In 2016, a photograph circulated on the internet of a group of young people in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. They were sitting in front of one of the museum’s most famous paintings, “The Night Watch” by Rembrandt. Yet not one of them was looking at the picture. Instead, they were all bent over, looking at […]
Can Evangelism be Redeemed? Read More »
When Bad Things Happen to Good People I don’t know if you saw the reports from Liverpool England on Tuesday night, just before the latest COVID restrictions came in, when the streets were filled with young people partying while they had the chance. [October 2020] Apparently, like young people of all ages, they’re invincible. As
Job: Suffering and a God of Love? Read More »
During my years at Wycliffe College, I listened to many students wrestling with whether they were called to ordination. They were often surprised when I told them that was not the right question to be asking. The place to start was by asking what their gifts were. Our Anglican system’s three-fold order of deacon, priest,
Can Three be Divided by Five? Varieties of Leadership Read More »
Cam Harder is a well-respected, senior Lutheran Professor of Systematic Theology, now retired. I tell you that now because he also has a mischievous sense of humour and, once you read the story I am about to tell, I wouldn’t want you to think, “Who on earth is this irresponsible young maverick?” I was once
Stripped-down church: what can be done? Read More »
Change and tradition sometimes seem like opposites. “We Anglicans have our traditions. We love them and are proud of them,” we hear. But we also hear, “The church needs to change with the times. We need to find ways to be relevant.” I’ve thought about this a lot, and finally stumbled upon one insight which
What makes a church, and why does it matter? Read More »
Business guru Peter Drucker used to advise every organisation to ask itself, “What business are we in?” So what exactly is the business of the church? Are we in the religion business? The business of teaching “values”? The business of adding a spiritual dimension to life? The business of promoting justice? In these days of church decline, we had
Who needs the church? Read More »
As we are apprenticed, we ourselves are changed into the people God always dreamed we could become, and we contribute our small bit to the mosaic that is the Kingdom—and that brings joy. Frankly, is anything else worthwhile?
What on earth is discipleship? Read More »
I remember seminary students who were hoping to be ordained warning one another of the kind of questions they were likely to be asked in the selection process. “It used to be,” they said, “that you had to say something about the importance of the sacraments. But now,” they explained, “you better say something about
Why mission is not the point Read More »
It’s nice to be right, at least sometimes. Even partly right is an encouragement. The Beginning – in the UK Way back in 2008, I wrote an article for Good Idea called “Is Fresh Expressions just the latest ‘Flavour of the Month’?” At that time, everyone seemed to be talking about Fresh Expressions. The Church
Whatever happened to Fresh Expressions – and where is it now? Read More »
Based on the Gospel of John, chapter 4 [The dialogue part can be done by two actors, although both can be played by the same actor if he or she can move from standing to sitting and back again quickly enough, and thus give the illusion of being two people.] My name is Susanna, and
Watery Tales 5: All He Wanted was a Drink of Water Read More »