FIEC leaders’ conference: transforming church

John Cleese, playing the ever-exasperated Basil Fawlty of Fawlty Towers, memorably enquired: ‘Well, Madam, may I ask what you expected to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House perhaps? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically before you...’

If the sarcastic tirade had continued, I wonder how long it would have taken for Cleese to get to the line – ‘814 church leaders in the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches’. And yet from 13-15 November, from my Torquay hotel window, there they were… all descending on the Riviera Conference Centre!

However, it was not the vast number of delegates (the highest yet), the stunning views of Torbay (also enjoyed from my hotel window), nor the significant upgrade on Hemsby holiday village (the somewhat grungy old home of the FIEC Leaders’ Conference), that were the most inspiring aspects. Rather, the ‘Transforming Church’ conference was encouraging on a number of other fronts.

Stirring sermons

Firstly, there were the main talks from Thabiti Anyabwile (Anacostia River Church, Washington DC), who did an excellent job of expositing and applying Acts 2, Titus 2-3, and 2 Corinthians 3.

From Acts 2, which was widely accepted to be his most uplifting talk, Anyabwile reminded us of how the early church was transformed through a simple but robust understanding of how God’s people should live together – ‘I meet lots of young church planters who have no doctrine of the church. If you have no doctrine of the church… what are you planting? These old ways here in Acts 2, these ordinary means of grace… prayer meetings and meals together… the sharing of fellowship and possessions… transform church. It may be a pragmatic mind that is saying to you, as you read this text, this just won’t work, but, my friend, you have forgotten the old ways!’

His second talk, on Titus 2-3, had a similarly noteworthy challenge to my generation: ‘Have we moved away from good works in seeking to protect the gospel, but at the expense of the ethical imperatives? Surely local churches need to recapture the importance of good works.’

In his final talk, during his exposition of 2 Corinthians 3, Thabiti honestly shared a period of ministerial discouragement and inertia (a time when he had been tempted to stop transforming), and how he was sustained both by his encouraging wife, Kristie, and his personal relationship with the Lord.

Superb seminars

The second encouraging aspect of the conference was the variety of excellent practical seminars and special lectures. Thabiti’s wife, Kristie Anyabwile, headed up a ministry track for the many women who attended the Conference. Michael Reeves (Union School of Theology) gave a lecture on the Reformation, and led two seminars on the devotional life of the pastor. Mark Lawrence (Christ Church, Dunstable) guided discussions on leading a local church through change. While, even more practically, Colin Webster (Cornerstone Church, Nottingham) and Caroline Eade (FIEC Practical Services) ran respective seminars on church worship and pressing legal matters.

During this time I attended a seminar stream on ‘The Theology of the Public Square’, based on Jonathan Leeman’s insightful book Political Church, and led by David Shaw (FIEC Theological Adviser). This, for me, was another highlight.

Spurring each other on

But the third, and perhaps most encouraging aspect of the conference was the fellowship. For, in some ways, local church leadership is a call to local loneliness.

Notwithstanding a plurality of godly elders to lead with, many pastors quickly realise that the responsibility to shepherd comes with a degree of separation from the sheep. Consequently, one of the best aspects of the conference was the significant free time to catch up, spur on, and pray with others in ministry. In fact, for me, one of the stand out moments was spending two hours sitting on a staircase talking to Steve Palframan (Aigburth Community Church). There we prayerfully shared encouragements and arduous pastoral cases from the past year. Steve was my UCCF staff worker when I was involved with the Christian Union at the University of Birmingham. I hadn’t seen him for 15 years, but after just a few minutes we were right back to where we were. Steve was giving me great advice and encouragement. Such comradeship is surely one of the keys to an enduring Christian ministry.

Sincere send-off

Indeed this ministerial camaraderie was present throughout the conference and was particularly exemplified in a time of thanksgiving for Richard Underwood, who was retiring from the job of Pastoral Ministries Director.

Richard, who has served the FIEC for 13 years, left at Christmas after serving the Fellowship first as General Secretary and then latterly as a Director. In his most recent role Richard oversaw the Pastors’ Network – FIEC’s accreditation body for ministers. During his farewell interview, he and his wife, Pippa, were presented with a book full of appreciations, photographs, and memories from Richard’s time serving churches in the FIEC family. John Stevens, FIEC National Director, said: ‘Richard’s love for pastors has been astonishing and it has been quite an achievement to grow the Pastors’ Network and turn it into a genuine band of brothers, men in ministry who love one another and support one another. And we are so grateful to Pippa because we know that she has been unstintingly supporting Richard and has borne much of the hidden cost of his ministry.’ Johnny Prime (formerly pastor at Enfield Evangelical Free Church) was announced as Richard’s successor as Pastoral Ministries Director.

Better leaders

Overall, the conference was superbly run and a wonderful encouragement. John Stevens’ parting words summed up our time together: ‘My prayer is that God would make us better leaders. Leaders who are godly, revering his name and encouraging others to delight in him as well. If, by God’s grace, we can learn to lead well, then our churches will be transformed and we can dare to hope that we might have some gospel impact in our nation.’