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Ian Paul
Summary Reviewing the development of Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF) reveals that it demonstrates an even more serious ‘PLF’ problem, one that is evident in other areas of church life as well: Persistent Leadership Failure. It first traces this failure back to the rushed origins of PLF in late 2022 and early 2023. These … Continue Reading
Oh Mark—where have you been, with your dynamic directness, your parataxis and imitation of Old Testament narrative, your puns on ‘straightway’ and your dense biblical allusions? We have missed you! And yet—it is we who left you, whilst you have been waiting patiently all this time. We were seduced by the Beloved Disciple, with his … Continue Reading
Because Easter was earlier this year, the readings in ‘ordinary time’ begin in Trinity 1 with Mark 2.23–3.6 which is not always included when Easter is later. At first, this appears to be a pair of incidents about Sabbath law and whether it still applies to followers of Jesus. In fact, it sits within Jewish … Continue Reading
I first met Tom Creedy when he was doing Masters-level study at the college in Nottingham where I taught, and we have kept in good touch ever since. I was delighted to see that this week it has been announced that he is now the Publishing Director at Inter-Varsity Press (IVP), which for the last … Continue Reading
On Monday there was a (comparatively) early release of the 2023 Statistics for Mission, the results of the annual October collection of attendance numbers in Church of England churches. The headline was all about the good news! Weekly Church attendance up five per cent in third year of consecutive growth Average weekly attendance at Church … Continue Reading
The Sunday lectionary gospel reading for Trinity Sunday in Year B is the same as we had for Lent 2 in Year A—Nicodemus’ meeting with Jesus in John 3.1–17—so I am reposting the article from last year for this week. In Year A, this forms part of a four-week departure from reading Matthew’s gospel: Lent … Continue Reading
The Sunday lectionary gospel reading for Trinity Sunday in this Year B is the same as it was for Lent 2 in Year A: Nicodemus’ meeting with Jesus in John 3.1–17. In Year A we were supposed to be reading from Matthew’s gospel, and the RCL used ecumenically has continued to do so, the lectionary … Continue Reading
When I became an Anglican (from a background of a different church tradition), I was at first quite puzzled by the choice of Scripture passages that Anglican (that is, Church of England) services kept coming back to—the Benedictus (Luke 1.68–79) in Morning Prayer, the Magnificat (Luke 1.46–55) in Evening Prayer, and the Nunc Dimittis (Luke … Continue Reading
This Sunday is the Feast of Pentecost, when we remember, celebrate, and re-engage with the first giving of the Spirit at Pentecost as recounted in Acts 2., and the lectionary reading in this Year CX is, as every year, Acts 2.1–21. Although it is a comparatively long reading, in one sense it is not long … Continue Reading
This Sunday is the Feast of Pentecost, when we remember, celebrate, and re-engage with the first giving of the Spirit at Pentecost as recounted in Acts 2, and the lectionary reading in this Year A is, as every year, Acts 2.1–21. Although it is a comparatively long reading, in one sense it is not long … Continue Reading
Andrew Goddard writes: As new LLF groups convene this weekend, in this article, I note the following issues. The three working groups and the bishops need not only to connect the work in each area (“the trees”) but also see the bigger theological picture (“the forest”) where the earlier LLF work is helpful in clarifying … Continue Reading
Ian Paul: theologian, author, speaker, academic consultant. Associate Senior Research Fellow, Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology; Associate Minister, St Nic's, Nottingham; Managing Editor, Grove Books; member of General Synod and Archbishops' Council. Mac user; chocoholic. Tweets at @psephizo
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Gospel commentary index Lectionary Year A
Andrew Goddard Bible biblical interpretation Biblical literacy biblical theology Christmas Church of England culture discipleship discussion doctrine eschatology evangelism gay General Synod Grove guest Hermeneutics History hope interpretation James Blandford Baker Jesus John's gospel Justin Welby leadership lectionary Luke Luke's gospel Matthew ministry mission New Testament Paul politics preaching Revelation same sex marriage same sex unions sexuality theology video Year A Year B Year C
