Unity is more important than theology!

HTB Leadership conference 2012

I spent Monday and Tuesday this week at the Royal Albert Hall…no not to listen to Opera or to attend some fancy award ceremony but rather to worship God and be equipped to go and build His Church in this country.

Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) hosted and led their annual Leadership Conference at this extraordinary venue and I was one of 4,300 delegates booked in.  These delegates came from over 900 difference churches and organisations and from 52 different countries.  How fitting that a conference about building the Church of God was attended by such a beautiful picture of what the Church is meant to be.  

As I’ve reflected on the conference, I think I can honestly say that this has been one of the most powerful conferences I’ve ever been too.  The calibre of speakers (Tony Blair, The Bishop of London, Christine Cain, Dr Rick Warren, Judah Smith…) was outstanding, the organisation was excellent, the content and topics were prophetic and inspired and as already said the venue couldn’t have been better.

However what made it so special for me was the diversity of the whole event, which was beautiful and yet uncompromising!   Theological differences weren’t issues as brothers and sisters in Christ came together with one purpose: to honour God.  For two days it didn’t matter what I thought about baptism in the Holy Spirit or church structure.  It didn’t matter that I didn’t have a dog collar on nor did it matter how I prayed!  It was such a refreshing and freeing environment to be in.

This is my dream for the Church.  That we might be united in the truest sense of the word.  That, as Jesus prayed in John 13, we would be one with each other as He is One with the Father.  That we would realise that unity is more important than Theology (Mark 13:24-25).  That we would understand that it’s ok to disagree with one another and still worship the same God in the same building!

I feel equipped, challenged and changed by this conference and I'm so grateful to God that HTB were able to host and led such a historic event. 

So…please let me encourage you:  Get booked in for HTB Leadership conference 2013!  More information can be found at http://leadershipconference.htb.org.uk/