James Henley

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Sat, 14 Apr 2012 12:15:55 +0100

The Violin Guild Parable taken from Tom Wright’s John for...

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 18:37:25 +0000

The Violin Guild
Parable taken from Tom Wright’s John for Everyone.

"I am deeply convinced that the Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant..."

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:17:15 +0100

“I am deeply convinced that the Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self.”

- Henri Nouwen

Telling a good story

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:06:23 +0100

Stories are a vital part of every sermon or presentation. They engage the audience on an emotional level in a way that delivering information just can’t do. Here’s some of my ideas about how to tell a really good story.

When I first started preaching a few years ago, I fell into a trip which I think many others fall into. I prepared sermons packed full of important information, but no stories. The more I’ve matured as a communicator, the more I’ve realised that the part of any sermon, talk or presentation that audiences most seem to grab onto and engage with are the stories I tell - whether they are about me or others.

Pretty much every good story has three clear parts - the more clearly defined these three sections are the easier it is to engage the audience in the story:

1. Beginning - The Setting

The scene is set and the main character or characters are introduced.

2. Middle - The Obstacle

This is the most significant part of any story. The character(s) encounter an obstacle which they need to overcome. The audience should be hanging on every word, desperate to find out how the obstacle or challenge is going to be overcome.

3. End - The Conclusion

How the character(s) overcame whatever obstacle they faced, leaving them in a better place than when they began.

An example:

Mother Theresa was a nun who lived a simple, but relatively comfortable life within the four walls of a convent in the city of Calcutta, India.
But as she saw more of the city, she saw extreme famine and was faced with many suffering people. She felt God calling her to do something, but to act would mean sacrificing her own comfort.
She left the convent and lived on the streets, living alongside and caring for those who were suffering. People began to join her, and many years later the movement she started works in many countries across the world.

How do you use story as a way of communicating? What tips would you give for telling captivating stories?

"Skate to where the puck is going, not to where it’s been."

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:00:06 +0100

“Skate to where the puck is going, not to where it’s been.”

- Wayne Gretzky

Why I’m lucky I’m not a woman We still live in a...

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:00:00 +0100

Why I’m lucky I’m not a woman

We still live in a world that is grossly unfair to women - the result of a world whose direction has been set by male eyes.

In our Lab leadership team, six out of the twelve members are female. However, over the last year, only two of our weekly Sunday gatherings have been led by women. For me, this is something I feel I should be constantly working to correct and looking actively for women to encourage into leadership positions.

Either as a male or female leader, what should your responsibility be to the women you lead?

Social media is about people This is the latest motion graphic...

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:00:06 +0100

Social media is about people
This is the latest motion graphic on the role social media plays in our lives. This one is also from a UK perspective, which makes it especially helpful.

What role does social media play in your life? What role does it play in your faith?

"While God’s words are eternal and unchanging the tools we use to access those words do change, and..."

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:00:05 +0100

“While God’s words are eternal and unchanging the tools we use to access those words do change, and those changes in technology also bring subtle changes to the practice of worship. When we fail to recognize the impact of such technological change, we run the risk of allowing our tools to dictate our methods. Technology should not dictate our values or our methods. Rather, we must use technology out of our convictions and values.”

- John Dyer, From the Garden to the City.

Why I still believe in the sermon

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:00:00 +0100

I still believe in the sermon. I know it isn’t necessarily cool or clever these days to think that. In an age when young people and young adults are leaving the church in huge numbers, a lot of people, especially youth workers, have suggested that the old method of preaching is outdated and needs replacing. But I still believe that preaching, when it’s done well, is an art form.

Last week I posted 5 ideas to make your talk stand out, but what I didn’t acknowledge when I wrote it is that there are of course other methods of communicating the bible and discipling people than just the talk or sermon. When I was studying at CYM, this was a regular point of discussion for some of us - is the sermon still a valid and useful form of communication? Or should it be replaced with discussion, group reflection or some other more participative method?

Over those three years, I struggled with whether or not the sermon was really an effective form of communication and at different points swung wildly between the two sides of the discussion. Today, I still believe in the sermon as a way of discipling and sharing God’s story with the church community - here’s why:

1. I believe in the power of one person sharing their heart with others.

There is something about one person, particularly someone who has a heart for the church community, sharing what they believe God is saying. The beauty of the sermon, when it is done well, is that it can shape a community beyond each individual sharing their own ideas and opinion. As opposed to a discussion, the person preaching has taken time and effort to prayerfully bring their ideas together and to research the passage they are speaking on. The result should be something much more meaningful and deeper than a group of people discussing something with little or no individual preparation.

2. I believe sermons can still be experiential and interactive.

When done well, the sermon can still be both a shared, collective experience and can allow space for interaction between the speaker and the community. As I shared last week, there are plenty of ways to draw your listeners into your sermon, making it a shared, communal experience.

3. I believe that living out God’s story requires understanding the context of God’s story.

For a community to live out God’s story together they need to be learning its original context. A good storyteller can bring the story to life, sharing the context of the passage, and working to bring something together which has real theological depth.

4. I believe that sermons aren’t just about an outdated idea that people learn by ‘banking’ information.

A really good sermon isn’t just about trying to fill people up with information. It’s about providing an opportunity to reflect on life, to ask important questions and to leave people walking away with questions and ideas buzzing in their minds. It is about moving people to act, to love and to change the world. It’s about the heart as much as the head.

Do you still believe in the sermon? Why?

Do you agree or disagree with my thoughts on the sermon?

6 Reasons why young people are leaving the church

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 10:00:06 +0100

6 Reasons why young people are leaving the church:

David Kinnaman (author of unChristian) and the Barna Group have just released their latest research, this time interviewing American young people who left the Church after the age of 15. Here are the six main reasons they found for young people / young adults leaving the church:

Churches appear to be overprotective
Their experience of Christianity was shallow
Churches appear to be against science
They’ve made mistakes and feel judged in church because of them
Churches are afraid of the beliefs of other faiths
Church is unfriendly to those who doubt

Kinnaman unpacks his findings in his new book - You Lost Me: Why Young Christians are Leaving Church and Rethinking Church.

How do these findings resonate with your experience as a young adult?

How can we grow church in a way that works for young adults?

Actions speak louder than words. What are you busy talking about...

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:00:06 +0100

Actions speak louder than words.

What are you busy talking about that you should just get on with doing?

The Ten Commandments of Steve

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:00:06 +0100

The Ten Commandments of Steve:

The news of Steve Job’s death was a huge shock - for our generation he had become an icon of creativity, vision and leadership. The Daily Beast has 10 core ideas that sum how Steve Jobs led Apple into a new age of creativity:

Go for perfect

Tap the experts

Be ruthless

Shun focus groups

Never stop studying

Simplify

Keep your secrets

Keep teams small

Use more carrot than stick

Prototype to the extreme

What can church leaders learn from Steve Job’s leadership style?

"An evangelical is someone who is transformed by the person and work of Jesus Christ, finds the Bible..."

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:02:06 +0100

“An evangelical is someone who is transformed by the person and work of Jesus Christ, finds the Bible to be authoritative for life and doctrine and practice, and actively works to make the world better.”

- Kurt Fredrickson - Fuller Theological Seminary

Fredrickson’s is a definition of ‘evangelical’ that I can get excited about.

Check his post out about why the term evangelical has been hijacked by a group of judgemental people with their own agendas, and why we need to recover a much richer understanding of what it means.

5 ideas to make your talk stand out

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:44:48 +0100

Every day, the people we lead are bombarded by thousands of advertising messages, videos, images and news items from different sources all competing for their attention. This makes the art of communicating with an audience or congregation that much more difficult and that much more exciting, as we need to find new ways to engage with people.

Here’s five ideas I’ve pulled together over the last few years for delivering a sermon, talk or presentation that people really engage with.

One of the key ideas I learned from my time studying Youth Work and Theology was the idea that different people have different learning styles - meaning they prefer to learn in different ways. The more I began to think outside the box, the more I’ve that there’s a real art to delivering ideas in a way that don’t just inform people, but also excite them, motivate them, encourage them, empower them and move them emotionally.

As I’ve invested more and more in my own ability to preach and teach, and gained more experience, I began to collect together different hooks and quirky ideas that have helped me to deliver talks that hopefully have really engaged with my audience.

Here are five ideas that I’ve drawn from different sources or found out myself from experience:

1. Bookend your talk with a compelling story
Tell the beginning of the story in your introduction, leave your listeners in suspense, and then conclude your talk by finishing the story.

2. Build your talk around one powerful metaphor/image
Find a powerful image and build the rest of your material around it. For example: ‘Trust God to hold you up when things get tough, like a climber trusts their harness.’

3. Use a refrain
One short, simple phrase repeated throughout the talk For instance: ’I have a dream’ or one of mine ‘You have everything you need right now to be happy’.

4. Don’t reveal your main point until the very end
Keep your audience in suspense, leading them through different questions, bible passages and building ideas together until a eureka moment at the end when it all comes together.

5. Use a prop
Use something physical to surprise your audience and engage them. In the past, I’ve used or seen used a lantern, dog food, candle, ceramic pig, chair and all sorts of other random props.

What different methods do you use / could you use to really engage with the people you’re communicating with?

Be careful who you put on a pedestal, because they just might...

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 12:17:29 +0100

Be careful who you put on a pedestal, because they just might fall off. Also, be careful of placing yourself up there - especially if you’re scared of heights.

Everybody falls eventually. Well, almost everyone.

5 reasons to practice silent contemplation and how to get started

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:49:00 +0100

Practicing silent contemplation is something a lot of Christ-followers would associate with old, worn-out, traditional Christianity. I’ve found it to be a hugely significant part of my spiritual life - here’s why I think you should give it a go and how you can get started.

A couple of years ago, I went on retreat to a Catholic monastery, where I found spending time in silence was hugely significant in opening myself up to God and allowing me to relax. Soon after that, I also heard Mike Yaconelli speak about silence and contemplation, which completely opened my eyes up to the idea of finding God in the silence.

In the crazy, non-stop, high-pressure culture we live in, I think that silence is a really significant spiritual practice to help us slow down, stop and listen to wait God might be saying. Even as I write this post, I have the TV on in the background showing nothing particularly interesting and three different applications on in the background firing updates at me from my email, Twitter, Facebook and RSS reader.

Here’s 5 reasons why you should consider switching off your electronic devices for five minutes and give silent contemplation a go:

Practicing silence will help you to realise that it all rests on God’s shoulders not yours.
It’ll help you to become more used to hearing God’s voice - especially if you struggle with this.
It’ll enable you to clear your mind and focus on doing the task you intend to do with God.
It’ll help you to become increasingly aware of God’s presence in the ordinary.
It’ll enable you to become comfortable with the awkward quietness we usually try to fill with busyness.

How to try it out:

Find somewhere quiet and get comfortable.
Set a timer on your phone or watch for 5 or 10 minutes (or longer once you’ve become used to it).
Invite God to draw close to you by his spirit.
Try to clear your mind and let go of distractions. You might want to focus on your breathing, perhaps imagine yourself breathing in God’s spirit and breathing out your distractions and anxiety.
If you are struggling to focus, try using a centring prayer - a simple phrase which you can repeat in your head or under your breath in order to help you focus on God’s presence. For instance, the ‘Jesus prayer’ or ‘Tax Collector’s Prayer’: “Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

Question: Have you tried practicing silent contemplation and was it helpful for you?

"It is surely a fact of inexhaustible significance that what our Lord left behind Him was not a book,..."

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:05:12 +0100

“It is surely a fact of inexhaustible significance that what our Lord left behind Him was not a book, nor a creed, nor a system of thought, nor a rule of life, but a visible community. He committed the entire work of salvation to that community. It was not that a community gathered round an idea, so that the idea was primary and the community secondary. It was that a community called together by the deliberate choice of the Lord Himself, and re-created in Him, gradually sought - and is seeking - to make explicit who He is and what He has done. The actual community is primary; the understanding of what it is comes second.”

- Leslie Newbiggin

20 points on leading young adults

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:09:34 +0100

20 points on leading young adults:

Brad Lomenick has this great list of pointers for people working through the challenge of leading young adults (or Millenials - the generation who came of age around the millennium).

Why faith-based youth work offers a solution to the London Riots

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:00:43 +0100

Why faith-based youth work offers a solution to the London Riots :

Youthwork Magazine editor, Martin Saunders, wrote this piece in the Guardian looking at the London Riots from the perspective of a Christian youth worker:

Faith-based youth work has something special, something inherently different to offer them, because it offers something distinctive: transformation. And we in the faith community must not be ashamed of where that transformation comes from: an engagement with young people’s yearning sense of spirituality – something which promises rewards even greater than financial gain.

Read the whole article.

Sheldon Thomas from Target Against Gangs and former gang member...

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 13:07:15 +0100

Sheldon Thomas from Target Against Gangs and former gang member Gavin McKenna talking about the deeper issues surrounding the recent riots in London and around the country.

First broadcast on 10 Aug 2011 on the Sky News Channel.