Church leaders to explore challenges and opportunities at CRE 2026

The challenges and opportunities facing church leaders will be explored at the CRE 2026, as a panel of experienced Christian leaders comes together to discuss what effective leadership looks like in today's rapidly changing Church.

Taking place on Wednesday 14 October 2026 from 11:05am to 11:50am in the Church Leaders Conference programme, the session titled Panel discussion: LEADERSHIP will be going ahead.

One of the top speakers in this discussion will be Bejoy Pal, Director of Development at Ascension Trust - a Christian inter-denominational organisation empowering people to work together in their communities, improve lives and support disadvantaged and vulnerable people.

In this session, Bejoy, along-side Matt Summerfield and Phil Stokes, will offer different perspectives on how leaders can equip people, develop healthy teams and respond creatively to the needs of their communities. Andy Flannagan, Executive Director - Christians in Politics will serve as moderator.

The panel comes at an important time for churches. Research from the Evangelical Alliance's Changing Church 2025 report found that 21% of church leaders identified leadership as one of their most pressing current needs, making it one of the leading challenges facing churches alongside recruiting volunteers and managing finances. The research was based on responses from 305 church leaders and 977 individuals across the UK. The wellbeing of leaders is another important consideration. The Evangelical Alliance found that 75% of church leaders described their emotional wellbeing as good or very good in 2025, an improvement from previous surveys. Source - Evangelical Alliance

The discussion will be particularly relevant to senior church leaders, pastors, ministers, trustees, ministry teams, emerging leaders and those responsible for developing new leaders within their churches.

This session takes place Wednesday 14 October 2026 from 11:05am to 11:50am in the Church Leaders Conference at CRE 2026, bringing together experienced voices to explore the future of leadership and ministry in the UK Church.