Owing to the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, our conference in Derbyshire this year had to be cancelled. However, it was decided to try holding an online "conference" instead with talks and presentations recorded by people beforehand and published at the start of what would have been the normal conference on 8th May. Since some of our work supports projects in sensitive areas of the world, the material was only made available to those who have joined MissionAssist and signed up to our policies and values.
Nonetheless, some of the material was of an entirely general nature and was thought to be worth sharing with people more widely. We are, therefore, happy to make available a series of short talks by Revd Ian Coffey, Vice-Principal and Director of Leadership Training at Moorlands College, Sopley, Dorset. Ian was to have been our main speaker at the conference. He lectures on the BA and MA courses at Moorlands, drawing on more than forty years of leadership experience in both local church and parachurch contexts.
In the course of his varied ministry over the years, Ian has written four books, worked as a columnist on the Western Morning News (circulated daily in Devon and Somerset), produced teaching material for Bible Sunday in 2010 and contributed articles to various magazines. In 2019, he was made an honorary Doctor of Divinity by the ACTS Institute of Higher Education in Bengaluru, India, in recognition of his wider work across the Christian community. During a working sabbatical at this college in the late 1980s, Ian delivered the annual Theological Book Trust Lecture on the subject: "Radical Discipleship - the legacy of Revd Dr John Stott and the implications for global mission".
Ian recorded four talks for our virtual conference and you can listen to them by clicking on the appropriate "play" buttons below.
Bible Study No 1: Pressure
Philippians 1:12-19
Bible Study No 2: Partnership
Philippians 4:10-20
Bible Study No 3: Passion
Philippians 3:7-14
Bible Study No 4: Prayer
Philippians 1:3-11
We also published a link to a song recorded by a multitude of different churches throughout the United Kingdom in response to the Covid-19 situation. It was produced by numerous people, all operating under the "lockdown" restrictions, but demonstrates very clearly that, despite church buildings being closed, the church of Jesus Christ continues to be alive and active in every person who belongs to it, regardless of different creeds and denominations.