David Oliver

In-Person Or Online? How Do I Decide?

During previous lockdowns in the UK, some church leaders expressed frustration that the Governments decided whether church buildings could stay open or not. During the current lockdowns which have greeted us as we start 2021, the Governments (with the exception of the Scottish Government) have given us the freedom we wanted and are allowing churches and other places of worship to remain open. However, this may turn out to be… Read More »In-Person Or Online? How Do I Decide?

Don’t Rush The Recovery

This morning, my newsfeeds and social media are buzzing with news that the Oxford-AstraZenica vaccine for Covid-19 has been approved in the UK for use and that a huge vaccination programme will begin in the first week of January 2021. There is much rejoicing in the media and rightly so but I wondered how, as leaders, we should respond and what, therefore, the next 12 months look like. I suppose… Read More »Don’t Rush The Recovery

A Beginner’s Guide To Risk Assessment For Churches

Length: 5-10 minute read So, someone has asked you, in advance of reopening your church for worship services, to do a Risk Assessment and you can feel the blood drain out of your face and your heart sink into your shoes. This, of course, is just what you signed up to when you went to Bible College – learn pastoral skills, understand preaching, delve into New Testament Greek – Oh,… Read More »A Beginner’s Guide To Risk Assessment For Churches

Confident Leadership In A Chaotic World – 8 Things To Attempt

There are times in our world where the quality of leadership comes to the forefront of everyday life and unfortunately a time of crisis is one of those times. It doesn’t matter whether it is in the political, scientific, medical, logistics, education or any number of realms, everyone today seems to have an opinion on how they should be handled and led. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, I have… Read More »Confident Leadership In A Chaotic World – 8 Things To Attempt

Staying Sane In A Crazy World #6 – Be Thankful!

“Don’t worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart.” (Philippians 4:6 – Good News Translation) We now reach an important step in staying sane in this crazy world. When we started this process, I talked about humanity’s negative bias. We are always geared in our human nature to be concerned about what we do not have rather… Read More »Staying Sane In A Crazy World #6 – Be Thankful!

Staying Sane In A Crazy World #5 – Be Prayerful!

“Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.” (Philippians 4:6 The Message Translation) I don’t know about anyone else, but I have a tendency to forget to pray about things until I’ve tried everything else. If I can’t work things out, I go to prayer. This isn’t really the way God intended prayer to be. We need to be better… Read More »Staying Sane In A Crazy World #5 – Be Prayerful!

Staying Sane In A Crazy World #4 – Be Content!

“Do not be anxious about anything.” (Philippians 4:6a NIV) Anxiety. Wow, where do we start with this. If you google ‘coronavirus anxiety’ you will find 923,000,000 results! No, I haven’t reviewed them all. But it is safe to say that there is a ‘virus’ spreading around the world which is infecting far more people than coronavirus and that is anxiety. The dictionary defines ‘anxiety’ as “distress or uneasiness of mind… Read More »Staying Sane In A Crazy World #4 – Be Content!

Staying Sane In A Crazy World #3 – Be Conscious!

“The Lord is near!” (Philippians 4:5b – NIV) Four words which carry so much truth and yet can often hold so many questions. How? When? Really? The reality of the presence of Jesus with His people is at the heart of the Christian message. At Christmas, we celebrate that Jesus is Emmanuel, “God with us.” At Easter, we have just remembered that the veil in the Temple was torn in… Read More »Staying Sane In A Crazy World #3 – Be Conscious!

Staying Sane In A Crazy World #2 – Be Gentle!

I am amazed at the quality and impressiveness of the people I follow on social media. They are incredible. I cannot believe the number of those I follow who are experts in macroeconomics and international relations, especially in terms of the UK’s relationship with the European Union. But even more than that, I am astonished that those same individuals are now accomplished epidemiologists and experts in the realm of pandemic… Read More »Staying Sane In A Crazy World #2 – Be Gentle!

Staying Sane In A Crazy World #1 – Be Joyful!

As I sit on Easter Bank Holiday Monday in the UK in a world where going to the supermarket is the highlight of my week and where everyone I know seems to be a world-class epidemiologist ready to instruct the government on how to best deal with coronavirus. On a more serious note, I sit in a world where numbers of deaths under 800 per day is considered a ‘success’… Read More »Staying Sane In A Crazy World #1 – Be Joyful!