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At the end of last week there was a bit of a kerfuffle in the press and on social media about the relative importance of the final of the women’s football World Cup (which England lost to Spain 1–0) and church service times. Kaya Burgess at The Times posted a report under the headline: Skip … Continue Reading
I have spent more nearly 40 years giving feedback and encouraging others to do so in a range of professional, personal and ministerial contexts. These have included being a personnel professional in an FMCG multi-national, being an ordained leader working with lay and ordained colleagues, and in the context of theological education. As a result … Continue Reading
In the previous post, I asked Dr Rhiannon McAleer of Bible Society about their research on church attendance in partnership with YouGov, and the surprising and encouraging findings. In this video, we discuss the issues, including their findings around Bible interest and engagement, and the moments in life when people are most open to thinking … Continue Reading
Last month, Mark Woods of the Bible Society wrote an article in the Baptist Times challenging the narrative that the Church in England and Wales is in decline, based on the Bible Society’s own research. I was intrigued by this, so I asked Dr Rhiannon McAleer, Head of Research and Impact, about what they had found. IP: … Continue Reading
Following on from the broo-ha-ha about Stephen Cottrell’s comments on the problems of calling God ‘Father‘, the latest episode in the debate about God’s sex and pronouns comes from Hereford Cathedral. Last Sunday, their main Communion service began with an Introit which re-writes Psalm 23 with God identified using female pronouns. The Lord is … Continue Reading
The General Synod of the Church of England met at the University of York (as it does every July) last weekend. ‘This was the worst Synod I have experienced in all my time attending since 2005’ commented a Synod friend on Facebook. He was primarily referring to what he perceived as poor organisation, an inability … Continue Reading
This seems to be a very good time to republish this article which I last posted three years ago in 2020, for at least two reasons. The first is that last weekend was the time for many to be ordained, so my social media feed was full of pictures of people being ordained, and so … Continue Reading
Jocelyn Downey writes: In the mid-2000s, James Hoffmeier, probably most known for his archaeological work in Sinai and his writings on the Exodus, weighed into the discussion on immigration by producing a book seeking to examine the Biblical view on the rights and responsibilities of migrants as well as, in broad terms, the duty of care … Continue Reading
Is Christian faith about an affective encounter with God, or about becoming convinced about the case for Christianity? You will immediately be crying ‘False dichotomy!’—but it is worth reflecting on the balance between these two ideas in contemporary expressions of faith. There was a time when the tradition of rational enquiry was most influential, but … Continue Reading
Whenever I have visited the US, many of the churches I have been to have had a very different pattern of meeting on Sunday mornings. Instead of having two services of worship, they have often had a range of teaching classes first, with perhaps three or four options for people to choose from, followed by a … Continue Reading
In March 2021, the Archbishops commissioned a project to look at issues around family and households; this was the third of four Commissioners arising from Justin Welby’s 2018 book Reimagining Britain (which I reviewed here), the previous ones covering housing and care respectively, alongside the ongoing commission on racial justice. Before I read the report myself, I … 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
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