reEquip // Scars of Wisdom: Universal Lessons from the Front Lines of Church Planting

With Dan Steel

reEquip is a monthly opportunity for those in pastoral ministry to connect and be taught / encouraged in their ministry positions.

Join us for our May reEquip day with Dan Steel, our Principal at Yarnton Manor.

We often talk about ministry in terms of "success stories” - the growing numbers, the thriving programs, and the smooth launches. But if we only listen to the voices of those who are currently "winning," we miss out on some of the most profound wisdom the Spirit has to offer the church.

For the last few years, Dan Steel has been listening to a different group: the practitioners who have experienced the difficulties, faced the pitfalls, and own the "scars of wisdom" from church plants that limp and struggle or closed.

While their stories come from the front lines of church planting, the lessons they’ve learned are universal. What does a study on struggling church plants have to do with the rest of us? It turns out, everything. Whether you are leading an established congregation, a small team, or a new initiative, the pressures are the same: the drift from character to gifting, the friction of external expectations, the challenge of truly "seeing" your local context, and the reality of spiritual and community opposition.

This reEquip day is an invitation to look at the "autopsy" of struggling ministries - not to discourage us, but to re-equip us with a more realistic, humble, and gospel-centred posture for the long haul.

Schedule:

(you are most welcome to join us for community prayers beforehand at 9am)

9.30am - Meet for coffee/tea and pastries

10:00 am - brief devotion

10:15 am - Session 1: The Internal Compass (Character & Identity) Ministry often reveals the "cracks" in our own souls. We’ll explore why we are tempted to admire gifting over godliness and how to find our identity in being a "child of God" before we are a "leader of people."

11:15 am - Break for coffee/tea

11.45am - Session 2: The Relational Web (Unity & Expectations) Disunity is a staggering pitfall, but it’s rarely just internal. We’ll look at the "architecture of unity"—how to navigate the complex relationships between leaders, teams, and "parent" organizations, and how to move from "fighting for unity" to living in the unity Christ has already built.

1pm - Lunch

2pm - Session 3: The Reality of the Field (Context & Opposition) Paul "walked around and looked carefully" at Athens before he spoke. We’ll discuss the external pitfalls of ministry: the danger of "remote control" strategy, the need for deep local sensitivity, and how to handle the "low-level" opposition that comes when the gospel meets a community’s culture.

3pm - Q&A with a cuppa

3.30pm - Finish

Please do contact hello@yarntonmanor.com if you would like to come but cost is prohibitive

Registration closes 12pm on Monday 17th.

About Dan Steel:

Dan is our Principal and Ministry Program Director. He’s a native Oxfordian and has been a pastor and church planter serving in Oxford and Birmingham for over 20 years. He authored Wise Church Planting, a global study supporting struggling planters and ministry workers. He’s married to Zoe and dad to Ellie, Barney, Josh and Abi – the former two having (mostly) flown the nest, the latter two still finishing school.

About our reEquip initiative:

The statistics relating to pastoral ministry burn-out is high. Too high.
For many the life of church or para-church ministry can be stressful, busy and, very often, lonely.
The to-do list can be overwhelming and unending, leaving little to no space for any kind of self-study or growth – often we feel out of our depth. Often we feel like calling it quits.

reEquip seeks to support and encourage those in pastoral ministry. Come and:

(1) receive focused teaching and training that will help us in our ministry life, whether in pastoral skills, practical ministry, bible teaching or areas of theology,
(2) enjoy the company of and learn from others in similar situations and
(3) enjoy a delicious lunch together!