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In April last year, Bible Society published a report called The Quiet Revival, and I interviewed the main researcher behind it, Rhiannon McAleer. The report made a number of claims, based on research by YouGov, including both a significant change in attitude amongst young people, and a significant change in church attendance. It provoked much … Continue Reading
Marginally later than in some previous years, the full details of the annual returns on attendance for the Church of England has been published (‘Statistics for Mission’). This is in two parts, both linked here: a report, giving the main statistics and trends, helpfully illustrated with graphs; and the detailed breakdown by diocese in a … Continue Reading
Last weekend, in an online conversation, someone highlighted to me the most recent ministry statistics, which were released in June, but seem to have gone under the radar. I certainly did not spot them, and I don’t recall anyone commenting on them. They show that 47.5% of current C of E stipendiary clergy are aged … Continue Reading
Last Friday, the statistics unit of the Church of England released an ‘early snapshot’ of attendance figures, based on the returns from the count that happens in churches in October last year. The headline looked promising: Attendance at Church of England churches grew for the fourth year in a row last year, preliminary figures show. … Continue Reading
I interviewed Dr Rhiannon McAleer about the Bible Society’s report ‘A Quiet Revival’. We started by looking at the headlines from the report, then I pressed her about questions of methodology and whether the findings are robust, before we explored some of the encouragements and challenges arising for the church and church leaders. You can … Continue Reading
There are three questions which come up in relation to the growth of religious movements, particularly the Christian faith. How would you answer each of these? a. Why is Islam growing in the UK and in the world at the moment? b. What was the primary reason for the growth of the early church? c. … Continue Reading
Some years ago, one of the fringe meetings at a session of the General Synod focussed on the needs of ‘mid-sized churches’, in this case defined as worshipping communities of 20 to 60. The reason for this was a question that William Nye, Secretary General of Synod and the Archbishops’ Council, had raised: Without meaning … Continue Reading
The gospel lectionary reading for Trinity 3 in Year B is Mark 4.26–34. (Note that this is usually the reading for Trinity 2, but with Easter being early, this season is longer, and an additional reading has been added in Trinity 1, pushing all the others back by a week.) Once again, the lectionary makes … Continue Reading
The gospel lectionary reading for Trinity 3 in Year B is Mark 4.26–34. Once again, the lectionary makes a slightly odd choice, picking up the teaching of Jesus midway through a sequence of pericopes mostly related to parables and the kingdom. But the two quite simple parables contain a wealth of insight into the nature … Continue Reading
I first met Tom Creedy when he was doing Masters-level study at the college in Nottingham where I taught, and we have kept in good touch ever since. I was delighted to see that this week it has been announced that he is now the Publishing Director at Inter-Varsity Press (IVP), which for the last … Continue Reading
On Monday there was a (comparatively) early release of the 2023 Statistics for Mission, the results of the annual October collection of attendance numbers in Church of England churches. The headline was all about the good news! Weekly Church attendance up five per cent in third year of consecutive growth Average weekly attendance at Church … 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
