Scholarship • Serving • Ministry – Ian Paul
So the dust has settled, the result is clear, and the stalemate on leaving the EU has been unblocked. The debates continue to rattle around my various social media threads, and it is worth pausing and reflecting on the way that the result came about, and whether we are in a new political era—or not. …
What are you aiming to do in your Christmas services this year? For many, it is an opportunity to make use of this season which is rooted in Christian festivities—though we hardly need reminding how far many Christmas traditions have moved from that. Five years ago, it was reported that one third of children aged …
The Church of England communications team has released a prayer for the nation at the time of the General Election, and it has not been well received. I offer here a prayer I wrote for Christian broadcaster Trans World Radio, which they recorded and broadcast earlier in the week. There were three main things on …
My social media feeds are full of contradictory views on the election, with different friends and acquaintances spelling out with vigour and passion why it is simply impossible to vote for Labour, the Conservatives and the LibDems in turn. I cannot vote for the SNP or DUP, and a vote for one of the smaller …
The question of abortion has been raised once more in the election campaign, because of statements in both Labour and Liberal Democrat manifestos. Labour includes their briefer comments in their section on Justice, in which they comment: We will introduce protections for victims of so-called revenge porn. Labour will introduce a no-fault divorce procedure. We …
I was grateful to Philip North for offering a response to my critique of his views on mission in relation to the incarnation, published in the Church Times. There is nothing quite like hearing someone’s point of view in their own words, and it has been immensely valuable to have this exchange. I offer here …
Philip North, the suffragan bishop of Burnley, offers this response to my comments in the previous post: I am very grateful to Ian Paul for such a thoughtful and reflective response to my Church Times article, and indeed for this opportunity to respond. Those who are part of the Estates Theology Project are very keen to …
Last week, Philip North, suffragan bishop of Burnley, made a typically challenging and provocative claim in an article in the Church Times: ‘We don’t need to bring Jesus to urban estates’. His central argument is that we have failed to engage with our urban areas because too often we have brought a packaged message from …
Kate Wharton, who is Vicar of St Bart’s, Roby in Liverpool Diocese, wrote a very helpful reflection on the so-called ‘Billy Graham’ rule. I republish it here with her permission. Hmm. I’ve been meaning for ages to blog about this, but never quite got round to it. I think today’s the day, although I realise …
There were some very interesting responses posted, on the blog and on social media, in response to the case I made in the previous post that we can do all-age worship well, that it is important to do so, and offering guidelines to make it work. But there was one particular response from those living …
There was a time, a few years ago, where there seemed to be a significant movement arguing for good, engaged all-age worship as an important part of our ministry to and with children. As I visit different churches, usually as a visiting preacher, it seems to me that movement has died away. It might be …
