Cohorts
Supporting Gospel Ministry in Ireland Through Peer-to-Peer Collaboration
Our desire is to create a network of churches and leaders to catalyse health and growth in our local contexts.
In the Irish context Gospel ministry is challenging. With limited resources and support isolation and burnout are a common occurrence. Our desire is to facilitate connections between like-minded churches and church leaders to pray for one another, to share experiences and resources, and to discuss how we can plant and establish healthy churches and healthy leaders in a sustainable and replicable way.
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Initially this occurs through a regular Zoom call where we pray and discuss practical elements of ministry in our contexts, share ideas and resources, and be an encouragement to one another.
How?
It is our belief that everything begins with connection.
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Since isolation is both a personal circumstance and a geographical reality in Ireland it is important that we gather together to discuss the realities of ministry in our various contexts. Of course, we will come with different understandings in some aspects of theology, ecclesiology and missiology, but even in our differences we can learn from one another in discussing how healthy, sustainable and replicable churches are possible in our contexts. As well as this, we can develop friendships and collaborative relationships with like-minded people and organisations across Ireland who can provide a catalyst for these works going forward. Rather than be a 'top-down' director of support and resources, our desire is that we would have a grassroots movement of leaders and churches in an Irish context to encourage and support one another for the sake of the Gospel.
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To do this, we have partnered with Practical Shepherding (link) and are in the early stages of seeing small church pastors from across Ireland grow in relationship and support of one another. The aim of these is to develop connections that enable us to see healthy Gospel growth in three areas:
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The Pastor's Soul
The Pastor's Family, and
The Pastor's Ministry.
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At present, we are in the early stages of developing these groups, if you would like more information, please contact: info@glunta.com
Future Plans
Alongside these pastoral support cohorts, we hope in time to develop practical ministry training days and pastors and wives retreats as a natural extension of this work. The cohorts matter because they build trust, friendship, and honest conversation, but healthy ministry also needs spaces where leaders can be equipped more intentionally for the practical demands of pastoral life and where marriages and families can be strengthened amid the pressures of ministry. Training days would provide focused, accessible opportunities to think together about preaching, discipleship, leadership, pastoral care, mission, and the ordinary challenges of serving faithfully in Irish contexts. Retreats for pastors and their wives would offer something different but equally necessary: rest, encouragement, prayer, and the chance to build relationships with others who understand the unique burdens and blessings of ministry. In a setting like Ireland, where many leaders serve in relative isolation and with limited local support, these future plans are important because they help create a culture of sustainable, relational, and long-term Gospel ministry rather than one built merely on survival.