Month: May 2016

The gay lobby we need to listen to

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Steve Chalke has recently published his Open Church charter and committed to support and enable any Christians wanting to enter a same-sex marriage. He explains that the move and its timing are related to research undertaken by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine: It found that gay and bisexual men under the age of … Continue Reading

What did humour in sermons ever do for us?

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As part of its publicity, the Christian Resources Exhibition is running a ‘Sermon of the Year’ award. (The reporter, Ruth Gledhill, must be pleased, since 20 years ago she ran The Times Sermon of the Year competition, which featured yours truly!). To promote this it commissioned research on what people look for in sermons, and … Continue Reading

Will leaving the EU lead to war?

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David Cameron claimed yesterday that leaving the EU could threaten the peaceful co-existence of European nations. Can we be so sure that peace and stability on our continent are assured beyond any shadow of doubt? Is that a risk worth taking? I would never be so rash as to make that assumption. His comments were … Continue Reading

Learning leadership from Leicester City

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Leicester City’s triumph in the Premier League has been hailed as a miracle; even “the most unlikely sporting triumph ever”. On the surface, it appears as though manager Claudio Ranieri is as surprised as anyone at how it turned out. In an interview yesterday he was quizzed on the secret of his success: Interviewer: “What has … Continue Reading

Do Anglicans believe in ‘real presence’?

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Earlier this week I had a conversation with a friend who has just been recommended for ordination training. He has been meeting with someone else going through selection, and they have been working through the ordinal together. ‘It’s funny—we couldn’t find all that Catholic stuff in the ordinal—it comes over as quite, well, if not … Continue Reading

Learning from Leicester on Leadership

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Leicester City’s triumph in the Premier League is being hailed as ‘the most unlikely sporting triumph ever’ and ‘a miracle’. On the surface, it appears as though the manager, Claudio Ranieri, is as surprised as anyone at how it turned out. In an interview yesterday he was quizzed on the secret of his success: Interviewer; … Continue Reading

How to manage emails

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Driving back from deanery chapter last week with a colleague, the subject of emails come up—I cannot now remember why, possibly in discussion of ‘What does the rest of the day hold for you?’ The mere mention of the word elicited a deep groan; who looks forward to dealing with their email inbox? It is … Continue Reading