Blogging in the name of the Lord: Adrian Reynolds #2

GD: Hello Adrian Reynolds, and welcome to back Exiled Preacher. Please tell us a little about yourself.

AR: I’m married to Celia (27 years) with three daughters, two of whom are married. Been in full time ministry 18 years after a career in business. I love books, cycling and music.

GD: You contribute to the FIEC blog: https://fiec.org.uk/news and have run a number of blogs in the past. What made you start blogging?

AR: Originally it was a way of keeping in touch regularly with church members who needed daily help. I find collecting and organising my thoughts helpful and so it serves others - I hope - as well as being useful for myself.

GD: Which blogs do you enjoy reading and why?

AR: I think my favourite by some distance is The Babylon Bee which hits the mark almost every time. I have 30 or so blogs in my reader but I’m more likely to click through on a few trusted curators.

GD: What are the strengths and weaknesses of blogging as a medium for reflection on theological and ministry matters?

AR: It’s a pretty well-rehearsed question. The medium doesn’t really engender a nuanced debate. Nor do I find it useful for ‘thinking aloud’: I belong to a couple of closed groups for that. But it does help to stimulate my mind.

GD: Do you use other forms of social media, and why/what for?

AR: I tweet and use Facebook but only for work purposes not family/home. It’s a very efficient way of achieving low level maintenance on friendships and connections.

GD: What are some of the advantages for independent churches of belonging to a group such as the Fellowshipof Independent Evangelical Churches?

AR: I think it’s primarily sharing a national vision. We are pretty good as Independents thinking about our locality and even world mission but weaker when it comes to the national scene. Our strength as Independents is working together to achieve this.

GD: How does the FIEC seek to engage with the wider Christian world, while holding a strong line on ecumenism?

AR: The FIEC staff are engaged on all different levels with a number of people. It’s key because the gospel need is so great and it’s too urgent to put all our resources in one place. We do much of this through Affinity but also through personal friendships that we intentionally cultivate.

GD: What does being training director the FIEC involve?

AR: In broad terms it’s helping churches think about training (in its broadest sense) and representing churches to training providers to make sure we get the inputs we need. I guess this is being a catalyst on the one hand and being a representative on the other.

GD: How can smaller churches benefit from the FIEC’s training initiatives?

AR: Indirectly smaller churches are often pastored by those who have come through some of our larger churches. More directly we have a Training Fund which has given more than £1.2m in training grants and much of this has gone to smaller places or hard to reach places.

GD: Tell us how you felt called to pastoral ministry:

AR: See my previous set of questions! [See here for a 'forgotten' previous interview]. Nothing has changed. God graciously placed a burden on both my wife and I almost simultaneously.

GD: Where did you train for the ministry and what did you find especially helpful about your training?

AR: It was a mix of formal and informal. Most useful and formative was sitting at the feet of my Gamaliel for several years (a retired pastor called Eric Lane). Formally I did the Cornhill Training Course and a Cert.Th. by distance. Plus I read a lot.

GD: Who has had the greatest influence on your theological development?

AR: Almost certainly Eric. He gave me a desire to always be questioning and willing to change my position if it was warranted. He was still doing this in his eighties.

GD: You have written a short book entitled, Progress: Lifelong growth for gospel workers.Why do pastors sometimes stagnate and what key things should they be doing to help ensure continued growth and development?

AR: All kinds of reasons. Laziness is one. But busyness is other. It will vary from one to another. But generally it’s because it’s easy to stagnate and relatively straightforward to convince people we’re more of a finished article than we really are. There is no substitute for a good band of brother leaders who are also friends. A congregation also needs to invest in a pastor’s growth through such things as conference sponsoring, book allowances and sabbaticals.

GD: How can pastors avoid becoming trapped in a ministry ‘bubble’ so that they end up having very little to do with non-Christians?

AR: I’ve been very guilty of this. Partly this is a sin issue. I feel my time needs to be filled because I self justify myself this way. So I squeeze out other things. I’ve recently discovered the merit of engaging in outside activities in two’s (it’s in the Bible!). Join a local activity with a mate and you can spur one another on and - importantly- Non Christians will see how Christians interact.

GD: Which character from post-New Testament church history would you most like to meet and what would you say to him/her?

AR: I said before Ulrich Zwingli. Now I’ve moved to Market Harborough I want to say Philip Doddridge who was principal of one of the first Dissenting Academies here in MH and planted Harborough Congregational Church, now sadly liberal.

GD: What would be your three top tips for budding preachers?

AR: 1. Listen to trusted feedback. 2. Belong to a preaching group/fraternal (these two points may be linked). 3. Study a book for yourself before you preach it - maybe 6 months ahead.

GD: What is the most helpful theological book that you have read in the last twelve months? It is a must read because?

AR: It’s normally the last one. In this case it was Dai Hankey’s book on self control, A Man's Greatest Challenge. It’s a wholly neglected subject that all Christians need to wrestle with.

GD: What do you do to relax?

AR: I cycle, Read and play the piano but not all at the same time.

GD: Care to share your top three songs or pieces of music?

AR: I have very eclectic tastes. Right now I’m listening to Zombie by the Cranberries (whose lead singer has just tragically died), alongside Il faut partir, a very moving farewell aria from La Fille du Regiment by Donizetti. For my third I’m loving the new Sovereign Grace version of ‘All creatures of our God and King’. Tomorrow it will be three different tunes.

GD: What is the biggest problem facing evangelicalism in the UK today and how should we respond?

AR: Only 2.5% of UK is born again. Slightly more in London. Less in the north, industrial Midlands and rural areas. In technical terms that makes us an unreached nation. The casualness with which we approach home mission and evangelism is thus deadly.