I’ve been in ministry for about ten years. The first half of that decade I preached largely in chinos, a v-neck sweater, and boat shoes. The second half of that decade I’ve preached largely in tracksuit-bottoms, t-shirts, and trainers. That’s not down to a change in personal stylist, but due to a change in ministry context. I’ve moved from being on staff at a large, city-center church, to a small, local church in a housing scheme. The context change has led to a wardrobe change.
Being asked to write this article’s forced me to scrutinize what else has changed about my preaching ministry other than my outfit. It forced me to re-watch some of the videos from those first five years. And as many of you know, listening to your own voice is always misery. But listening back to sermons from your first five years in ministry? That’s absolute torture. If I believed in purgatory, I think my purifying recompense would be to have to listen to my entire back-catalogue.
But here’s what some of this suffering yielded: in some core ways there’s not that much difference.
WHAT’S THE SAME
Image of God
After all, every single human being—regardless of
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