Life & Ministry

When should leaders be trained?

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In my previous post on church growth research, I hinted at a number of issues in relation to training and deployment of full-time leaders. One particular issue surfaced in the comments, and I expand on it here: at what age should future church leaders be commissioned and trained? At one level, of course, this question … Continue Reading

How to Grow the Church

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A number of years ago, a friend of mine was leaving theological education to go back into parish ministry. ‘I’ll just go and grow the church for a few years’, he said blithely. I thought he was a fool to be so presumptuous. Yes, growing a church is easy: all you need to do is … Continue Reading

(When) should we retire?

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The questions around an ageing population and retirement are perhaps the biggest social and financial challenges to Western democracies. To realise this you just need to know some basic statistics on UK Government spending in the current year. Defence        £46.6 bn       6% Education     £49.5 bn     … Continue Reading

ASB Baptism liturgy

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I have reproduced here the baptism liturgy from the Alternative Service Book (1980). It is not currently authorised for use without specific permission. It is not without its problems, and there were questions asked when it was introduced. But it is interesting to note its directness and simplicity compared with Common Worship, and its extensive … Continue Reading

Experimental Baptism

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The Church of England has just published ‘additional’ texts in accessible language as an alternative to the current text of Common Worship Initiation Services. These have been produced in response to a motion brought by Liverpool Diocesan Synod to General Synod in 2011. But the new texts have not, so far, gone down very well. … Continue Reading

Re-writing Christmas

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Is it possible to challenge tradition in a positive way, and tell the Christmas story in a way faithful to the text of Scripture? Stephen Kuhrt at Christchurch New Malden thinks so. CHILDREN’S CAROL SERVICE AT CHRIST CHURCH NEW MALDEN 2013: ‘IT AIN’T NECESSARILY SO!’ Stephen writes: Each year at Christ Church, New Malden, we have … Continue Reading

What made Nelson Mandela great

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It has been fascinating and moving to listen to the testimonies and tributes about the life of Nelson Mandela last night and this morning. By all accounts his death marks the passing of a truly great man. But whenever I hear tributes to a great contemporary figure, I am also struck by how hard we … Continue Reading

Aristotle and the Household Codes

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One of the puzzles about the ending of some of the letters in the New Testament is knowing how to read the ‘household management codes’ in Ephesians 5:21-6:9, Colossians 3:12-4:6 and 1 Peter 2:11-3:22. Most of Paul’s letters, once the theological argument is done, have specific instructions on practical living  (‘the indicative followed by the imperative’), but in these … Continue Reading

A Pastoral Response to Same-sex Civil Marriage?

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This is a guest post by my friend Dr Andrew Goddard, who is Associate Director of the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics (KLICE), Cambridge and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Anglican Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. With speculation growing about the contents of the Pilling Report, to be considered by the House of Bishops next month and … Continue Reading