Proclaimer Blog
Songs from Spring Wives 2018
There are always a lot of people of people who ask for a list of the songs from our conferences.
Here is the song list from Spring Wives 2018 from last week.
- Behold the Power of His Word – Co-Mission
- By Faith – Keith & Kristyn Getty
- Everlasting Arms – Lou Fellingham
- He Will Hold Me Fast – Matt Merker
- It is Well – Horatio Spafford
- No other Name – Trevor Hodge
- O Great God – Sovereign Grace
- Rejoice – Dustin Kensure
- Salvation’s Song – Stuart Townend
- Thank you for Saving Me – Martin Smith
- There is a Higher Throne – Keith and Kristyn Getty
- This is Amazing Grace – phil Wickham
- We Rest on Thee – Edith G. Cherry
Proclaimer Blog
Appointment of Carrie Sandom full-time from September
The trustees of The Proclamation Trust are delighted to announce that Carrie Sandom will be working for the Trust full-time from September.
Carrie has been our part-time Director of Women’s ministry since 2015, whilst also working for St John’s Tunbridge Wells. Carrie already runs our Women in Ministry conference and a number of training events for women, and oversees the women on the Cornhill Training Course.
Given the recent growth of Cornhill in particular, and the wider need to train women who hold a complementarian view of ministry, the trustees are clear that a part-time role is no longer sufficient, and are delighted that Carrie has agreed to join us full-time.
If you missed Jon’s recent interview with her (published on this blog), you can find it here.
Proclaimer Blog
St. Helen’s North Kensington – Cornhill Mission 6/7
The Core (final year) Cornhill Students recently went on Missions mostly in the UK but also overseas. It is a chance for them to experience different ministry contexts and be blessed by a local church congregation and be a blessing to them in return. We asked the mission teams to write a short report about what they got up to.
We had a great week at St Helen’s in North Kensington. It was the first mission week the church has had since 1986, and they had planned a super week of events themed around the idea of Friendship with God.
We were able to go alone to the monthly Ladies Friendship group, where we enjoyed chatting with the regular attenders and a massive plate of cheese and cake! On Saturday, we held a gala dinner in the church, again, with lots of food and a evangelistic challenge at the end of the evening on how friendship with God is possible. It was great to be part of a week that geared the church up for it first mission in a long time and to meet the regular congregation who were inviting their friends and work colleagues to Christian events for the first time!
Please pray forSt. Helen’s Church North Kensington and also for our Core Students as they consider their next steps after the summer.
If you are interested in applying to Cornhill for Sept 2018, then please click here.
Proclaimer Blog
Grace Church Brockley – Cornhill Missions 5/7
The Core (final year) Cornhill Students recently went on Missions mostly in the UK but also overseas. It is a chance for them to experience different ministry contexts and be blessed by a local church congregation and be a blessing to them in return. We asked the mission teams to write a short report about what they got up to.
“What if we were made for love?” was the title of the evangelistic Bible study, led very ably by Richard, to conclude our 4 day mission week on the theme of love.
To see how different, and how much more desirable, the Bible’s account of the purpose of our existence is compared to the modern day orthodoxy that is naturalism. It was helpful and illuminating to go back to the beginning and to the beautiful creation account in Genesis 2. I am sure I can speak on behalf of all the leaders present in saying that the 14-18 year old participants were a real encouragement in their engagement with the Bible study and with the subsequent “Grill a Christian” panel (which could have gone on all night!).
We could thank God for similar encouragements at Fiona’s evangelistic women’s event, where she gave a talk on love in Luke 7 to a number of guests, as well as my evangelistic youth talk on John 3:16.
During the day, we had been doing home visits and praying for God to be working through us and in the hearts of those we were able to engage with at their front doors. Praise God that as a result of those visits, a few came to the evangelistic events and we pray, as a result of the continuing witness of Grace Church Brockley, that God’s word will continue to be sown in people’s hearts, to grow and yield a hundredfold ! (Luke 8:8).
Please pray for Grace Church Brockley and also for our Core Students as they consider their next steps after the summer.
If you are interested in applying to Cornhill for Sept 2018, then please click here.
Proclaimer Blog
Nepal – Cornhill Mission 4/7
The Core (final year) Cornhill Students recently went on Missions mostly in the UK but also overseas. It is a chance for them to experience different ministry contexts and be blessed by a local church congregation and be a blessing to them in return. We asked the mission teams to write a short report about what they got up to.
Luke Cornish and I (Toby Martin) had a great time serving on a Crosslinks/Langham Preachers’ Training Programme in Kathmandu, Nepal! The church is growing rapidly, with increasing numbers of indigenous pastor-teachers and evangelists, but very few of these gospel workers are trained in expository preaching. So, Neil Watkinson has been running these weeks of training in Kathmandu for a number of years.
The programme is an introduction to expository preaching, and includes a Bible overview, sessions on theme and aim sentences, sermon structure. There are also workshops where groups work together on theme and aim sentences for Bible passages, and model expositions on those passages. Luke and I were asked to give a ‘chapel talk’ each (similar to Cornhill morning expositions) and two ‘model expositions’ each. The course was attended by a combination of undergraduate students at Bible college, and gospel workers (pastors/evangelists).
I was hugely encouraged by the growth of the church in Nepal. At a time when we are told that evangelical churches in the UK are at 0% net growth, it is very heartening to hear many stories of people coming to Christ from Hindu and Buddhist backgrounds in Nepal – praise God!
But it was also wonderful to see how much people value this kind of training. One evangelist from the east of Nepal, Dinesh, said to me that his journey home would be 17 hours on a bus, 11 hours in another vehicle after that, and a 4 hour walk to finish off. He was full of joy at the training he had received and was eager to preach to people when he got back. Others on his team said they were going to share the training with several others on their evangelism team.
And yet, as we were reminded as we walked along the streets, there were idols everywhere. From our hotel we could see a large Buddhist temple, and there were images of Hindu gods in many of the shops by the side of the road. So there remains much work for God’s people in Nepal. But praise Jesus that so many people are coming to the obedience of faith!
Please pray for Nepal and also for our Core Students as they consider their next steps after the summer.
If you are interested in applying to Cornhill for Sept 2018, then please click here.
Proclaimer Blog
St. Anne’s Limehouse – Cornhill Missions 3/7
The Core (final year) Cornhill Students recently went on Missions mostly in the UK but also overseas. It is a chance for them to experience different ministry contexts and be blessed by a local church congregation and be a blessing to them in return. We asked the mission teams to write a short report about what they got up to.
We had a fantastic week helping the team at St Anne’s Church in Limehouse with their mission.
It’s a massively diverse area with seasoned East Enders, young city-working professionals, a huge Bangladeshi community and everything in between. The events ranged from evangelistic discussion in a coffee shop, to a family film night, to a men’s breakfast on life to the full, to a night with pie and mash and a rapper come pastor, as well as a great evangelistic Sunday service with Rico Tice.
The team helped reach the local area through door-knocking, teaching at the local school, speaking at all the events, helping setup and serve at the events, praying, and getting alongside people to talk about Jesus throughout. It was a great week of getting out of our comfort zones, seeing what God is doing in another part of London, hearing amazing testimonies about God’s grace, and growing as we served as different parts of Christ’s body together. What a week!
Please pray for St. Anne’s Limehouse and also for our Core Students as they consider their next steps after the summer.
If you are interested in applying to Cornhill for Sept 2018, then please click here.
Proclaimer Blog
Grace Church Sydenham – Cornhill Missions 2/7
The Core (final year) Cornhill Students recently went on Missions mostly in the UK but also overseas. It is a chance for them to experience different ministry contexts and be blessed by a local church congregation and be a blessing to them in return. We asked the mission teams to write a short report about what they got up to.
We give thanks to the Lord for a packed few days at Grace Church Sydenham. Our trip included a Vegan and Superfood Bistro event, coffee cart street evangelism and church family ‘billet’ dinners.
As a team we learnt about the importance of being ready to suffer for the gospel. There were lots of occasions where we were rejected by people at their front doors, or rejected while flyering in the freezing cold and rain. However amidst this hardship we also had the absolute joy of sharing the good news of Jesus with others who were seemingly more open – there is a profound joy in evangelism!!
We were also greatly blessed by the incredible hospitality and rich fellowship we enjoyed with the church. This taught us much about the unity that strangers experience when they have Jesus in common – we were so grateful to them for welcoming and loving us so warmly.
Please pray for Grace Church Sydenham and also for our Core Students as they consider their next steps after the summer.
If you are interested in applying to Cornhill for Sept 2018, then please click here.
Proclaimer Blog
Sherbornes with Pamber – Cornhill Missions 1/7
The Core (final year) Cornhill Students recently went on Missions mostly in the UK but also overseas. It is a chance for them to experience different ministry contexts and be blessed by a local church congregation and be a blessing to them in return. We asked the mission teams to write a short report about what they got up to.
Our time at Sherbornes with Pamber (just north of Basingstoke) was filled with a wide variety of events, both big and small, where we were able to speak of Jesus and share the gospel, under the theme of Hope in a Hopeless World.
We enjoyed being put on the spot during the question time at the local primary school, and later that evening at the event in the local pub. Some of us visited a local care home, whilst others joined the Mum’s and Young Children for the afternoon tea. Over the weekend, there were parties for all the children and youth that we were able to join in with. Saturday morning was spent helping at a men’s breakfast, followed by a women’s coffee morning and finished with a Saturday night quiz. Our Cornhill team ran the entire Sunday morning service and this was followed by a bring-and-share lunch.
It was great to be able to encourage the church in proclaiming the gospel and living for Jesus, and for ourselves to be encouraged by the ways that Sherbornes with Pamber is going this. It was also a great reminder that we do not always have time to prepare an answer, but can always give the reason for the hope that we have when asked.
by Kirsten Parker
Please pray for Sherbornes with Pamber and also for our Core Students as they consider their next steps after the summer.
If you are interested in applying to Cornhill for Sept 2018, then please click here.
Proclaimer Blog
Down not Out – [Chris Cipollone]
Here is a book written not by a Psychologist but by a sufferer – a Christian sufferer. Cipollone is a Christian Minister who has experienced and continues to live with anxiety and depression. Chris uses his personal story to walk the reader through the process of understanding and addressing the multi-faceted nature of mental illness. He asks the hard questions that every sufferer and their carers ask. He tackles openly and honestly the issues that are sometimes taboo: Brokenness; feelings; attack; idols; suicide; healing and more.
Whilst Cipollone shamelessly shares his own story, at each point he also speaks God’s Word of truth into each situation. This is not a book that revolves around the author, it is a book that points to Jesus and reminds the reader of their Identity in Him. This is not done in a heavy, preachy way, but with accessible sensitivity and compassion. Cipollone carefully draws on passages from a variety of biblical genres to provide teaching, correction, empathy, encouragement and hope. By dividing this short book into small bitesize chunks with one word titles, the author has made this book an easy read for the person already feeling “down”. He clearly understands the limited capacity of the sufferer and the need to speak eternal bitesize truths into a particular moment in time.
As someone prone to having “downs”, I found this book extremely helpful. It is honest and real about how bad it feels and yet uncompromising in speaking the truth of the gospel of Jesus. This is what we all need and Cipollone does this with empathy and grace.
The brevity of the book does mean that there is a danger of a lack of depth. This can be read all too speedily and then quickly forgotten. However, each chapter ends with “Reflection” which no doubt aims to slow the reader down and digest each bite.
If you are looking for a more clinical book with definitions, causes, symptoms and treatments – look elsewhere. This is a book for a Christian sufferer and those who love them and who want to better understand how the great gospel of Jesus speaks mightily but gently into the hearts of those with a broken mind.
by Rebekah Brown
Reading level: Very accessible and easy to read.
Price: RRP £7.99
ISBN: 9781784981419
Publisher: The Good Book Company
Rating: *****
Proclaimer Blog
Preacher’s Profile [Nigel Styles]
This is the fifth in our Preacher’s Profile Series. This time we asked Nigel Styles, the PT Director of Cornhill some questions about his life and preaching ministry.
Since April 2016, Nigel has been Director of the Cornhill Training Course in London. Previously, he was involved in church leadership for over 35 years, most recently as Senior Minster of Emmanuel Church Bramcote, Nottingham. He is enthusiastic to hear the Bible taught well and loves watching its impact in people’s lives.
Nigel is married to Lizzie, and they have six children and nine grandchildren. He loves music, theatre and contemporary fiction. Nigel wishes he’d been a Blue Peter presenter.
1) When did you preach your first sermon and how long have you been preaching?
I don’t remember my first sermon, but I do remember my first sermon in front of Dick Lucas. It was in a preaching group at one of the very earliest Proclamation Trust conferences at Fairmile Court. My ‘gobbett’ was 1 Corinthians 10:12-13. I had no idea what I was doing and cobbled something together from the Tyndale commentary. My two points were: ‘1. this is a warning’ and ‘2. this is an encouragement’. Dick’s single comment at the end was ‘Well, I think you’ve got to decide which it is, brother’. Brilliantly incisive!
2) What was your journey to preaching ministry?
After working as an actor in a Christian Theatre company, and then as a Music Director in a local church, I ended up at that Fairmile Court preaching conference. It was the first time someone had taught me how to be able to understand the Bible and teach it to others. It was exhilarating. After some years working at St Helens Bishopsgate, I grew in conviction about the powerful effectiveness of God’s word and that I wanted to give my life to teach it to others.
3) Describe the congregation/setting you regularly preach to.
In my role at Cornhill, I’m ‘on my feet’ with Bible in hand most days. But my preaching is mostly now as a visiting preacher (- I prefer church weekends to a single sermon), and sometimes at the home church we attend as a family.
4) What are you currently preaching on/through?
I’ve always tried to have ‘a Book of the Year’. In local church ministry, I obviously was preaching from more than one Bible book over the course of a year, but I tried to have one Bible book that I’d keep coming back to, and that I’d preach from whenever I had the chance. In my role now, that’s much easier to maintain. It’s been Daniel for the last 18 months. And I’m just moving on to 2 Timothy.
5) What is your regular rhythm of sermon preparation, your usual process and how you schedule it in during the week?
I aim to get ahead with my ‘Book of the Year’ by reading it in personal quiet times, or going through it at church staff meetings about 6-18 months ahead. Then I give some good time to ‘overview’ the whole book during the quieter summer months (as a preview for the new academic year). I use an A5 notebook and, in the first section of that book, write up anything and everything I discover. I’d aim to end that initial overview with three things clear: some sense of the ‘Melodic Line’ of the book (ie main subject), the pastoral intention of the author (ie purpose), and sections for preaching it. (I break all my own rules, and read commentaries at this early stage … and always read at least two or three!)
Then I divide the rest of my notebook into those preaching sections. When I come to preach on that particular passage, I’ve already got some clear sense of what the whole book is about and this passage fits in. In a regular, preaching-every-week pattern, I spend the first part of the week taking the passage apart and using all kinds of techniques to make me read slowly. ‘Teaching people to read’ is one of the first things we do at Cornhill! Jotting down all these prep notes in a notebook means that I have a record of my Bible ‘text work’ that I can use again in the longer term future.
I’d aim (by Wednesday) to have a draft sermon outline with Theme Sentence, Aim Sentence, headings and (most importantly) the logic of what I’m seeking to persuade people from this Bible passage. I handwrite all that onto a single side of A4.
And then immediately, at this early point, I begin to compile a script. I type onto A5 (portrait), using Verdana 12pt (ie quite large font, so I don’t need my glasses to read in the pulpit!). I start each new sentence on a new line, and I know that if any line continues into a second line, it is too long. I leave lots of space on the pages of my notes to show me where to add fuller explanation, illustration, application, etc. During the rest of the week, I’ll add to those notes. I keep re-writing sentences/phrases. I want to be as colloquial as possible, rich in word pictures, checking that there’s a rhythm to my phrases. I’m on the look out for anything that might be useful, from TV, reading, news, chats with people, road signs, conversation overheard on a bus … Yes, anything!
That script with its later additions and scribblings is what I take into the pulpit with me:
8) What is your routine before preaching on a Sunday?
I’d normally get up very early to have lots of time to read through my notes – not simply so that I’m familiar with them, but so that I’m really clear about the simple, simple message. I could preach that with no notes (if I had to … but I’d never choose that option!). I want to pray myself into the text and into the people I’ll be speaking to.
9) What feedback structures do you utilise in improving on your preaching?
Nothing beats the regular feedback from a church staff – people I know and love, and who I know are absolutely committed to my good. My regular pattern was that the first 15-20mins in the weekly staff meeting would review the previous Sunday’s sermon.
The next best thing to that is giving feedback to others, because that keeps me analysing what makes good preaching.
10) What areas are you currently seeking to develop in your preaching?
I want to be simpler. The main thing I notice when I look back at sermons I preached some years ago is that my sermons now are less jam-packed with ideas. I think congregations need to be told less to hear more. I always remember the advice of John Chapman: a book contains the maximum number of ideas in the minimum number of words … and a sermon is the exact opposite: the minimum number of ideas in the maximum number of words.
And that is my main piece of advice to younger preachers.
11) What do you do on the days your preaching did not go very well?
Someone told me that the loneliest place on earth is the bottom of the pulpit steps, immediately before and after preaching. That’s certainly my experience. I am absolutely exhausted after I’ve preached. Talking to people at the end of the service is hard work … but it is essential, so I simply won’t let myself run away (however much I might want to!). And in that ‘down in the dumps’ feel at home afterwards, I simply give myself a talking to: ‘Did you, to the best of your ability, tell people what the Bible says and means? Is the Bible powerful? Well, trust God and go to bed. Tomorrow is another day.’