One year in: Mark Pugh reflects on leading Elim

Mark Pugh speaks to Chris Rolfe about his first year

Mark, before you were elected as GS you were open about believing that Elim needed significant change. How have you acted on that?

Organisations often talk about having an inflection point which takes them from a nosedive into a new upwards trajectory. That’s where I believe Elim is now.

We needed a clear understanding of what God is calling us to and some big changes to get there.

Our year of consecration has been part of that. It’s been a real joy travelling around the country, meeting our leaders and seeing their openness to God. The sense of his presence has been wonderful. We’ve brought ourselves, our churches and our movement before God to re-consecrate all this to him and we’ll take that forward now with our theme for ELS of “equipping the saints”.

Another change needed is around our structure. We’re one charity, with our national leadership team as its trustees. This means that if a situation arises the responsibility sits with them. We need to become an incorporated charity so that any liability sits with the whole organisation instead.

This would involve having two distinct leadership groups. One will be the trustees that steward issues such as governance and finance, the other will be a leadership team who set the spiritual vision and direction of the movement.

Do you see any other opportunities for Elim which excite you?

There’s a huge opportunity to plant more churches. Research shows church planting is the best form of evangelism and that people are four times more likely to accept an invitation to a new church than an established one.

At my own church in Exeter we’ve planted four congregations in the past 18 months and it has been wonderful to see people getting baptised, filled with the Spirit and rising up and discovering their places in God there. Lots of Elim churches could do this.

You mentioned travelling the regions. Who have you met and how is that helping form a vision for the future?

One of my favourite reflections from the past year has been the times I’ve got to meet with Elim people in person or on Zoom.

Meeting with specific groups separately has been incredibly helpful. We’ve put on marriage courses for our married leaders and gathered city church leaders, female ministers and shepherds.

One group in particular has been our ministers under 30. We only have 29 among our 450 churches. That’s a generational crisis so I’m working hard on how we mobilise and connect with the younger generation.

These niche groups have taught me so much and allowed me to share my heart and hear theirs. I’ve loved getting an insight into the quality of our ministries across the nation, seeing people’s heart for the Lord. It’s been an immense privilege to be part of those conversations.

You’ve navigated your first year as Elim’s General Superintendent while continuing as lead pastor at your church. How’s that been?

It’s been important for me to keep my place in the local church so I can talk with and relate to our leaders.

The challenge of doing both, though, is quite significant. The reality is I’m not around our church anywhere near as much I would have been previously.

It helps that I’ve got a great team there who oversee the day-to-day running. I check in with them regularly. That’s allowed me to keep relationally and visionally connected but has also released me to travel and visit Elim’s churches.

I’ve been to Scotland, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales – I’ve travelled so many miles this past year, but it’s been a real joy.

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.