In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with Nicky Gumbel to discuss the global acceleration of Alpha, leadership succession, church planting, and the essential role of spiritual leadership in the church today. As Alpha approaches its 50th anniversary and looks toward the 2033 vision—the 2,000-year anniversary of Jesus’ death and resurrection—Nicky shares how new, fully contextualized film series in Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, and African languages are expanding Alpha’s reach worldwide. He reflects on handing leadership to the next generation, the power of church planting to create healthy growth, and why pastors must resist being defined by business models rather than by spiritual leadership.
Welcome to Episode 154 of the Leaders in Living Rooms Podcast with Sean Morgan.
EPISODE LINKS
If you’re a leader approaching a succession or transition, or maybe you’re a few years in and beginning to see how complex transitions leadership is… go to The Art of Pastoral Succession and check out my course in partnership with Carey Nieuwhof.
Are you in Transition or have one on the horizon? Check out our cohorts and get connected with us at: https://theascentleader.org/cohorts/
WHO IS NICKY GUMBEL?
Nicky Gumbel is the pioneer of Alpha, an introduction to the Christian faith running in churches of all denominations in 146 countries. Over 37 million participants have done Alpha. Nicky has written several best-selling books including Why Jesus?, Questions of Life, and The Jesus Lifestyle. After working for six years as a barrister in London, Nicky went on to be Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton – a large central London church – for 17 years. Since 1985, HTB has been partnering with dioceses across the nation to restore and revitalise Anglican churches – many of which faced imminent closure. There are now 194 churches in the HTB Network – vibrant, Spirit-filled, worshipping communities that are having a significant impact on their local communities. Nicky and his wife, Pippa, primarily spend their time these days working to support Alpha globally. They are also the authors of a daily Bible commentary, ‘The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel’, which has had over 9 million users on the App. Nicky was awarded a CBE in the 2024 New Year’s Honours for services to the Church of England.
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