European Leadership Forum 2

This is a full on conference, with not much time to spare, and most of that is spent with men and women from a variety of countries and churches. There is so much to say, and so much to digest that this will only be a very brief outline of some of the things that are happening.

The seminar yesterday on Developing Elders was a fruitful time. We began by considering some secular views of Leadership before turning to the scriptural view. One of the basic Biblical models of leadership is the Shepherd. Here we need to do more than consider the superficial idea – we need to understand the ancient middle eastern concept of shepherd, before tying it in with the scriptural references about God being the Shepherd of Israel, and the patterns given to us in various passages of the Bible. We then considered 1 Timothy 3:1 – 7, and set this in the context of how to develop the leadership qualities listed here.
Tom Streeter shared some of his own experience as he expounded the idea of a plurality of Elders, equal in authority, leading the local congregation. The whole process of developing such men began with discipling men. This is in small groups of men who meet weekly for a time of study together. The curriculum involves three elements – church history, theology and developing a world view. These sessions develop friendships and give opportunities for the pastor to learn what sort of people they are. In these groups some would come to the fore as candidates for leadership.
We listed the qualities expected of the leaders, and considered how to test these within the context of our own situations.

Mealtimes are interesting. We are placed on tables of six, and I am responsible for caring for those on my table. They are one American who is a missionary in Torrino in Italy, another who is based in Slovakia, and helps to arrange for and support both long term missionaries in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary. Then we have a sister who is a medical health worker in Serbia. The church is facing all sorts of difficulties at present there, but she has access to many people, and is here to learn more about evangelism. She works with two friends whi I already know in Serbia. Finally we have two brothers from Norway.

The evening session brought everyone together to worship and part of that worship was listening to the ministry of Nick Nedelchev, a senior Bulgarian leader. His humour and spiritual insught combined to show us how fear can paralyse, but also can be our friend as we replace our own unscriptural fears with the fear of God, and challenge the Europe which is full of fears at present.

Following this session a group of us went down to the town of Eger to sit in one of the number of restaurant/bars on the streets. I ended up in a discussion with an Irishman, a Dane, and three Americans on the financial crisis and the opportunities it affords to us for proclaiming better riches than the world offers.

Sunday began with breakfast in the open air under the sun with Steve, a UCCF staff worker from England, Teuta who is a girl from Albania, and conversations also with Lindsay Brown, a brother from Zagreb who knows my daughter, and others.

John Lennox then led a Bible study. John is a Proffessor of Mathematics at Oxford University, one who has publicly debated with Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, and is an accomplished speaker on the Bible. He is looking at Joseph this week, but today was an overview of Genesis as a backdrop for what is to come. It was a different look at Genesis, helping us to see the worldview of the book – God as Creator/upholder and as object of faith. This is in open opposition to the secular atheism we encounter today, and the question all have to face is – Do we believe this God.

Then came a three hour session in our workshop tracks – mine being evangelism. We began by introducing ourselves which was in itself interesting. Among those who are there was one who did not seem sure of his name. He was a Muslim, converted six months ago, and his name used to be Iman, but he has changed it now to Immanuel. Michael Ramsden who leads the workshop then led us into an introduction as to why we should be concerned with apologetics and what is that apologetic which is scriptural. It was a chalenging introduction, with a call to sepond to 1 Peter 3:15&16. Some people give their lives to give the reason for the hope that is in them. How will we respond when we meet them in eternity! What excuses will we try to give for our silence. The church in Europe seems to have lost its voice and we need to rediscover it.
Following a much needed coffee, we then asked each other what was the question we would least want a non-believer to ask us. Then we tried to look at these questions and ask Why would someone ask these questions; What could we ask them, and How would we answer them. We split into groups of three to look at these, before coming back to share with each other.

What a morning, and I have only just started the conference! More to come before long.