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This week I was engaged in two unrelated tasks—appearing on a US podcast about the Book of Revelation, and writing some Bible reading notes—but their juxtaposition suddenly pressed a question about Revelation in a fresh way. One of the key questions for the podcast was ‘So how is Revelation relevant today?’ and I was considering … Continue Reading
When the first lockdown was announced on 23rd March this year, it was followed fairly swiftly by the announcement from Church of England bishops that, going beyond what was legally required or requested, that church buildings should be shut definitively. Not only were there to be no physical gatherings of congregations, clergy were not to … Continue Reading
The two big questions that a lot of people have been asking in the time of the pandemic are: What does this mean for society, and what will the ‘new normal ‘ look like? and What does this mean for the church—how can we rethink what we do? But I think there is a bigger … Continue Reading
Ian Parkinson works for CPAS teaching leadership to those training for ministry in the Church of England, and has just written a wide-ranging book on Understanding Christian Leadership. I was able to interview him about the book. Paul: Ian, thanks so much for sending me a copy of your book—I really enjoyed it. You cover so … Continue Reading
Come with me, if you will, on an adventure of biblical imagination in Revelation 21 and 22. The New Jerusalem that is described there by John is mostly taken to be a place in which the people of God dwell with the presence of God—but what would happen if we interpreted everything in the vision as a … Continue Reading
So, the first day of the new era of ‘online church’ has come and gone! It feels as though our children’s children will one day ask us ‘What did you do on the first day of online church?’ After our morning online service yesterday, I asked of the experience of others, and most of the 300 … Continue Reading
In a longer than usual post, Andrew Atherstone offers a fascinating account of the meeting in Hong Kong: It has been a great privilege, and in many ways a joy, to attend the seventeenth meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC-17) in Hong Kong, as part of the Church of England’s delegation. We spent eight … Continue Reading
A couple of years ago, I was exploring the anthropology of the Book of Revelation, and it is quite a challenging topic; the result can be found in my chapter in the volume Anthropology and New Testament Theology. In exploring how a text depicts human existence, you might (for example, in Paul’s letters) look at theological terminology … Continue Reading
At the beginning of August, Jude Smith (who is team rector of Moor Allerton and Shadwell in North Leeds) wrote an intriguing and slightly pessimistic article on the challenges facing the idea of the gathered church meeting on a Sunday morning, and I have been pondering it over the last few weeks. The context was … Continue Reading
There have been some strange goings on amongst evangelical Anglicans in Newcastle in recent days. Peter Carrell, who is Director at Theology House and Director of Education in the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch, New Zealand, offered this succinct summary, together with his reaction to the events, which I reproduce here with permission. In the last … 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