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.
By contrast Paul’s ministry was not like that, and nor is the ministry of many pastors today. We know what it is to feel very unimpressive, rejected and worn out. But this is authentic ministry. We carry the treasure of Christ and the gospel in battered jars of clay – Mike memorably produced a bottle of champagne in a torn supermarket plastic bag. And it has to be this way so that the focus is on Christ – the champagne rather than the bag – and the glory goes to him not the preacher. ‘Authentic ministry will always take us to the end of our resources.’ As a working pastor and the editor of a Christian newspaper I found this spot on. Many people would like EN to carry only success stories and not mention the many incidents of persecution around the world. Paul would see that as a ‘Corinthian’ attitude.
Preaching the glory
The second main session saw Sinclair Ferguson speak, on two mornings, on ‘Preaching and the Glory of God’. Besides his mellow Scottish tones which are lovely on the ear, there was a great depth to his messages. He suggested the writing of a preacher’s catechism which would begin: ‘What is the chief end of preaching?’ ‘The chief end of preaching is to glorify God so that other people might enjoy him for ever.’ Preaching is the great vehicle for glorifying God because God has ordained it so and through the preaching of the word Jesus himself is preaching (Romans 10.14; Ephesians 2.17). He had lots of one-liner applications which left hearers yearning ‘give us more!’
On the last morning, Vaughan Roberts gave a short biography of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Anglicans generally seem to find the doctor a little bit out of their comfort zone with his emphasis on the purity of the church, revival and the power of the Spirit. But Vaughan did a great job in limited time and showed a lot of sympathy with his subject.
Afternoons
I was involved with my wife Ann in leading one of the afternoon seminars, so I’m not able to report on the others first-hand. But everyone we spoke to very much enjoyed all they experienced. John Woodhouse, from Moore College, took his seminar through 2 Samuel and a friend who was there was thrilled: ‘I learned a lot’, he said. The three late-afternoon slots were taken by William Taylor of St Helen’s, John Stevens of FIEC and Richard Coekin of the Co-Mission churches. Their titles were, ‘A Glorious God’, ‘A Glorious Message’ and ‘A Glorious Future’.
EMA attracts a great many young pastors and young men and women preparing for Christian service. This a wonderful to see. The book room was also a great pleasure with 10ofThose providing an Aladdin’s cave of excellent Christian reading and promoting literature support for Christian work overseas.
