The Carey Conference is a conference for ministers and their wives – which makes it almost unique in the UK.
The conference met at the Hayes, Swanick in Derbyshire, from 5–7 January. The numbers were slightly down this year: this may have been because the main speaker, Mike Bullmore, is perhaps not yet a well-known name in this country. But his ministry to the men and women there was truly outstanding. Mike is the senior pastor at Crossway Community Church, Kenosha, near Chicago. He taught preaching at nearby Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, but then 17 years ago felt the call of God to plant a church with the help of some Trinity students. The church now numbers 1200 and they have recently planted another. Mike is one of the behind-the-scenes ‘founding fathers’ of the hugely influential Gospel Coalition and has a wealth of both ability and experience that the evangelical scene in Britain would be wise to tap into.
Functioning gospel
Mike’s theme was ‘The functional centrali-ty of the gospel.’ The phrase ‘gospel-centred’ has become something of a cliché in current evangelicalism, but the way the gospel of Christ dying for our sins should connect into our thought processes and so influence our behaviour (and indeed provide power by which we can positively make progress as Christians and as churches) was opened up in a way which was breathtaking, practical and hugely encouraging for everyone who had the privilege of being there. It is the pastor’s job to know and minister those ‘gospel connections’ into every situation which the people of his flock might face. And Mike went on to do just that for men and their wives involved in pastoral ministry, applying his main thesis to the shaping of pastoral character and to fighting the temptations peculiar to pastors and preachers. Listeners felt they had been X-rayed by the Word of God, some visibly squirming in their seats as their hearts were exposed, but also rejoicing with encouragement as they were led afresh to the cross of Christ. Many were left thinking: ‘Please come back soon, Mike!’
