my homeland, shortly after the end of the First World War, the Church changed the face of Northern Ire- land. Indeed, such was her impact that pubs and drinking houses closed down all across the land. Harland and Wolf shipyards (famous for building the Titanic) had to open a warehouse dedicated to the return of stolen tools. Why did this happen? It was not because the church began “Stolen Tool Reconciliation Societies” or “Temperance Societies.” Rather it happened because God raised up a young preacher by the name of W.P. Nicholson, who trumpeted the gos- pel in the power of the Holy Spirit. Convicted by his message, men could no longer live with so much as one They had to bring it back. The ship- yard even called the warehouse, “The Nicholson Shed.” This kind of lasting a weak, insipid pulpit.
We Must Not Focus on Theological Orthodoxy
Once more, we have to say, theo-
we have no gospel to share, no stan- dard around which to unite, and no foundation from which to minister. When it comes to our holy religion, if we lose the Truth, we lose every- thing. Yet, churches that make theo- all of ministry tend to dry up. They become inward focused, insensitive, negative, unwelcoming, and unwill- ing to adapt. Their witness is repel- lant. It is the dig the moat, raise the drawbridge, build the walls, hoist of ministry. Such a defensive model bears little resemblance to the ag- gressive, optimistic apostolic witness in the book of Acts. Peter and Paul didn’t raise the drawbridge; they lowered it, charging out to meet the world, hungry for souls to redeem for the glory of God.
Concerned about these very real- ties and convinced that our churches do not need to be in decline, our mod- erator, Dr. Leslie Holmes asked me to recount some of the blessings I have observed at Christ Covenant Church, Greensboro, over the last four years. None of which, I hasten to add, are to my credit as all the seeds were here long before I ever began to minister in her midst.
March/April 2020
At the beginning of 2016, we averaged just under a hundred in morning wor-
ship. We have seen that number steadily rise to 256 this month. Our evening service, which we began later that year, has grown from an average attendance of 43 to a high point this month just short of 100 worshippers.
elder’s favorite hashtags: #TGBTGGTHHD (To God be the glory, great things He hath done!). To shepherd this growth, we have doubled the size of our session from two to
four, and we are currently training 20 more as a cadre of future elders and deacons. What is the secret of this growth, and can it be replicated? None of this is distinctive to us alone, but rather we are just using the ordi-
• Go Forward on Your Knees
As an army of prayer warriors, the Church can only go forward on her knees. How often we forget this to our peril. When we do, “our best efforts and our they ever called me to minister here, the session prioritized prayer, meeting early each Sunday morning by phone to call down God’s blessing upon the service. They meet again in person to pray before each service in the robing room; and before our evening service, a growing band of intercessors meets for 30 minutes, lifting up the pressing needs of the body and the ministries that we bi-monthly session meetings to prayer.
When Paul wrote to advise Titus of the three ingredients of a healthy church, even before he underscored the importance of preaching good doctrine from the pulpit (Titus 2), and practicing good works from the pew (Titus 3), he stressed above reproach (free from just public accusation) in three areas: their family life (v.6), their character (vv.7-8), and their doctrine (v.9). After twenty years of ministry, I can attest that if the Church does not appoint the kind of men God and with predictable results.
As we work together at Christ Covenant, we endeavor to keep and maintain
there are no undiscussables. If there is a problem, we will bring it up quickly, directly, kindly, and personally. We do not gossip behind one another’s back, tolerate realpolitik, or engage in turf wars.
• Communicate a Clear Vision Well before I arrived in Greensboro, the elders had already fashioned out a clear vision for the church to pursue: proclaim the Word of God, model the - mind the congregation that this is who we are, and this is what we do. We gath- er to listen, to love, and to worship. Ask our congregation what we are about, and you will hear all these three things from almost all of our people.
• Keep First Things First At Christ Covenant, we en- deavor to keep ministry simple. We do three things (and only three things): We reach up to God in worship. We reach in to the church for discipleship (and fellowship). We reach out to the world with the gospel. Worship is our verb. It’s what we do. But as we gather to wor- Our worship must be biblical.
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