scholarship. serving. ministry.
One of the delights of the internet is that once you are in the public domain, you can be savaged and mauled (verbally at least) by complete strangers. I have experienced this a little in blogging and on Facebook, but it appears to be a regular pastime of atheists to attack random Christians on Twitter. … Continue Reading
So the Church Times mini-series on the ‘State of the Church’ has come to an end. Like many, I suspect, I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, there have been some fascinating insights, and it has been good to focus on something other than the latest bust-up in the Church. On the other, … Continue Reading
There has been increasing recognition recently, from all sorts of angles, that we are failing effectively to engage with the Bible as a living, formative encounter with God. This is especially so with children and young people, and one of the most challenging contexts to do this is in all-age services. A few years ago … Continue Reading
The Church Times has been running a series of interesting article on the state of the Church, with some significant insights from Linda Woodhead, Professor of the Sociology of Religion at the University of Lancaster. Previous articles have explored issues of church growth, leadership, and some of the reasons behind the decline in church attendance. … Continue Reading
This is the first of three posts exploring in turn starting, building and sharing a blog Like many aspects of the internet and in particular social media, blogging divides the world. On the one hand, in some circles it seems that everyone blogs copiously and effortlessly. On the other hand, a good number of people … Continue Reading
The House of Bishops issued a statement in response to the Government’s introduction of ‘gay marriage’ on Saturday—just managing to avoid St Valentine’s Day. I suggested earlier that this was the next ‘banana skin’ that they faced, and (to mix metaphors) they have played it with a straight bat (no pun intended). The pastoral statement … Continue Reading
Today I was caught out very nicely by a fantastic blog post at The Gospel Coalition: Here are some of the things I really hate in a worship song. Too simplistic, banal, lacking in depth, shallow, doctrineless: Consider that one that just talks about unity among brothers that only mentions God in passing at the very end. … Continue Reading
Or so says this report in the Independent: Unemployed clergy are twice as likely to look for work in the South-East as in the North of England. In London, it takes on average just four months to fill a vacancy, with three vicars applying for every post, according to research by The Church Times…In Guildford, … Continue Reading
Here is my letter written to the Church Times this week: Dear Sir Thank you for the fascinating and insightful articles on the state of the Church. But two issues hover just under the surface and need more attention. The first is that the real need is not for greater understanding, but for greater willingness … Continue Reading
I wonder if you have heard this kind of story recently. A friend of yours is perhaps happy in a particular job or ministry role, or perhaps senses a need for change. An new opportunity comes up, and something stirs in your friend. Other people sense the same, and perhaps get in touch. ‘Could this … Continue Reading
Nigel Roberts has made a video, principally for the Grove Youth Series, on how to write. On it a number of published writers exploring different dimensions of writing, including: • what inspires you to write? • how do you write? • how should you use the Bible in your writing? • how to get started My contributions are … 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
