How should we lead the church?

A Pneuma Review conversation

Over several issues, from Summer 2010 through Winter 2012, The Pneuma Review heard from theologians and pastors from around the world about how we should lead the local church.

If you could write a letter to church leaders everywhere, what would you say?

Join us as we ask of each other, “How should we lead the church?”

Andrew D. Clarke (Summer 2010)
New Testament scholar Andrew D. Clarke imagines what it would be like to interview the Apostle Paul about church leadership today.
An Interview with Paul: What might the Apostle say about the church today?

Tony Richie (Fall 2010)
Pastor-scholar Tony Richie discusses what having good leadership means for a local church.
Leadership in the Local Church: Discerning Practical Value and Developing Theological Foundations

Victor H. Cuartas (Winter 2011)

How to expand the vision of the local church to reach the world.
How to Lead a Missional Church that Expands God’s Kingdom

Woodrow E. Walton (Spring 2011)

The humility and anonymity of true servant leadership.
The Case for Anonymous Leadership

Aldwin Ragoonath (Summer 2011)

In this Pneuma Review conversation, preacher and international instructor Aldwin Ragoonath asks, what is hindering church growth in North America? How can we can lead towards growth in the church in the Twenty-first century?
Leading a Church in the Twenty-first Century: An International Perspective

Eric Scalise (Fall 2011)

In this Pneuma Review conversation, Christian counselor, Dr. Eric Scalise answers this question by saying that ministry leaders need to recognize how pastoral ministry causes stress and how they need to develop a plan for self-care.
Healthy Leadership and the High Cost of Caring

John Lathrop (Fall 2011)

In this Pneuma Review conversation, Pastor John Lathrop says that New Testament leadership should be scripturally based, marked by servanthood, Spirit-empowered, and equipping everyone for ministry.In this Pneuma Review conversation, Pastor John Lathrop says that New Testament leadership should be scripturally based, marked by servanthood, Spirit-empowered, and equipping everyone for ministry.
Principles of Church Leadership

Of course, there are many more articles at PneumaReview.com that seek to answer the question, “How should we lead the church?” For example, I invite you to read and practice what Steven Fettke has to say about every member ministry and “Forming a Community of the Spirit.” We would also love to hear from you about your story of effective, biblical leadership. Please leave comments underneath the articles or Contact Us.

Please join us to continue this conversation …

This index later included in the Winter 2023 issue.

My family and I were in the Atlanta area for a family reunion, and although the plans were somewhat last minute, it was a pleasant way of showing a small measure of appreciation for PneumaReview.com writers. Thank you for the many contributions you all make to this publishing ministry.

The first exclusively digital edition of The Pneuma Review, Winter 2014 (17:1).

In this issue:

Are Pentecostals offering Strange Fire? In this issue, Pneuma Review begins its response to John MacArthur’s new book, Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship (Thomas Nelson, 2013).

Find all of these articles individually in an easy-to-read format on the archive page: Winter 2014

Pastor, renewal leader, and scholar speaks with The Pneuma Review.

Pneuma Review: Tell us about where you come from, what God has done in your life, and what he has called you to be doing. 

Randy Clark:

I was raised in a Christian home as a Baptist, educated at a BaptistUniversity and Seminary, presently completing a doctor of ministry at a United Methodist seminary. I entered the ministry at 18 in 1970. I pastored for 30 years, and itinerated since 1994 while continuing to pastor until 2001 when I resigned to only itinerate. I have been married since July 1975. I have 4 adult children and three grandchildren.

I was healed at 18 and at 57, both times from serious conditions. I pastored in the General Baptist, United Church of Christ, American Baptist, Vineyard, and The Church of the Great Commission. I served on the council of the Association of Vineyard Churches. I founded the ministry called Global Awakening, then the Apostolic Network of Global Awakening. Also, founded the Global School of Supernatural Ministry, and the Christian Healing Certification Program. I was used by God to begin the Toronto Blessing revival in 1994. I started the Randy Clark scholars at United Theological seminary in Dayton, Ohio in 2013, where I am working on developing a Master of Divinity degree with a concentration in Renewal-Supernatural.

I am working around the world doing conferences, Schools of Healing and Impartation, and renewal meetings with a strong focus on healing and impartation.

PR: How has healing become a prominent part of your ministry?

Randy Clark:

When I was healed at 18, it kept me from losing my faith in the midst of liberal theological education. Healing led to experiencing revival. Healing and impartation for healing has created an opportunity for me to travel the world ministering. My doctoral dissertation is about healing, as are other dissertations by fellow students at the seminary.

PR: What kinds of healings have you seen take place?

Randy Clark:

Parkinson’s, MS, Paranoid Schizophrenia, bi-polar, cancers of many different kinds, strokes, blindness, deafness, couldn’t walk without crutches, scheduled amputations of leg below hip, below knee, and above ankle all healed and no amputations, loss of mobility and/or chronic pain from surgically implanted materials, many other types.

Find these articles individually in an easy-to-read format on the archive page: Summer 2012

John Wyckoff’s 1990 Ph.D. dissertation has finally come to print and is long overdue. In fact, it is perplexing how a scholarly treatise on such an intriguing topic was not snatched up by a publishing house in search of book candidates on controversial topics of perennial interest. Pneuma and Logos is just such a book. It sharply focuses on a hermeneutical question that has commanded the attention of church fathers and theologians from the earliest times of theological reflection in the Church. Simply put the question is, “Does the Holy Spirit have a role to play in the interpretive process called hermeneutics?” A necessary follow-up question, if the first is answered in the affirmative, is “How and to what extent does the Holy Spirit facilitate a person’s understanding of the Scriptures?”

Scholars and teachers interested in biblical hermeneutics are well aware that the central focus of this book is one well worth considering, if for no other reason than the Bible itself raises the question in passages like 1 Cor 2:10-15 and 2 Cor 5:5-17, not to mention John’s gospel where the “teaching” function of the Holy Spirit is amply attested. Oddly, seldom do hermeneutical textbooks contain a substantive treatment of the question at hand. In his introduction to the problem, Wyckoff describes a paradox. Scholars representing a wide spectrum of Christian tradition recognize the importance and challenges of biblical hermeneutics. Many of these hold to a high view of Scripture as the inspired Word of God and posit an active role of the Holy Spirit in its production. Yet pneumatology has received short shrift when it comes to hermeneutical reflection. Our author seeks not only to speak to this neglect, but make a major move toward remedying it.

In the space of five compact and well constructed chapters, Wyckoff conducts a historically-informed exercise in philosophical theology around the issue of the Holy Spirit’s relationship to biblical hermeneutics. Chapter one clearly states and defines the nature of the problem, establishes the need for the present study, circumscribes its scope and describes its internal organization. Admittedly the complex and multifaceted character of hermeneutics will raise a host of issues and questions beyond the scope of this book, but the author is determined to stay focused on the primary question which he argues deserves our singular attention.

Chapter two surveys the history of biblical interpretation from Early Church to the Reformation; the Reformation to the Enlightenment; and the Enlightenment to mid-twentieth century.

As a teacher I thoroughly enjoyed this helpful historical survey of the Church’s consideration of the Holy Spirit’s relationship to hermeneutics because it also serves as a primer to the field of historical hermeneutics in general. It provides a needed supplement to most textbooks in hermeneutics. Wyckoff conducts an overview of the major schools of biblical interpretation, their major figures and a succinct statement of their contribution to the field. Students will especially appreciate the summaries that appear after each historical period and the author’s conclusions at the end of the chapter. He lingers over major figures such as Origen, Chrysostom, Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Turretin, Schleiermacher, Barth etc. to highlight their specific contributions to hermeneutics and specifically how they related the Spirit to a believer’s understanding of Scripture. Numerous choice quotes from the early Church Fathers and theologians demonstrate their high view of Scripture owing to their conviction of its divine origin and inspiration. It is this theological conviction which naturally led to their hermeneutical consideration of how the Holy Spirit continues to function as a mediator of Divine truth through the Scriptures. Nevertheless, while most affirmed this role of the Holy Spirit, some denied or deemphasized it. The author provides sharp insight into why this was so by revealing the theological, philosophical and epistemological presuppositions at work.

The full issue of The Pneuma Review (14:4) Fall 2011.

The full issue of The Pneuma Review (14:3) Summer 2011, now in digital format. Find all of the articles and reviews, in easy-to-read format on the Archive page.