July 8-10 saw the second year of the experiment to relocate the Evangelical Ministers’ Conference to London’s Barbican Centre.
It is a venue with lots of space and dignity about it, and though many people loved the buzz of the old days the acres of room at the Barbican makes it a much better experience than playing sardines at St Helen’s. However, going for a well-used secular venue does have it’s difficulties. The Barbican had double-booked (with Sir Simon Rattle I was told) and so EMA had to be deferred two weeks from its original place in the calendar. This was reflected in the slightly fewer numbers who attended. That was a shame because these were great conference days.
Corinthian ‘face’
The title this year was ‘Removing the veil: the glory of God and the preaching of the gospel’. The theme was timely and the right note was struck each morning with the opening exposition given by Mike Cain, senior pastor of Emmanuel Church, Bristol. He took us through 2 Corinthians 3 & 4 with careful exegesis, pertinent application and illustration. The problem with the Corinthians was that, influenced by the culture around them, they made much of ‘face’, that is outward appearances. They tended to see glory in terms of large numbers, glossy resources, pulpit superstars and ‘success’. Evangelicalism in this country at present has imbibed the ‘Corinthian’ outlook.
