Application Questionnaire - North Shore Community Baptist Church

Bobby Warrenburg – Phase Two Questionnaire
Senior Pastor Candidate Questionnaire
North Shore Community Baptist Church
Thank you for your interest in the Senior Pastor position at North Shore Community Baptist Church. After review, discussion and
prayer, the Pastoral Search Committee feels that your experience and input into the process so far make you a good candidate for
more extensive consideration. Accordingly, we are asking that you complete this questionnaire.
As you complete this material, please know that we are trusting the Lord to superintend the whole process, your part as well as ours,
and to be preparing the hearts of all concerned for His will. Thank you for your patience and willingness to go through this next step.
Your Name: Bobby Warrenburg
1. Please give a brief summary of your experience of coming to faith in Christ.
In my early years, I had the benefit of growing up in a Southern US culture where the basic truths about God, sin, people, salvation,
faith, the afterlife, etc., were assumed and generally respected as valid beliefs. Therefore, I never questioned (in my early years)
whether there was a God, or even if he could be known through Christ. However, I didn’t want him to be part of my life. God, in
my view, existed to restrict my personal freedom and force me into a moralistic – and therefore boring – lifestyle. Hence, I spent
the majority of my growing-up-years chasing the approval of friends and those I admired. I was a slave to “the fear of man.”
As I result, I didn’t apply myself in school, I partied on the weekends, and fell into ‘casual’ drug and alcohol use – nothing ‘out of the
ordinary’ or salacious for a teenager my age, but increasingly destructive and empty. This all changed when God intervened in my
life through 2 people and an institution.
The first was my wife, a classmate at the time, who had recently become a Christian through Young Life and demonstrated a
character of kindness, purity, and (quite surprisingly) joy! The second was a high-school government professor, who was a retired
judge and convinced Lutheran. He pulled me aside and exposed my idolatry of friends. And he was also the first teacher too see
through my veneer of people-pleasing. The last factor, was a small-group led by Young Life where we studied the Bible and applied
it to each other. It was there that the truth I “understood” from childhood, became truth I could actually “stand-under” for all of life.
And I believe it was during that time that God awakened me to faith in Christ.
From there I became involved in a local church (Evangelical Free), where I saw the faith lived out in a diverse, multi-demographic,
community. I also attended the University of Texas in Austin, where I was discipled by my college pastor and a staff worker with
Campus Crusade. I’m eternally grateful to God: for his relentless pursuit of me, his patience with my sin, and his perseverance to
form Christ in me both then, and even now. Soli Deo Gloria.
2. Please give a brief summary of your call to ministry.
One of the challenges of the American church (especially in the Southern US) is that larger congregations make it more difficult for
younger leaders to meaningfully explore a call into pastoral ministry – especially with respect to preaching. While at university, I
served on the leadership of our college ministry (about 500+ students!), led Bible studies, engaged in short-term mission trips, and
was involved in outreach to my fraternity (the FIJI’s). However, it wasn’t until my final year of studies that I began to sense a call to
serve as a church-planter overseas. We had a significant number of Asian friends in the church and growing hearts to see God
worshiped where there was little Gospel witness. This led to a vision – birthed on the back of a napkin – to raise a team of friends,
who would move to China and do mission through legitimate business (missionary visas were not given). Several years later we
moved to Tianjin, engaged in language study, worked in financial consulting, and began developing house-church leaders who
could foster an indigenous church-planting movement. It was an incredibly life-changing, fruitful, and sometimes painful, time. By
the end of it, we decided not to return to the business world in America, but instead to pursue training for pastoral ministry. This
led to Gordon-Conwell and eventually an opportunity to serve God in the UK where we presently are.
Looking back, I suppose my call to ministry, began with an increasing “internal” burden to spend my time sharing the Gospel and
discipling other Christian’s. This burden grew through college ministry, church-planting in China, and eventually (and most
profoundly) over the last 7 ½ years of ministry in Chessington. It was here that I discovered my gifts in preaching, evangelism,
pastoral counseling, and leadership, which before I was only vaguely aware of. I should also acknowledge that a call into ministry
(from a biblical standpoint) is primarily focused on assessing one’s character and integrity (see the qualifications for Eldership in 1
Timothy and Titus), rather than simply gifts and abilities. And we can easily confuse our gifts in ministry for genuine godliness. So
alongside growing my pastoral gifts, I’ve sought to give access to good friends to challenge and encourage my Christian character.
3. Please give a brief summary of your philosophy of ministry.
The church is a community of broken people, who have been adopted through Jesus into God’s family. And now (filled with His
Spirit) we, as the church, are called to declare (in word) and demonstrate (in life) his glory and grace: by connecting people to God,
to each other, and the world we live in through the Gospel.1
• We seek to connect people to God through various means such as: evangelism, preaching, Christianity Explored courses,
everyday conversations, and our Sunday gatherings.
• We connect people to each other through home groups, informal one-to-ones, social events, and ministry together.
• And we connect the Gospel to our world by discipling each other to give “the Bible’s answers, to questions people are
asking, in language they can understand, with arguments that they can feel the weight of.”2 We also reach out to the world
by addressing the practical needs of the weak, vulnerable, and marginalized within our community.
Hence the church has: a) an identity as sinful but loved-in-Christ people, b) a mission to glorify Christ locally and globally and c) a
ministry to connect people to God, each other and the world.
This purpose is worked out by creating a culture and ethos (especially among the leadership) that reflects our identity and calling
and by setting bold, but realistic, goals for us to pursue. The pastor’s role is to teach the Gospel, pray, give spiritual direction and
mobilize people for mission together. His job is not to “do the ministry” on behalf of the church, but to help the church be the
church in its community. This is also the work of the Elders and Deacons. The church is not shaped by the culture, or in isolation
from the culture, but is called to live distinct and Gospel-transformed lives within the culture. Where possible, the church may also
partner with other likeminded churches or institutions to ensure that its vision is always broader than it’s own locality and seeks to
foster Gospel growth in the wider area.
4. Please give a brief summary of the community and church where you currently or most recently served.
We currently live in a suburb of Southwest London called Chessington. The town is demographically mixed and comprised of
1
2
The purpose of the church is summarized on our website here: http://www.thekingscentre.org.uk/purpose.htm
This is a summary of “contextualization” found in Tim Keller’s “Center Church”.
20,000 people from different ethnic, social, financial, and spiritual backgrounds. There is an estimated 3.5% of the population that
has a real, living, faith in Christ. Many of the people who live in the area work in local trades (such as construction and landscaping),
while a number commute into the city (London is 30 minutes by train) to work in banks, government, education, and the media.
Chessington Evangelical Church was started over 50 years ago by a small handful of people from a neighboring congregation. The
church has always enjoyed solid Bible teaching and unity within the leadership and wider membership. In 1997 the church built
The King’s Center to reach more meaningfully into the community. The King’s Center is run by the church, but is open for use as
café, preschool, moms and toddlers group, seniors lunches, food-bank, etc. This has helped us build a strong reputation in the
community and many relational links. The Kings Center is also where the church gathers on a Sunday and many other days of the
week. We are currently one of the largest independent churches in the FIEC (Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches,
FIEC) and in London with a gathering of over 400 in the morning and around 150 in the evenings (and 251 people in
membership). Our recent growth has been largely through people investigating the faith, coming to faith, or coming back to faith,
along with the usual “transfer growth”. This past year we set a bold vision for the church to plant 3 churches and also aim for the
congregation double by 2020. This has been a time consuming but exciting process to go through as a church.
We are also willing to work with other like-minded and Gospel-centered churches to work towards our vision of seeing a Gospel
movement in our surrounding area (church planting, training, evangelism, prayer, mercy ministry, etc.).3
5. Describe your personal daily walk with the Lord.
Someone once asked Robert Murray McCheyne what his congregation needed from him, more than anything else, and he
answered, “My own personal holiness.” And it’s very true. It’s hard to be deeply effective (in a lasting sense) when my walk with
God is defunct. You can put on the “form of godliness, while denying its power” and ministry will chew you up and grind you down.
Most mornings I try to open my Bible and read – not primarily for information – but to have my heart warmed by the grace and
truth of God. Paul often prayed that the doctrine he taught would enter the hearts of the church and “strengthen them in their
inner man (Eph 3).” This is my goal in personal time with God – to be strengthened by the grace of God and enjoy communion
with my Father in prayer. Resources along the way that have helped are: the Psalms, Valley of Vision prayers, devotionals, and
simply asking the passage “What does this tell me about God; and what would change in my life if I was really gripped by it?” I’m
also learning the New City Catechism (put out by Redeemer in NYC) with a group of young men I’m training for leadership – this
has surprisingly proved to be a great stimulus for prayer and praise.
6. How would you describe the support you have received from those around you in your role(s) as a pastor?
To be honest, it’s hard to imagine a more supportive, encouraging, and Christ-centered Eldership than what I presently enjoy. I
love these guys. We are a “band of brothers” who care for each other and love being on mission together. Everyone on the ministry
team has an assigned Elder to care for their spiritual well-being and personal matters. We also have “annual reviews” where we look
back on the year and set goals and aims for the next one. But the real encouragement is in the day-to-day friendship, time and
ministry we enjoy together. They have supported us incredibly well. And I suspect that the ministry team and Eldership will be
some of the things I miss most from England.
7. What do you consider to be your top two strengths as a pastor?
Based on the affirmation of friends and the church, I’d probably say: preaching that connects with both mature Christians and
unconvinced skeptics and is biblically reformed. And secondly, a love for people that tries to apply the Gospel to the everyday
problems of life in a broken world. Most people say, that I’m a “people person” and a “good preacher” – for what it’s worth…
3
See church vision here: http://www.thekingscentre.org.uk/vision.htm
8. What do you consider to be your top two weaknesses as a pastor?
Fear of man – an old struggle that doesn’t die easily, but is dying by God’s grace a little everyday…and administration, which I’ve
had to improve as the church has grown, communication has become more complex, and the needs of staff, ministry, etc., have
increased.
9. How would you describe where you stand theologically?
I’m biblically reformed, baptistic, and congregational (while Elder led) with respect to my church polity. I appreciate the
importance of understanding biblical theology (how the Gospel unfolds from Genesis to Revelation), while also seeing the need to
answer specific questions picked up by systematic theology – e.g. what does the Bible say about man, sin, salvation, end-times, etc.
It’s equally important to remember that our theology should connect “missionally” to the people we live around. It’s not enough to
“expound the old reformed truths” (as vital as that is); we also need to apply truth to the people and situations we meet.
10. How would you respond to people attending the church who are uncertain about a biblical position regarding the issues of
homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and sexual identity?
This is a huge question and space here is obviously limited. But I think I’d begin by saying that all branches of Christianity –
whether Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, etc. – have traditionally held that marriage and sex are intended for a man and a
women in the context of a life-long, monogamous, covenant relationship. This is obviously at odds with a large number of people in
our culture today, and we are part of that community. But…Christianity, perhaps more than any other religion, has resources
within it to deal graciously and humbly with people who disagree with us. At the heart of our faith is a man dying for his enemies
and praying for those who are hurting him. Same sex-attraction is not a barrier that means you can never become a Christian or
grow as a disciple. I have good Christian friends, who continue to struggle in this area (and perhaps always will), but are involved in
church, impacting others, and seeing real change in their life. I hope all kinds of people will attend our church (whether they agree
with us and the Bible or not). Though same sex attraction may be part of your story, it shouldn’t be acted on, and it never “defines”
you or shapes the core of who you are…that is always, only, your standing “in Christ”.
11. Describe the staff you supervise now, or that you’ve most recently supervised. Describe your approach to staff/team leadership.
I currently supervise 6 members on our church ministry team: a Pastor of Discipleship, Pastor of Outreach, Pastor of Youth and
Families, Women’s Worker, a Church Manager, and a Church Planter (soon to start in 2 weeks!). I have a collaborative approach
to leadership that is appropriately “directive”, but allows the team to get on with their job. I trust them. We love each other. I’m
not a micromanager or control freak. And sometimes I get it wrong – which means that I need to be approachable. I’m also
responsible to care for the spiritual wellbeing of the team. We all need the Gospel, especially the pastors. And I try to begin each
meeting with some time in the Word and prayer together (and throughout). We also spend time recognizing how God is active
amongst us, doing what only He can do, so we don’t become jaded or cynical about the challenges. Paul is a great example of
“thankfulness” in his letters. Leadership ultimately is about using all you have – time, resources, gifts, abilities – to put people in the
best possible position to succeed in their role. It’s not ultimately about the “leader”. And this is modeled supremely by Christ
himself in his leadership of us.
12. Give us an example of how you have gone about having the ministry of the gospel be done by the people of the church rather
than just by church leaders or staff.
A few years back I took a dozen or so young men through a course I developed to raise up the next generation of leaders in the
church. The course consisted of a significant amount of reading in systematic theology, applied theology to culture, and servantleadership. We also had a monthly gathering where we discussed, prayed, and shared about what we read. One of the guys from the
group has just recently started a missional-community on a poor housing estate in our area. It’s still very early days, but it serves as
an example of someone trained, encouraged, and released to bring the Gospel to the unreached. I could also mention the 50 plus
volunteers that serve in the youth work (infants through to high-school) to hundreds of kids in our area. They are incredibly
inspiring and servant-hearted people.
13. What is the vision of your current ministry, and how have you led your church in fulfilling that vision?
The long-term vision of the church is: “Therefore in view of God’s glorious grace, we want to see an extraordinary Gospel impact on
every community within a 5 mile radius of Chessington.” There are approximately 300,000 people living within 5 miles of our
church and only a small percentage (about 3.5%) have a living faith in Christ and are involved in evangelical churches. By
“extraordinary impact” we mean that we’d love to see 10% of those people saved and serving in Gospel-centered, Christ-exalting,
churches. “Every community” means all the demographics in this area: geographically, ethnically, socio-economically, age, etc. To
move towards this vision (which would be nothing less than a “spiritual awakening”) we have set a goal for 2020 to plant 3 new
churches and, God willing, double the size of the congregation meeting at the Kings Center (in terms of membership). This is
clearly a vision way beyond us, and one that requires partnership with other churches, but Paul tells us that we “kneel before” a God
who can do more than we “ask or imagine”. In the last year and a half, we agreed upon this vision as an Eldership, cast it to the
church, and recently appointed a pastor to lead our first church plant in Epsom (a neighboring town of 70,000). We began the
whole process by bringing in a church consultant to help us understand the task, and then we set aside a day (as a ministry team) to
read and pray through the book of Ephesians. We noted all that Paul said about our identity, calling, purpose, mission and values as
a church. We then (over a process of weeks) took those concepts and drafted them into a church purpose statement (which I
summarized above under question 3 “Philosophy of Ministry”) and a set of values, which are as follows:
• Prayerfully dependent but taking risks
• Reaching the lost but preaching to ourselves
• Realistic but expecting change
• Biblically orthodox but culturally relevant
• Gospel-centered but socially active
These values are an attempt to describe the kind of people we want to “be” in light of our Purpose. And the final stage of the
process was to draft a vision, based on the purpose and values of the church, which essentially revolves around church planting and
church renewal/growth. Another part of the process that helped was reading a book by Tim Keller called “Center Church” that
ironically summarizes much of what I learned at GCTS through Richard Lints and Richard Lovelace. This was a long read, but we
discussed a chapter per week during the ministry team meeting. As Senior Pastor, my role in the process was to prayerfully inspire
and lead in the creation, communication, and initial implementation of the vision.
14. What is your philosophy or theology of preaching?
In my view, the goal of a sermon is to exalt Christ in such a way that people are transformed on the spot (i.e. “the heart”) through a
vision of his Person and work. The Scriptures reveal the Father’s plan of Salvation, achieved by the Son, and applied by the Spirit
from Genesis to Revelation. The preacher’s role is to expound that truth, found in the specific passage before him, in such a way
connects with the mind, heart, and life of the listeners. Oftentimes, preachers are good at exegesis, but weak at application. Or
perhaps they’re good at application, but deficient at addressing people’s hearts and underlying motives. But biblical change always
involves the whole person – mind, heart, and will…or as John Frame puts it “normative, existential, and situational”. Hence, it’s
important not to pit these emphases against each other. I also think it’s important that preaching addresses the hopes, dreams, fears,
and concerns that are on hearts of the listeners. Many people assumes that the Bible gives lots of answers to questions that nobody
is asking – and this is why some preaching is dull. I can’t say that I always succeed in this, but my desire is to preach and apply
Christ in such a way that addresses both Christians and unbelievers in the congregation – and their questions are never far from my
mind when I read a passage. Lastly, I should say that I’m indebted to Haddon Robinson (and one of your own Dr. Arthurs!), who
taught me very helpfully how to preach and make the “big idea” of the passage the main point of my sermon. But I’m also indebted
to Dr. Ed Clowney (who was my former pastor in Houston and is now with Jesus) and Tim Keller, who helped me understand
redemptive-historical preaching and a way of connecting the Gospel to modern people.
15. How do you prepare a sermon?
In an ideal, world I have a couple of hours on Wednesday to take my first crack at the passage for Sunday. This mostly involves
translation (from the Hebrew or Greek) and perhaps some word studies. On Thursday I usually spend a good amount of time rereading the passage, connecting it to the context of the specific book and wider Canon, and doing cultural background study. If it’s
a New Testament epistle I often use Discourse Analysis (sorry for the fancy term!) to get an understanding of the logical flow and
main point of the passage. By the end of Thursday I hope to have read the commentaries (3-4) and have a good understanding of
the main idea of the passage. All throughout the process I’m making links between the ancient world and the modern world (to use
Stott’s illustration) and drawing together illustrations. I’ve started making a list of links to the Gospel/Christ and points of
application. Most importantly, I seek to “live” in the text myself – to be absorbed in its world – and hear it speak to me. If preaching
is “truth communicated through personality” then the sermon has to preach to me first. Thankfully, God in his grace speaks. On
Friday I begin writing. Then, Saturday, I finish the manuscript. And Sunday morning is spent reading and internalizing it, so I don’t
need to rely on my notes during the sermon – except for verses, quotes, and key phrases. In total, I suspect I spend on average of
15-18 hours preparing the sermon.
16. How has God used your preaching to take the Word beyond study and exposition into practical application?
This is a big question, so perhaps I can use one example. There’s a man in our congregation who trained for the ministry, served as
a pastor and had a falling out with his church. He came to us somewhat broken and disenchanted, but in the process of healing.
One of the comments he made in the early stages of visiting was how much he appreciated the preaching (this is where it’s awkward
to talk about myself). He was biblically-reformed, a student of Lloyd-Jones, well-versed in the Scripture, but hadn’t been linking his
doctrine to the modern world, and more importantly…to his own heart. Lloyd-Jones talks about the importance of Truth/Light
and Heat/Affections, and I suppose this is what I seek to bring in my preaching. This man wasn’t just thrilled by gaining more
“knowledge” – he had plenty of that already. He was warmed by “knowledge on fire”, applied by the Spirit. It has been a privilege
to see him experience Gospel renewal. And he’s now likely to be involved in one of our church plants. Bryan Chappell, in his book
on preaching talks about identifying the “fallen condition” in a passage. Every sermon should address the fallen condition (revealed
in the text) by way of clear, concrete, examples from everyday life (sometimes my own!) and seek to apply the Person/work of
Christ (again, revealed in the passage) to those areas. That kind of preaching is both practical and Gospel-centered. Again, I don’t
always succeed in this, and it’s ultimately a work of God. However, my conviction is to preach to the heart and see problems
“solved with the Gospel”, rather than moralism.
17. What is the role of a Senior Pastor in caring for the spiritual health and well being of the congregation?
The McCheyne comment about cultivating “my own personal holiness” applies here as well (question 5). To care for the
congregation the Senior Pastor has to cultivate a real, honest, repentant, and transparent walk with God. So the spiritual health of
the church is linked (somewhat) to the spiritual health of the pastor. Having said that, the pastor is not the Messiah, nor is he the
only one God uses to look after people! The joy of the New Covenant is that all Christians in the church are filled with the Spirit
and are used by God to bring grace and truth to each other. Pastoral care is a community effort. And at CEC we try to care for
people through our home groups (often lead by an Elder), FOCUS groups (which are termly adult classes that address issues like
depression, anxiety, reading the Bible for personal application, etc.), targeted groups such as bereavement or addiction, and
preaching that connects the Gospel to every-day problems and sin. So the pastor cares for the congregation by walking with God
himself, preaching grace-truth, and setting up structures where people can be trained and mobilized to care for each other.
18. Give us two examples of opportunities you have had to provide pastoral care and counsel to members of the congregation
and/or members of the community.
One of the blessings of working in England has been the opportunity to engage in significant amounts of pastoral care and counsel.
This is partly because there isn’t a well-organized network of trained professional counselors – especially biblical ones. Over the
past 7 ½ years I’ve helped people through instances of suicide, child abuse, embezzlement, divorce, leaving the faith, substance
abuse, sex addiction, same-sex attraction, family breakdown, etc. One of my greatest encouragements has been counseling a woman
who told me about multiple acts of abuse she experienced from childhood, from many different men in her family. She is one of the
worst cases I’ve seen and it’s taken a toll on her socially, psychologically, and spiritually. She also has a moderate learning disability
(whether it’s from the abuse, or not, or both is hard to say) which means communication has to be simple and clear. She is a joy to
help. She’s starting to step out in faith and get involved with others. One of the impacts of the abuse is that she “closes herself in”
with people and therefore feels lonely. As we’ve talked about her identity in Christ and the promise of God to never leave her she’s
begun to take some risks and attend home group, prayer meetings, sometimes praying aloud, and serve on the “sound team.” I
recently said to a friend “she is a walking miracle.” Another man I’ve helped confessed to me that he had “kissed” another women
while on a business trip, and that the guilt was eating him up. It occurred before he gave his life to Christ and was nearly 5 years ago.
We decided that, as hard as it seems, he needed to tell his wife – who had also recently become a Christian and was baptized. She
was devastated by his confession and left him for another man. You often expect that obedience will lead to blessing – and it does –
but it didn’t feel like it for this man. He lost his family and dignity. But the amazing thing is, he kept walking with God. He served
in the church and poured himself into men’s ministry and disability care. Just recently he’s told me (now 4 years later) that he’s met
another woman. She’s a Christian who went through a similar experience to him. He says it’s amazing how God weaves together
pain and suffering into something good…even though it’s terrible to endure. These 2 stories sound like happy endings and it
doesn’t always end that way. Some people I know have become bitter and hardened through suffering. Others never see “the
blessing” this side of Heaven. But these two (and many others) have proven Cowper’s hymn “Ye fearful saints fresh courage take,
the clouds you so much dread, are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head.” It’s been a privilege to walk with them.
19. What kind of heart has God given you for lost people, and how does that work out in your life?
From my earliest days as a Christian God has given me a heart for lost people. That was behind my entering the Fraternity, going to
China, and serving in Post-Christian London. I often feel most alive when I’m talking to someone about Jesus who doesn’t
understand the faith, or thinks it’s irrelevant, outdated, or legalistic. Many close to me would say this is one of my primary
gifts/passions. We currently have 2 unconvinced-but-interested men in our home group that we gather with on a weekly basis. It’s
a joy to see them grappling with the Bible, understanding grace, and moving from unbelief to faith. In England, this is a long
process, and it’s often measured in years rather than months. My heart for the lost is reflected in spending time with them, reading
what they read, and trying to understand their world. I constantly try to get to know the people I see every day – whether it’s the
barber, parents at school, or the guys at the Indian curry restaurant. Finding opportunities isn’t difficult if you know how the
Gospel speaks to everyday life – all theology is practical. So I find that I have meaningful conversations with unsaved people on a
weekly basis.
20. How have you worked with your congregation to have a heart and passion for those outside your building.
One approach is to help them face reality. Our church has been growing over the past 10 years, we’ve seen a number of people
saved, 19 people baptized last year, and many enter into membership. It’s been a fruitful – all glory to God! – season of ministry.
But, the reality is that during this same time, people in Chessington have drifted further from God. According to the recent census,
the number of people in Chessington that identify as “Christian” has dropped by 13-18%, while the number that identify as “no
religion” has risen by 46-63%. Hence we’re “losing ground” rather than making up for it. These figures have helped us not to
become complacent or self-satisfied. We’ve also recently (2 years ago) appointed a Pastor of Outreach who is responsible for
equipping and mobilizing people for mission. The church isn’t the building – the church is people on mission together. So we
constantly send that message in a thousand different ways. The other way we’ve sought to give people a heart for the lost is to set a
vision that involves extensive church planting and growth through conversion or a re-engagement with God (rather than primarily
church transfer). We want to see 10% of people in this area saved, discipled, and serving in Gospel-centered churches (as opposed
to the current 3.5%).
21. With what style of worship are you most comfortable?
In many ways, I’m comfortable with whatever style of worship is theologically robust and connects with the people we are trying to
reach and disciple. Worship styles shouldn’t overly prescriptive (in my humble opinion). We have a blended worship at CEC and
appreciate traditional hymns, modern songs, and “hymns set to a new tune”. Every church has an unavoidable liturgy, but ours is
less-than-liturgical. We have a catechism slot during the service (before the younger kids leave). We sometimes say the Lords
Prayer or Apostle’s Creed. But we don’t feel that we “have to”. I really think that churches need to consider what they need to
communicate – by way of doctrine and theology – and then chose the songs, style, and melody, etc., that will accomplish that for the
people they’re reaching. Matt Redman and Augustus Toplady are both effective.
22. How have you dealt with different styles of worship in your church?
The person leading the service (often a leader or myself) choses the songs and orders the service. But he does this in conversation
with the Deacon of Music – who is a young, theologically switched on, gifted guy. Some services the older folks will say, “It’s too
loud” or “too contemporary”. Other services the younger folks will think, “It’s too dry” or “too old-fashioned”. You rarely please
both, but it’s not about being pleased – it’s about worshiping God and serving each other. Sometimes its good for your soul to sing
a tune you don’t like, just because it serves someone else. Sunday worship is certainly about singing truth to God, but it’s also about
singing truth to each other. We are more guided by principles and theology, than prescriptive (e.g. “You must have 1 traditional for
every 2 contemporary songs”) rules.
23. What is the role of prayer in the life of the church?
Prayer is reflected in our first core value as a church. We are “prayerfully dependent but taking risks.” We have a series of 2-3 prayer
meetings every term when we meet together rather than in home groups. Prayer is about communion with God, in the Son,
through the Holy Spirit. And in these meetings we want to “meet” with God – as opposed to covering church business, or hearing a
sermon, etc. These are often exciting times, though never attended by as many people as you wish. We also pray in home groups
and during (and throughout) our ministry team and Elders meetings. We pray informally as we go through life together. We also
tend to take the first Sunday service of the year to focus especially on prayer or communion with God. Essentially, everything we
hope will happen in church can only be done by God himself – that fact makes prayer non-negotiable.
24. How effectively have you developed that role of prayer in your church?
I suppose I’m tempted to reflect again on my own life. Nothing is more humbling than asking, “How’s your private prayer life?” I
suppose we’ve clearly put it on the agenda for the church. Last year at our leaders conference the entire focus was on prayer. We
brought in a man named Bob Allums, from ‘Praying Life Ministries’ to take us through a course based on Paul Miller’s book “A
Praying Life”. The conference reminded us how practical, honest, and child-like prayer should be. We were all encouraged to “do
life through prayer”. There’s a group of older saints who meet every Monday to pray over the ministry from the previous Sunday.
These men have been praying together for decades; I always encourage younger men (especially the ministry apprentices) to attend
when they can. And finally, I try to model it in my own life. Whenever someone shares a struggle or joy, I try not to be shy of
praying out loud (even in public!) in a way that’s natural and honest.
25. How would you rate yourself as an administrator?
As an administrator I suspect I’m always needing grace, but experiencing improvement. Organization was not the “sweet spot” of
my bat when I began ministry. And, one of the staff members on the team (the Administrator) is an organizational Yoda. He’s a
very patient and godly man! I’ve had to learn better organizational skills over the years as the church has grown and become more
complicated…mostly because it’s a way of serving others. We now look at our calendars before every team meeting and “submit”
them as a plan of what we hope to do, which is included in the Minutes. This is a way of keeping me aware of the challenges the staff
is facing and also making the Elders aware our focus and workload. It might sound heavy-handed, but it’s not at all intended to be.
Thinking ahead is a discipline that helps us focus on our calling instead of being reactive. It also helps us plan in the elusive
“important but not urgent” category – such as big picture thinking, reading, overall direction, etc.
26. What level of administrative detail/oversight do you tend to give, versus delegation?
I probably tend to err on the delegation side of the spectrum, rather than the “micro-managing” side. My hope is to develop and
support a team of godly, competent, and gifted people who can function well in their area of ministry. We have weekly team
meetings and constant communication in person, over the phone, and through emails. I know what their challenges and goals are,
ask how they’re doing, and consider myself approachable for help – or simply to vent! Ministry is busy, but one of my roles is to
care for them personally and make sure they’re not overwhelmed.
27. We would like to see/or hear at least one example of your preaching at this point. Can you direct us to online links or in some
other way get CDs or audio files of sermons to us?
• Below are links to the audio resources on our church website. Our typical Sunday gathering (350-400+ people) is made up
of a mixture mature Christians and unconvinced skeptics.
o
Current series on 1-2 Samuel: “David, a Son to Me” http://dynamic.church123.com/podcast/b82626d3-
6003-4399-873d-06e7469030fe
o
Series on Galatians: “Grace Changes Everything” http://dynamic.church123.com/podcast/70695f96-
1d51-4cf1-8a3c-b583de85f03e
o
Series on Proverbs: “Wisdom for a Beautiful Life” http://dynamic.church123.com/podcast/b0e1272b-
6293-4d56-822f-09f355a2ff70
o
Series on the Gospel of John: “Life in John’s Gospel”
http://dynamic.church123.com/podcast/9ce7e19e-83fb-4819-a3e9-7cc7c58659ab
•
And here’s a link to a sermon on Psalm 34 (in video format) that was preached at last year’s FIEC Annual Leader’s
Conference. The audience was 500 or so pastors…the lighting was a bit strange and “in my face”, the room “dark”, but it
was a joy to serve. http://www.fiec.org.uk/resources/article/psalm-34-bobby-warrenburg
28. Please attach a doctrinal statement covering at the least the following topics:
1. The Bible: its nature, authority, inspiration, canon, etc.
2. God: His nature, the Trinity, and God's works (creation and providence).
3. Humanity: Nature, impact of sin on the human race, election.
4. Person and Work of Christ: His Nature, incarnation, atonement, resurrection, etc.
5. Salvation: Person and Work of the Holy Spirit, calling, regeneration, conversion, justification, adoption, sanctification,
assurance.
6. Church: Nature, purpose, leadership, role of women, ordinances (baptism and Lord’s Supper), spiritual gifts for service,
etc.
7. Future: Second Coming, view of millennium, final resurrection and judgment, heaven and hell, etc.
29. Please give us the names and contact information (phone and email) for three people who know you and your ministry well,
and who would be willing to serve as primary references:
Removed 1/8/15