‘Keswick at Portstewart’ is a week-long Bible-teaching convention held each year on the north coast of Northern Ireland. It’s been running since 1914 and is the oldest daughter convention of the Keswick (in Cumbria) Convention that began in 1975.

This year’s convention featured teaching from Jonathan Thomas, Mark Meynell, and Clive Bowsher. It also included a lunchtime event when I had the opportunity to chat with the three speakers about life and ministry.

“I was in such a hurry to get into positions, to get into... I was quite ambitious and stuff, but actually the Lord’s pace is right. Trust him, and his timing will be perfect.”

Mark Meynell

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Matt MacDiarmid and his wife, Lou, lead Hope Church in Wigston, near Leicester. A few week ago Matt published ‘Ten Things I Wish I’d Known before Leading a Church.’ The book is published by Instant Apostle and you can find links to various outlets where you can order a copy and also read a sample.

It’s an insightful and accessible book in which Matt discusses some of the blessings he has discovered as a church leader (he can still play cricket!) and some of the battles. Then ten chapters cover such issues as priority and time management, equipping the church, handling tech, developing a meaningful prayer life, and dealing with your biggest problem - yourself!

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Alex Afriyie has recently begun his year as President of the Baptist Union in GB. He’s been pastor of a church in Acton for some three decades and has served as moderator of London Baptists. His theme for the year is drawn from Ephesians 4: ‘Walking Worthy.

It was great to catch up with him for this episode of the podcast, when he talked about his early years and coming to faith as a young Londoner who turned up in a Baptist church with some of his friends.

One of the questions we spent some time on was how he has stayed fresh in serving God over an extended time. Anyone wanting to learn how to sustain ministry over the long haul will be encouraged as Alex unpacks some of his key spiritual priorities and practices - lifelines for both ministry and marriage.

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The guest on this episode of the podcast is Gilbert Lennox. Gilbert has already been a guest on the podcast on a couple of occasions (on both occasions we recorded in front of an actual audience) and this time he joins me to talk about his new book, God Speaking: How to read the Bible to get to know God.

Our conversation begins with a little biography (for more on that you could listen to our 2019 conversation), noting the influence of his parents and of his mentor, Professor David Gooding, on Gilbert’s own relationship with the Bible.

We then talk about engaging with the Bible and explore some the ideas that are developed further in the book.

The book will be available in various outlets such as Cedar and Circle or The Bookwell in Northern Ireland, online from Eden Books and in some of the upcoming summer conferences.

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Peter Rae has recently retired (at least semi-retired) from three decades at the Nazarene Theological College in Manchester, including fifteen years as Academic Dean/VP Academic. I have worked with him in facilitating an MA leadership module over the past few years and on this episode of the podcast we chatted about his story.

Our conversation ranged from the early years, growing up in a family whose story is intertwined with that of NTC, through his journey into the world of theology and academia. We talked about an old motto of NTC (‘scholarship on fire’) and what it means to hold a commitment to careful study and a commitment to ministry together. We touched a little on the phase of life where we both find ourselves (Peter is a few weeks older than me), with some advice for people approaching retirement, and as ever, we finished with something Peter would tell his 20-year-old self.

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I’m keeping this first episode of the year in the family - my guest is Pauline, my wife of 41 years (you can work out whether that is her age or the length of time we have been married).

We’re going to chat a bit about her story and we are going to spend time talking about an exciting writing project that sees the light of day over the course of the year. Pauline has been writing a series of short books that are intended to provide material for folk who wish to spend a bit of time on retreat. The first is due this month and the others will follow as the year unfolds.

If you are living in Northern Ireland we hope that the books will be available in some local Christian bookshops, but there are also plans to make them available to folks from around the world via online ordering. You can follow Pauline’s Substack and other social media to keep up to date with news of the books as well as retreats and other events where she will be speaking.

For more information on the wellbeing programme Pauline mentioned, you can visit the Renew Wellbeing website.

You can read Pauline’s article - Twelve Tips for Pastors’ Wives - on her Substack.

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Pastor and author Sam Allberry, is currently Associate Pastor in Immanuel Church in Nashville, having moved to the US from England. He is author of several books, including Is God Anti-Gay? and Seven Myths about Singleness. His writing also includes a couple of short commentaries on parts of the New Testament.

In our conversation we discuss Sam's early years, growing up in a non-church family in Kent, coming to faith as a teenager. We talk about his progression into ordained Church of England ministry and his eventual move to Immanuel Church in Nashville. Sam also talks about his friendship with the late Tim Keller and  - as you'd expect - what he would say to his 20-year old self, including this:

'Jesus is even better than you think he is!'

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Gavin Calver and Phil Knox from the Evangelical Alliance have both been on the podcast previously but on this episode they are talking about a new book they have written together and which has just been launched. It's 'Good News People: Hopeful Evangelicals yesterday, today and tomorrow' and it's a positive manifesto for the 21st Century Evangelical Church in the UK (with application to other parts of the world).

As we mention in the conversation, there is a suite of resources to go with the book - a great idea for small groups to work on together and the Evangelical Alliance website will allow you to find out more about the Alliance and give you the option to join as a personal member if you wish to support the work.

If you are in Northern Ireland, Phil will be at the T3 centre on October 16: he will be with his colleague, Rachel Heffer, and they will be talking about the results of the Talking Jesus research.

For more from Phil, you can check out his book 'The Best of Friends' and 'Unleashed' is the book written by Gavin and his wife, Anne.

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Mark Sayers is Lead Pastor of Red Church in Melbourne, Australia and the author of a growing catalogue of books, including, most recently, Platforms to Pillars, published earlier this year. He has become a significant voice in helping the Church in the Western World understand and respond to a rapidly changing context for ministry and mission.

In our conversation Mark talks about growing up in a believing family and some of the key moments and influencers in the development of his own faith. He discusses some of the early challenges he faced in church leadership and his understanding of mission and of how 'personal renewal leads to corporate change'.

We also discuss his writing, which he summarises under the rubric of missiology. Mark describes his process of writing, driven by his curiosity about how the world works and how God interacts with it - all grounded in his rootedness in local ministry.

Mark believes that the world is in a process of rapid change and that spiritual authority, created in moments of pressure, is what will set Christian leaders apart from other forms of leadership.

As is usual for these podcasts, we finish with some of what Mark would say to his 20-year-old self.

For more from Mark, you can subscribe to his Rebuilders podcast or pick up some of his books - see the list below:

• A Non-Anxious Presence: How a Changing and Complex World Will Create a Remnant of Renewed


• Disappearing Church: From Cultural Relevance to Gospel Resilience


• Reappearing Church: The Hope for Renewal in the Rise of Our Post-Christian Culture


• Facing Leviathan: Leadership, Influence, and Creating in a Cultural Storm


• Strange Days: Life in the Spirit in a Time of Upheaval


• The Road Trip That Changed the World: The Unlikely Theory That Will Change How You View Culture, the Church, and, Most Importantly, Yourself


• The Vertical Self: How Biblical Faith Can Help Us Discover Who We Are in an Age of Self Obsession


• The Trouble with Paris: Following Jesus in a World of Plastic Promises


• Platforms to Pillars: Trading the Burden of Performance for the Freedom of God's Presence

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Hold on to Hope is the title of a new book (July 18) from Instant Apostle. The author is Howard Satterthwaite who works for a global Christian charity and previously served as the lead pastor at Westminster Chapel in London. Howard is the guest on this episode of the podcast.

In the podcast, Howard talks about coming to faith in Christ as a law student. He had not grown up in a believing family, but had a praying grandmother whose prayers for her family were powerfully answered as other members of the family came to faith through Alpha.

After some time working as a barrister and working with the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship, Howard joined the staff at Westminster Chapel in central London, where he was mentored by the then-senior pastor, the late Greg Haslam.

Two years ago, overwhelmed by discouragement, Howard felt that he had to step away from leadership in the church. In our conversation he talks about this season, and about his recovery, with grace and vulnerability.

Hold on to Hope emerged from journalling and conversations during Howard's discovery. It's largely based around an incident in the life of David in 1 Samuel 30, where David 'encouraged himself in the Lord.' His reflections on the story are interspersed with contributions from a number of other people, including RT Kendall.

The book will be published on July 18: in the meantime, you can pre-order a copy from several online outlets, including from the publisher, Instant Apostle, and from Amazon.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jsalanwilson.substack.com