This week sees the launch of Helen Thorne-Allenson’s book, A Church That Cares – a Biblical Guide to Loving One Another Well. So, we thought we’d catch up with her on the BCUK blog to find out more.  

Helen, what’s this new book about?  

At its core, it’s a book about how to be church. How to be church in a way that loves like Jesus, speaks like Jesus and acts like Jesus. It focuses on pastoral care but everything that it contains aims to help us be ever more the Christ-centred community of hope, that holds out words of life to one another, that we are designed to be. It starts by looking at our call to be disciples who walk alongside one another in love and humility; looks at why we can sometimes find that hard; and then goes on to suggest a whole host of areas that we can attend to if we are to become churches that truly care. It helps us consider areas like the culture of church, the structure, the vision, the skills, the place of prayer, role-modelling, teaching, training and testimony, etc. Each chapter offers biblical principles and practical strategies that can be taken and applied in churches of all shapes and sizes. It’s wide ranging and that hopefully means there will be something for everyone.  

Why did you write it?  

I love church! It is God’s very good community. It can be so beautiful and be a place of such flourishing. The trouble is, sometimes we struggle to care well. Whether that’s because we have misunderstood something about the biblical call to share lives and speak the truth to one another; or because we are scared or feeling under confident about walking alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ; or even because the structures or culture of the church make it hard to get involved in pastoral care – sometimes care doesn’t flourish. Sadly, sometimes churches can be places of hurt. This book aims to help us all – leaders and members alike – to take small steps towards more Christlike care and to be places where believers are discipled well and where unbelievers can glimpse just how impactful the gospel of grace is.

Also, our students on the Certificate Programme course, Church Pastoral Care often ask if there is something they can share with their wider church to help excite and equip the whole congregation about pastoral care – hopefully this book will do just that!

What did you most enjoy about writing it?

I always enjoy writing. It’s so creative! But what I enjoyed most was thinking back over the many examples of good pastoral care that I have seen in various churches over the years and praising God for the many lives changed. I am so very grateful for the people who have cared for me well and for the people who have given me the privilege of walking alongside them – together we’ve been able to enjoy God’s incredible, transformative work. Learning from those experiences and being able to write about some of the biblical principles and practical tips that can help others has been a joy.

Now, I am looking forward to seeing how the Lord chooses to work through it! It’s always exciting to see how people begin to think differently, pray differently, listen differently and speak differently as they wrestle with how to care well for one another. I hope it will be a huge blessing in the local church.

How can churches use it?

It’s a book for everyone. There are the odd few pages that are speaking more to church leaders and a few that are speaking more to church members but basically every chapter is dripping with biblical calls and ideas of how people with different gifts and roles can play their part in helping their church to grow. So, it’s certainly not a book that is for just a small subsection of the church to read.

It could be read:

• Alone
• With a friend
• As an eldership
• Within a small group
• As a formal church book group or book of the term

It could even be the basis of a series of evenings looking at how to become a church that cares (it actually contains a couple of templates on how to offer simple sessions to help people listen and speak well). We will also be offering some BCUK book groups on this title in the early autumn.

But it’s not just a book to read and then move on from. The most important thing is to work out how you are going to put it into action after you’ve read it. That won’t be a one-size-fits-all response. But taking the time to ask yourself the question, “now I’ve read this book, what one or two things can I pray or do differently to help my church to grow?” will be a good starting point. (It would probably be a bit ambitious and unhelpful to try to put everything into action at once, churches grow best when they grow slowly so starting with one or two things is likely to be best).

What is your prayer for this book?

My prayer is that the church will grow. Grow in its devotion to the Lord, grow in its love for the word, grow in its depth of prayerfulness, grow in its love for the saints, grow in its willingness to share lives and speak words of comfort, encouragement and transformation to one another, grow to be more like Jesus. If the book can play even a small part in that, then there will be much for which to praise God.