Month: February 2015

Expressing God’s welcome

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Thom Shultz has explored the reasons why people both leave and stay away from the church in the West, and proposes Four Acts of Love that could make the church ‘irresistible.’ With a bit of cultural translation, I think he is on to something important. The first Act of Love is called ‘Radical Hospitality.’ Shultz … Continue Reading

Ken Bailey on The Good Shepherd

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The Good Shepherd: A thousand-year journey from Psalm 23 to the New Testament (A guest review by Richard Briggs) Ken Bailey worked for many years in the Middle East, taught the Bible there, and sat with and spoke with those whose ways of life reflected in some measure the perspectives and assumptions of biblical times. … Continue Reading

Life as labyrinth

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Last week, returning from a half-term break in France, we had a tyre blow out on the autoroute and, since almost everything is closed on a Sunday in France, we had an unplanned extra day there. We stayed over in St Quentin, a town of ancient foundation which was the capital of the war-like Viromandui, … Continue Reading

Which party should I vote for?

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There has been a flurry of activity this week on the question of the forthcoming election and Christian faith. Tuesday saw the publication of the House of Bishops’ pastoral letter ‘Who is my neighbour?’ (WIMN) identifying key issues to consider for Anglicans as they vote, and today sees the publication of a survey by the … Continue Reading

Can the ‘traditional’ view of sexuality ever be plausible?

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I’m often intrigued by those who argue that the church’s stance on sexuality—which usually means the church’s traditional opposition to seeing same-sex sexual unions as equivalent to male-female marriage—as an obstacle to mission. They are quite right that most people beyond the church look at this aspect of its teaching with more or less blank … Continue Reading

Labour, business and democracy

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The question of Labour’s relationship with business, and business’ evaluation of Labour’s competence in financial management, has continued to rumble on all week. It started with the proclamation by Stefano Pessina, Chairman of Boots PLC, that if Labour were elected it would be a ‘catastrophe’ for the British economy. Interestingly, this did Boots’ reputation no … Continue Reading

Allocating giving for ministry (‘parish share’)

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In just about every deanery I have been involved with, the allocation of ‘parish share’, the contribution to the central financing of the diocese, has been a matter of contention. As with many decisions, disagreements are heightened when they are focussed on the practical decisions involved. This is often because underlying principles have not been … Continue Reading

Stephen Fry and God

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Stephen Fry has caused a bit of a stir with his comments to Gay Byrne on the kind of god he does not believe in. As is his habit, Fry did not hold back: How dare you? How dare you create a world to which there is such misery that is not our fault. It’s … Continue Reading