I get to travel and talk to a lot of churches about the work of 20schemes. Given the demographics of evangelical churches in the UK and the culture within which it (largely) operates, a lot of the young people that talk to me are well educated and middle class. Almost always, their first question is: […]
Please, as you read this, radically think about what you are giving your money to. I believe many Christians are missing the opportunity of investing for eternity, saving the fatherless and the poor. I believe many Christians are being ripped off and the numbers add up to tens of millions. Paul was collecting for the […]
Anyone who reads Acts and the letters can’t but be intimidated—how hard it is to help those in need. We can see this whether we’re looking at Acts 2, Acts 7, or 1 Timothy—and there are always critics (Acts 7) and awkward cases. These are matters of huge importance, and they are complex. There are […]
There is so much being said about the poor. We should be involved in this project or that, each one telling me, or at least implying, that if I don’t, I’m uncaring and heartless. So much of it is written as “them and us”. History clearly shows that much of it quickly becomes compromised on the […]
“You thought you’d like to save the world so you decided to stage a jumble sale for the poor, for the poor.” So the song says. What the Lord Sees and Does When He Sees the Poor When the Lord saw their poverty and suffering he was moved. The angel of the Lord came, the […]
One a recent trip to Inverness, 20schemes interviewed several pastors from the Highlands about the necessity for church revitalisation and planting among the deprived in their part of the country. Inverness has a growing population of about 80,000 people, and some real pockets of serious poverty. Whilst there are hundreds of schemes in our major […]
Back in 2014, Matt Chandler kindly took some time to answer the question of how we can grow healthy churches in some of Scotland’s poorest areas. His answer? Growing indigenous leaders. This is the long-term aim of 20schemes as we work to realise our vision of 20 gospel-centred churches in 20 of Scotland’s deprived schemes […]
Former Free Church of Scotland Moderator, Rev. David Meredith now serves as the Mission Director for the Free Church of Scotland as well as serving as chairman of Affinity—a network of gospel-minded churches across the UK. Rev. David Meredith spent 30 years ministering at Smithton Free Church in Inverness (Scottish Highlands) and during his time […]
Aubrey Malphurs, is his book, Planting Growing Churches says this: “Christian leaders are godly persons (character) who know where they are going (vision) and have followers (influence)” (p.126). Character People need to be trustworthy if they are to succeed in ministry. Certainly, there are lots of good actors out there but, sooner or later, the […]
Sorry to break it you, folks, but there never were any ‘good old days’. These words were written by J. Gresham Machen in 1933 in response to growing concerns over the future of the church in the face of a worldwide depression and a growing liberal scepticism. “The responsibility of the church in the new […]