February 25 I will have the privilege of participating in a conference for church leaders at Charlotte’s Chapel in Edinburgh, Scotland. “The Call: Leadership Conference” will have as its theme “The Leader as Shepherd” and will take place from 9:30am to 4:00pm. The cost is just £15 which includes lunch and over 10 books on church life (a reduced price of £10 is available for students, retirees, etc.). Full details for booking can be found here.
The speakers and topics are as follows (taken from the website):
The Shepherd’s Soul: Jeremy Walker (video)
This session focuses on the leader’s spiritual condition realizing the necessity of any leader to daily and intimately walk with God to be a qualified, effective leader in the church.
The Shepherd’s Ministry to the Church: Brian Croft (video)
This session discusses the practicality of ministry within the church in areas such as visiting the sick, facing death, caring for widows, discipleship, prayer, accountability and others and how to be most faithful and biblical as we labor in those tasks.
The Shepherd’s Ministry beyond the Church: Matthew Spandler-Davison (video)
This session discusses the Christian leader’s practical ministry outside of the church in areas such as evangelism, mercy ministry, training and sending pastors and missionaries, pastoral networking, local church association, and how to be a faithful display of the gospel as we engage with other churches and the world.
The Shepherd’s Call: Dr. Ray Van Neste (video)
This lesson looks at the call of the shepherd to faithfully love the Lord and love the Lord’s people. We will be challenged to lead with the heart of a shepherd. We will focus on the call of God for Christian leaders to faithfully feed, lead and protect the people of God.
Breakout Sessions:
- Shepherding the family: Liam Garvie (video)
Liam will lead this discussion on the trials, challenges and joys of shepherding your family. - Feeding the Sheep: Dr. Ray Van Neste and Jeremy Walker
The shepherd is primarily tasked with feeding the sheep. This session will discuss the nature, joy and challenge of preaching. - Test, Train and Affirm: Brian Croft and Matthew Spandler-Davison
The church is to be a training ground for pastors, elders and church leaders. Brian and Matthew will share their experience of developing an internship program at their churches.
You can get further information including bios of the speakers and commendations of the conference at the conference website http://thecallconference.org/.
If you are in the area I hope to see you there.