Scholarship • Serving • Ministry – Ian Paul
With the beginning of the New Year, we are in the customary season for making resolutions. I say ‘season’, but it is only four days in, and already the ‘resolution’ thing seems to have passed! But, as usual, there has been a variety of responses to this tradition. On my social media feeds, there seems …
I really like Francis Spufford. I loved his book Unapologetic, in which he seeks to give an emotional, rather than rational, ‘argument’ for the Christian faith. It includes a perfect summary of the dilemma that Christians have in talking about sin and forgiveness, noting how the word ‘sin’ has been degraded into the idea of eating …
I have always had mixed feelings about New Year resolutions. In previous years, January has always been the biggest time for new gym subscriptions—but most don’t continue the habit past the end of the month, and many gyms run on the subscriptions of people who never come. This suggests that January isn’t the best time …
At around this time each year, the Church of England statistics team release the data on what has been happening with attendance and services in the Church of England, based on the returns from churches from the previous year. This information is very useful, though also needs to be handled with care. On the one …
The imposition of social distancing and then ‘lockdown’, including the closing of church buildings as places of gathering for worship, has changed the shape of ministry for everyone. But what exactly does that mean for the local church? And in amongst the challenges, are there signs of hope? James Blandford-Baker is vicar of Histon and …
