FIEC Resources for Church Leaders

Churches must have continued confidence in the gospel as a message about a person: Jesus. If Jesus has been raised from the dead, it is the most important news in the cosmos. We need to share this news with every country and culture. Just as for Peter in Acts 2:22-41, our message must be Jesus: his life, his death, his resurrection, and his exaltation. This message is the third of four given at th...

The coming of the Holy Spirit empowers believers to witness and cuts through cultural boundaries. Acts 2:1-21 signals the first fruits of the era of the Spirit and the mission to go to the ends of the earth. The gospel is preached cross-culturally, with power, by those we'd least expect. The church today has this same power, from the Holy Spirit, to be witnesses to Jesus and to reach out to th...

Jesus calls the church to move out with the gospel from where it is to the ends of the earth. In Acts 1:1-26, we read Jesus' call to his disciples to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The call of local churches today, then, is to take the gospel out from the centre, across cultures, to all nations. And each time to goes out like this, the lo...

Life as a planter's wife can be stressful, lonely, and tiring. How can they maintain their joy and continue to thrive in their relationships with God, their husband, and others? Relationships within the church, pressures on their husband, and spiritual exhaustion can make life as a ministry wife - especially in a church plant - stressful and difficult. Yet, it is possible for ministry wives to mai...

How do we appropriately reflect and embody the different cultures in our churches? Jesus' commission to the church was to make disciples of all nations, to the ends of the earth. To reach all nations, and to serve all nations, we need to better reflect the diverse cultures represented. But, our cultural lies, blind spots, and biases can be barriers to making this happen, and worse can cause di...

How can we create good feedback loops and avoid feeling overly sensitive to criticism? The book of Proverbs encourages us to get wisdom and feedback (Proverbs 15:22, 15:31). It is important to cultivate a culture of feedback in church life to benefit from the wisdom of the whole body of the church. Such a culture creates an environment where people feel able to bring their concerns and where encou...

The more training and knowledge you have, the more helpful you will be as you serve those in your church. So what kind of training should you do? This talk is one of the Snapshots from Journeys 2025, addressing what it's like to be in ministry and the skills required. Graham Beynon is FIEC's Head of Local Ministries, helping churches and their leaders by managing our team of Local Director...

Finding the right role to serve in at church is important. What do we need to think about as we consider what role is right for us? The SHAPE acronym can help when considering roles in the church: Spiritual gifts; Heart; Abilities; Personality; Experiences. Finding a role that plays to your strengths in these areas will enable you to be most effective in your ministry. This talk is one of the Snap...

Church ministry is always changing, and we are always changing too. How can we embrace and enjoy change as it happens? This talk is one of the Snapshots from Journeys 2025, addressing what it's like to be in ministry and the skills required. Dawn Thomson serves as the Outreach and Women's Worker at Spen Valley Church in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, which she helped plant with her husband G...

Church ministry is the best work in the world. But in a sense it is the hardest work in the world too. The nature of Christian ministry is a mixture of the sound of the shouts of joy with the sound of weeping (Ezra 3:13). Sometimes in the same person and even in the same event. It is a Christian discipline to seek out the joys whilst being realistic about the burdens and committing them to God. Ad...

Serving in ministry can be a threat to our godliness. We must keep growing and take care not to wither. In his pastoral letters, Paul often urges gospel ministers to be godly in their conduct and lives. Being a church leader doesn't mean we stop needing to grow in godliness. Yet, church ministry itself can make it harder to grow in godliness. It can even cause us to wither instead of grow. Wha...

Church ministry can be isolating and lonely. But true friendship strengthens us, lifts us, and brings us joy. True friendship is valuable because it is faithful, truthful, intentional, forgiving, and joyful. We have the truest friend in Jesus: the one who is with us through ups and downs, and who gives joy that can't be taken away. Elinor Magowan works as one of FIEC's Directors for Women’...

What do you need to know about church ministry before you go into church ministry? This talk is one of the Snapshots from  Journeys 2025 , addressing what it's like to be in ministry and the skills required. About Journeys : Journeys is our weekender for men and women who are considering their next steps into Christian ministry. About FIEC : We are⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ a fellowship o...

Prayer needs to be relational, from the heart, and full of awe and wonder. Prayer can become a function of church ministry, a task we need to get better at. True prayer comes from a desire to be with Jesus and an awe at who he is. This talk from Jonathan Bond, FIEC's Director for Smaller Churches, is one of the Snapshots from Journeys 2025, addressing what it's like to be in ministry and t...

The call for all gospel teachers is to present the bride of Christ, prepared for marriage, and to see the joy that it brings. The gospel is the greatest love story: the love between Christ and the church. The word is how the church is cleansed, purified, and prepared for marriage. So, teaching the word to the church is the great call for all gospel teachers. This talk from Ian Hughes (pastor at Gw...

As we learn to love people, we need to hold onto the Lord of love who loved us first. Love is a big part of church ministry. It is costly yet joyful, and can only be done as we look to Jesus who loved us first. This talk, from Fiona Hamilton (Pastoral Worker at Trinity Church, Oxford), is one of the Snapshots from Journeys 2025, addressing what it's like to be in ministry and the skills required....

It is right to ask whether you have what it takes for church ministry. You don't. But Jesus does and will give you the grace you need. The "super-apostles" in the Corinthian church saw their power for ministry in physical strength and social status. Paul teaches in 2 Corinthians 11:16-12:10 that true power for ministry comes from Christ, not us. He is, therefore, able to boast in his sufferings an...

In 2 Corinthians 11:1-15, Paul sets a pattern for gospel ministry, summarising his work as presenting the church as a faithful bride to Christ. He teaches what the goal of ministry is, what its heart is, and what the means are by which he works. As men and women consider going into church ministry, understanding the big picture of the purpose of ministry will help make the right decisions and keep...

How do you identify, train, and encourage volunteers to work in the serving tasks of church life? How can lay leaders serve the church in the work of serving: looking after the church building; managing budgets; caring for the physical needs of the church; ensuring safety in meetings; creating a comfortable place to meet? You can watch a video of this talk and get more resources for church leaders...

How do you identify, train, and encourage volunteers to work in the shepherding tasks of church life? How can lay leaders serve the church in the work of shepherding: the ministry of the word; prayer; care for the sick and grieving; care for widows; care for "weaker brothers and sisters"? You can watch a video of this talk and get more resources for church leaders on the FIEC website: ht...

As we "equip the saints for the work of ministry" (Ephesians 4:12 ESV), how do we identify the right place and way for them to serve? Everyone has a part to play in church life: men, women, young, old, slaves, masters (Titus 2:1-10). As we seek to identify places for them to serve and to grow, it is helpful to see two categories of church life: shepherding and serving. You can watch a video of thi...

There are two offices named in the New Testament. How do we distinguish between elders and deacons? Qualifications for the offices of elders and deacons are described in 1 Timothy 3:1-13. There are five main similarities and three main differences. You can watch a video of this talk and get more resources for church leaders on the FIEC website: https://fiec.org.uk/resources/distinguishing-elders-a...

To know who should lead in the church and how we should equip them to lead, we need to think about the distinctions between authority and leadership. It's a blessing to have people in our churches willing to volunteer for service in church life. To help us find, identify, and equip volunteers to lead in the church, we need to think about two topics: Authority   helps us know who is in charge i...

In the wisdom literature of the Bible we are introduced to a number of different characters who we may recognise in our own church ministry. FIEC Head of Local Ministries Graham Beynon speaks with Zack Eswine, a pastor in Missouri, USA, and author of a new book on Proverbs, about how we can use what we learn in wisdom literature to help pastor those in our churches. This interview was produced for...

Many of us are regularly preaching through books of the Bible. Some are more daunting than others, even though we know “all Scripture is useful.” Job is a particularly relevant book as people struggle with the topic of suffering. Eric Ortlund , lecturer in Old Testament and Hebrew at  Oak Hill College , gives a very basic introduction to the joys and challenges of preaching through Job. This semin...