In:Dependence

What lessons are there to learn from the Covid-19 inquiry? How can bias in the media help us in church ministry? Is the UK becoming more secular? In this episode, Phil Topham (Executive Director), Adrian Reynolds (Associate National Director), and John Stevens (National Director), discuss stories in the news from the past few weeks. Show notes FIEC Leaders' Conference 2026  (fiec.org.uk) The Stree...

Christmas carols continue to be popular across Western culture. How can we make the most of music at Christmas to build up the church and to reach out to others? In this episode of In:Dependence, Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Associate National Director) is joined by Phil Moore (Cornerstone Church, Nottingham) and Keith Getty (hymn writer and musician) to explore why Christmas carols are so popular, how t...

How can we pastor people with polarising opinions on immigration? Can we pray with Catholics? How should we care for those in later life? In this episode of In:Dependence, Phil Topham (FIEC Executive Director), John Stevens (FIEC National Director), and Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Associate National Director) discuss stories in the news over the past few weeks and what we can learn from them for church...

Our fund raising campaign at the 2025 Leaders' Conference will be for a specific Bible translation project in Africa. In this episode of In:Dependence, Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Associate National Director) is joined by Martin Dixon, the Director for Churches at Wycliffe Bible Translators, to talk about the work of Bible translation across the world and a particular project that we will be collecting...

There are four million people in the UK who say they are followers of Islam. In our rapidly changing communities, how can we reach out to Muslim people with the gospel? Muslim people make up 6% of the UK population (as of 2021), which increase to 15% within London. Reflecting on their experiences in church ministry, Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Associate National Director), Dan Strange (Director of Cross...

How should we continue to pray for Gaza after the ceasefire? What should we make of persecution of Chinese Christians? How do we encourage humility in leadership? In this episode of In:Dependence, Phil Topham (FIEC Executive Director), John Stevens (FIEC National Director), and Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Associate National Director) discuss stories in the news from the past weeks and what we can learn...

Sharing the good news is a joy and a privilege. How can churches pray and prepare for an extended mission of evangelism? "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news" (Isaiah 52:7)! A Passion for Life exists to help churches reach out to their communities with the gospel by equipping, encouraging, and enabling every Christian in their personal witness. This includes a week of...

How do we lead our churches in response to evil like the anti-semitic attack in Manchester? How should Independents respond to the new Archbishop of Canterbury? What can church leaders learn from Europe's Ryder Cup victory? In this episode of In:Dependence, Phil Topham (FIEC Executive Director), John Stevens (FIEC National Director), and Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Associate National Director) discu...

How can we lead our churches through division? What needs to be considered before appointing someone to a role? What is it like to dine with the king? In this episode of In:Dependence, Phil Topham (FIEC Executive Director), John Stevens (FIEC National Director), and Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Associate National Director) discuss stories in the news over the past weeks about what we can learn from them...

What can Angela Rayner's stamp duty mistake teach church leaders? Does the UK have a free speech problem? What does Daniel Levy's exit tell us about trust? In this episode, Adrian Reynolds, Phil Topham, and John Stevens discuss stories in the news and how they relate to church leadership. Show notes FIEC Leaders' Conference 2025  (fiec.org.uk) In:Progress webinars  (fiec.org.uk) Journe...

Can true peace be found? How should we respond to crimes committed by church leaders? Should we pray for good exam results? In this episode of In:Dependence, Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Associate National Director) and Andy Hunter (FIEC Director for Scotland and the North of England) discuss some of the stories in the news and how they might relate to church leadership. Show notes What to know about the...

How can we pray in light of the images coming from the Middle East? How are new online checks good news for our churches? What does a recent Coldplay concert teach us about sin? In this episode of In:Dependence, Phil Topham (FIEC Executive Director), Andy Hunter (FIEC Director for Scotland and the North of England), and John Stevens (FIEC National Director) discuss stories in the news and how they...

What do we mean by 'intercultural church ministry'? What steps can churches make to move from being 'mono-cultural' towards being 'inter-cultural'? Each group of people shares a pattern of doing things: its culture. As cultures from around the world mix more and more, communities can be mono-cultural or multi-cultural. When we read about the great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and to...

How do we lead our churches through a time of uncertainty? What do votes for abortion and assisted suicide tell us about society? How can festivals remind us of the glorious normal? In this episode of In:Dependence, Phil Topham (FIEC Executive Director), Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Associate National Director), and John Stevens (FIEC National Director), discuss stories from the news over the past weeks...

How do we lead our churches well in the use of money? What happens when a tragedy affects the church? What do recent deaths teach us about the changing world? In this episode of In:Dependence, Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Head of National Ministries) and John Stevens (FIEC National Director) discuss stories in the news and what we can learn from them about church leadership. You can get the show notes an...

How can Donald Trump help us to be aware of overstepping? What is the place of masculinity in church? How does integrity affect our ministry? In this episode of In:Dependence, Phil Topham (FIEC Executive Director), Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Head of National Ministries), and John Stevens (FIEC National Director) discuss stories in the news from the past few weeks and how they relate to church leadershi...

How should church leaders think and speak about immigration? How should we engage with the Assisted Dying Bill votes? What does AI teach us about being human? In this episode of In:Dependence, Phil Topham (FIEC Executive Director), Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Head of National Ministries), and John Stevens (FIEC National Director), discuss some of the stories in the news and how they relate to local chur...

The world is changing and the way we reach the world with the gospel is changing. In this episode of In:Dependence, Phil Topham (FIEC Executive Director) and Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Head of National Ministries) discuss the importance of world mission and how this year's Leaders' Conference can help church leaders get it on the agenda in church life. Find out more about the 2025 FIEC Leaders' Confere...

How do we reach Catholics with the true gospel? How should Christians respond to the Supreme Court ruling on gender? What can we learn from Liverpool FC? In this episode of In:Dependence, Phil Topham (FIEC Executive Director), Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Head of National Ministries), and John Stevens (FIEC National Director) discuss the stories in the news of the past weeks and what they can teach us ab...

10.6 million people live in rural communities in Great Britain. If we want to reach all of the country for Christ, we need to reach rural areas. Whether you live and serve in an urban city, a rural community, or anywhere in between, we need to be thinking about reaching people in rural places. In this episode of In:Dependence, Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Head of National Ministries) and Rob Scothern (pa...

What can church leaders learn from Trump's economic u-turn? How can churches freely preach in public? Can we be gospel optimistic for the UK? In this episode of In:Dependence, Phil Topham (FIEC Executive Director), Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Head of National Ministries), and John Stevens (FIEC National Director) discuss stories in the news over the past weeks and how they relate to church leadershi...

Leading a church alongside another salaried job can open opportunities for church planting, smaller church ministry, and more. In this episode, Adrian Reynolds (Head of National Ministries) is joined by Rob Scothern, pastor at Peak Trinity Church in Bakewell, Derbyshire. Rob was involved in planting Peak Trinity whilst also working as a teacher in a local primary school. He shares his story and ex...

How can we balance confidentiality and integrity? Is democracy under attack in Turkey? What are the benefits of independency? In this episode of In:Dependence, Phil Topham (FIEC Executive Director), Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Head of National Ministries), and John Stevens (FIEC National Director) discuss the stories in the news over the past weeks. You can watch a video of this episode and get more res...

How can a nationwide week of evangelistic events equip and help local churches to reach their communities and contacts with the gospel? For fifteen years, A Passion for Life have been equipping, encouraging, and enabling local churches to be involved with a national week of mission events - most recently in 2022 with Life '22. As they gear up for the next week of mission in 2026, Adrian Reynolds i...

What can a Ukraine ceasefire teach us about biblical peace? How can we pastor people well who are affected by welfare cuts and NHS changes? Where can we find the true justice we long for? In this episode of In:Dependence, Phil Topham (FIEC Executive Director), Adrian Reynolds (FIEC Head of National Ministries), and John Stevens (FIEC National Director) discuss stories in the news over the past wee...