REACH, BUILD, SEND:
A Pattern for Anglican Ministry
Edited by Lee Gatiss
Lost Coin Books. 130 pages. £3.00
ISBN 978 1 999 327 040
This edited collection of chapters, originally given as papers at the Junior Anglican Evangelical Conference, applies the teaching of the New Testament concerning the bread-and-butter of what a local church is called to do, and the wisdom gleaned from years of relevant experience, to the particular setting of Church of England parish churches today.
Churches are to reach out (evangelism), build up (discipleship), and send out (the training and deployment of leaders to other churches and the mission field).
Alongside four chapters that each comprise an exposition of a pertinent New Testament passage (two by Lee Gatiss, and one each by current serving bishops Paul G. Williams and Rod Thomas), are addresses by experienced Anglican practitioners on evangelism (Glen Scrivener), discipleship (Mark Burkill), and raising up and releasing new leaders (Paul A. Williams). A final chapter on ‘Resilience’ by Kirsten Birkett complements the preceding ones by reminding Christian leaders of the importance of gospel-wrought gratitude and Scripture-informed self-care, if the ambitious and at times stressful calling to lead a church in reaching out, building up, and sending out is not to lead to disaffection or burn out.
Without a doubt, there is plenty of material in this short book to edify, encourage, and challenge the Free Church pastor – particularly Scrivener’s insights on the local church as ‘God’s own mission strategy’, and Paul A. Williams’ persuasive appeal to prioritise the costly ministry of investing in potential leaders whom you intend eventually to send away – but it is a book that ‘leans in’ (to varying degrees) to Anglican polity and theology. To have made it more generally useful would have made it less particularly useful to its primary ‘target market’.
Because the chapters originated as talks, it is an easy read: straightforward evangelical exegesis combined with practical wisdom and illustrative examples. All members of a PCC or equivalent should be able to profit from it, and reading it to discuss together might refresh vision for and generate ideas in discharging the primary spiritual responsibilities of the church they serve.
