciting series: Mark’s Gospel – What if God was one of us?

Great preach, great worship, real sense of God in our midst.

Last Sunday (for those not in the know) we changed our service time from 4pm to 5.30pm to provide more time for people (especially those involved in serving/ministry teams) to rest and relax and enjoy fellowship with each other before the afternoon service, launching a 12 month series (interspersed with Christmas, Easter, etc.) on Mark’s Gospel.

This is a response to our ever-increasing desire for the Gospel to be preached (and thereby for Christ to be exalted) at every Sunday service. We want all our services to be both edifying to the church and challenging to non-believers, clearly presenting the Gospel and providing opportunities for non-believers to repent and accept Christ. We are convinced that God wants to build Westminster Chapel on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we want to make this Gospel central to everything that we do. And what better place to start than in Mark’s Gospel, written by young John Mark who rose from obscurity to worldwide influence in writing an entirely new genre of literature – the first Gospel.  His aim was to racily describe what the world would be like if God became one of us.

Greg has also written an outstanding guide to Mark’s Gospel (I’ve had a sneak peek and it is not to be missed) that will be available for free on our website soon!

There is rising faith amongst us as a leadership and staff team, as well as our members, to see many come to faith, recommit to God and to pray for the sick and see them healed at all our services, so please be bold in inviting friends, colleagues and neighbours to attend. Let’s pray, pray, pray and believe God to do amazing things in our church in the season ahead!

“There is nothing more difficult to to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.” (Machiavelli, The Prince)

“In building a great institution, there is no single defining action, no grand program, no one killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, no miracle moment. Rather, our research showed that it feels like turning a giant, heavy flywheel. Pushing with great effort – days, weeks and months of work, with almost imperceptible progress – you finally get the flywheel to inch forward. But you don’t stop. You keep pushing, and with persistent effort, you eventually get the flywheel to complete one entire turn. You don’t stop. You keep pushing, in an intelligent and consistent direction, and the flywheel moves a bit faster. You keep pushing, and you get two turns…then four…then eight…the flywheel builds momentum…a hundred…moving faster with each turn…a thousand…ten thousand…a hundred thousand. Then, at some point – breakthrough! Each turn builds upon previous work, compounding your investment effort. The flywheel flies forward with almost unstoppable momentum. This is how you build greatness.” (Collins, Good to Great and the Social Sectors)

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” (Roosevelt, Speech at Sorbonne, Paris, 1910)

“People don’t resist change, they resist being changed” and “See managing change as akin to steering a boat across turbulent waters – work with the wind.” (Beckhard and Harris, Organisational Transition – Managing Complex Change)

Change formula (created by Beckhard, Harris and Gleicher and improved by Dannemiller and Jacobs):

Change = (A x B x C) > D

Where:

A = dissatisfaction with the status quo (evidence of the need for change)

B = a desirable future (painting a picture/vision of how things could be)

C = a practical pathway (confidence in the likelihood of getting there, concrete steps that can be taken towards the vision)

D = the cost of changing (resistance)

Excellence on the other hand is: giving your best efforts; going beyond (your) mediocrity; motivated by God’s grace (Romans 12:1); about learning from mistakes how to fail forward (Proverbs 24:16; Psalm 42:5); learning from criticism (Proverbs 9:8-9); deriving our value as people from God (not performance); doing all things well for God’s glory; each believer reaching his/her greatest potential; being better tomorrow than you were yesterday; matching your practice with your potential.

As we pursue excellence together, let’s try to avoid the perfectionist trap by drinking deep from the wells of God’s grace.

Context
Although we cannot be sure precisely where Exodus 18 fits chronologically in Israel’s first year of freedom from Egypt, the significance of it being placed after Exodus 17 (whether in chronological order or not) by the writer is important.

Exodus 17:1-7
Water from the rock. Moses angry and frustrated with the people. Moses told by God to take some of the elders with him and strike the rock.

Exodus 17:8-16
Amalekites defeated at Rephidim. Moses’s arms being held up by Aaron and Hur crucial to victory.

Both of these stories illustrate the heavy leadership responsibility Moses had (a nation composed of nearly 2,000,000 people (600,000 men, cf. 12:37)) (and in the early part of chapter 17, some of his frustrations) and hint at a move towards sharing this leadership burden with others.

Outsider?
Jethro was a “priest of Midian” – not an Israelite. He had not lived under oppression in Egypt and taken part in their miraculous escape. He was not steeped in Israelite culture and history. He was, in this sense, an outsider.

But when Moses was on the run from Egypt, Jethro was the friend and father-in-law (for c.40 years) Moses needed. Sometimes Godly advice can come from unlikely sources – (‘unqualified’) outsiders – are we ready and willing to receive it?

Prelude
Jethro listens and investigates, verses 1-8.
Jethro praises God, verses 9-11.
Jethro gives thanks to God, verse 12.
Jethro observes, verse 13.
Jethro questions Moses, verse 14 (to help him identify the issue).
Jethro challenges (somewhat bluntly), verse 17.
Jethro explains (his previous statement) and identifies the issue, verse 18. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.

Jethro saw and foresaw: Moses and the people over-stretched. Burnt out (consumed by the tyranny of the urgent?) and the mission of God derailed.

Advice
The heart of Jethro’s advice was relinquishing control to empower others to lead. To engage, equip, and disciple the people of God in order to further the mission of God. There are five pillars.

One: Prayer
Verse 19: You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him.

Disputes is also translated cases and causes or questions. Jethro told Moses to pray for the people. To do this effectively he needed to be amongst the people, to listen to their needs and understand their issues (disputes, cases, causes, questions) in order to bring them to God.

Moses, by bringing their disputes to God, was to rely on God’s strength and wisdom (not his own). Moses, by representing and interceding for the people, would increase his love and empathy for the people. It would help him to take his eyes off his own frustrations (with them) and be other-centred.

Two: Teach
Verse 20a: Teach them the decrees and laws…

Provide (intellectual) knowledge (through expounding, preaching, etc.) about what it means to live in right relationship with each other and God (since this is the summary of the Law). Explain what righteousness means in words.

Three: Model
Verse 20b: and show them the way to live…

Live the Godly life (the cruciform life) before (in the midst of) the people. Be the model and example they can follow. Help people to see what righteousness means in actions.

Four: Demonstrate
Verse 20c: [show them] the duties they are to perform.

Demonstrate the duties the people are to perform. Help them to visualise their role and responsibilities, their tasks and obligations. Provide goals and a clear job description. Good leadership shows people what is expected of them. Demonstration should come before delegation.

Five: Delegate
Verses 21-22: But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you.

Select people in accordance with their capability and character, with more emphasis on the latter: trustworthy (faithful), honest, wise (fear of God). The presumption is that Moses (leaders) should be able to identify other leaders. Leaders recruit others. Appoint leaders in accordance with their ability (over 10s – 50s – 100s – 1000s).

I’ve been at WC for more than 6 years serving in a number of different ministries, hosting, 20:20 Vision, and the Change Team. I thought I knew WC fairly well…and in some ways I did…but in some ways I didn’t.

For example, I didn’t know that one member of staff frequently burps at his/her desk and that two male members of staff are closet Celine Dion fans (in the interests of safety, that is my safety, all shall remain anonymous).

In 24 Redemption, in response to a critic, President Noah Daniels says: “Let’s talk after you’ve been sitting in my chair for a while.” He has a point. It’s easy to be an armchair critic. I become one every time England plays a football match. Armed with only half the facts (and despite appreciating the difficult task that various England managers have had) I sometimes think that I could do a better job, when in reality, I would be terrible!

In the same way that we can be football manager armchair critics, we can be church leader armchair critics too. Let’s be honest, we’ve all done it.

But as the chess player Robert Byrnes said: “Until you walk a mile in another man’s moccasins you can’t imagine the smell.”

Sweaty
Well, I think I’ve walked that mile now (as an insider) in the corridors of WC and I can reliably tell you that the smell is sweaty indeed. Everyone, especially our boss, works really, really hard to build the church God wants here. I certainly put in more hours than I did when I was practising as a barrister.

There’s a lot happening back stage; a great deal of which it’s not appropriate to share because it’s quite sensitive. But rest assured we are listening to issues raised and ideas proposed as plans take shape for a very exciting 2010. But in the meantime please be patient with us.

Sweet
The smell of sweat, however, is thankfully balanced by a beautifully sweet aroma. I’ve been so encouraged by the energy and enthusiasm of our staff and members in recent weeks. For example, the servant hearted way that so many people helped out with Antony and Rebecca Hart’s wedding on 21 Nov was awesome! Not to mention the faithful way that so many people serve at the Chapel every week. You really are a fantastic group of people!