scholarship. serving. ministry.
This week Sunday lectionary reading for Trinity 3 Year C is Luke 10.1–11, 16–20 which records Jesus sending out the seventy-(two) on ‘mission’ and their return. It is passage that is rich with material for reflection on issues of ministry and pastoral theology—but one that also includes some surprising and challenging perspectives on what mission … Continue Reading
This week Sunday lectionary reading for Trinity 3 Year C is Luke 10.1–11, 16–20 which records Jesus sending out the seventy-(two) on ‘mission’ and their return. It is passage that is rich with material for reflection on issues of ministry and pastoral theology. 1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two … Continue Reading
Dear Richard I really enjoyed your honest reflections in The Times on Sunday April 17th in the light of your retirement this week. I felt as though I ought to respond in the second person, writing to you rather than writing about you, for several reasons. First, we are fellow clergy in the Church; we … Continue Reading
Stephen Hance is National Lead for Evangelism and Witness for the Church of England. He has written a fascinating Grove Booklet arising from his research in his current role, Seeing Ourselves as Others See Us: Perceptions of the Church of England. I was able to ask him about his research and its implications for national and … Continue Reading
Amongst the rather depressing statistics about decline in attendance at Church of England services, one that stands out is the plummeting of engagement with young people. Jimmy Dale is the Church of England’s National Youth Evangelism Officer, and I had the chance to ask him about the current situation—how we got here, and whether anything … Continue Reading
There has been a rather heated debate in the last few weeks about new church-planting initiatives in the Church of England, particularly with recent reporting of an initiative called Myriad, and its partnership with the Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication. The Gregory Centre describes itself in these terms: The Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication supports … Continue Reading
In our mid-week church community, from time to time we reflect on some tough questions that others have asked us or that niggle at us ourselves. Recently one of the members asked the question: Why do some people find ‘faith’ (believing in God) easier than others? There are several different dimensions to this question. The … Continue Reading
It seems to be increasingly common in a range of ethical debates in the public sphere for one protagonist or other to reach for the formula ‘God is love’ as a quick resolution to disagreement. But this is usually done in a particular way, in the form of a progression from God to us and … Continue Reading
Over the last couple of years, I have come to love the work of the Bible Project, and their videos on YouTube, for a number of different reasons. The project is the brainchild of Tim Mackie, a biblical scholar from Portland, Oregon, and Jon Collins, a graphics designer that Tim met as a theology undergraduate, … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
Jon Kuhrt writes: A continual challenge in Christian community work and social action is the connection between the practical work being done with the actual message itself. People can pour into church buildings for toddler groups, foodbanks, lunch clubs, youth clubs and night shelters. But often these social action programmes become detached and disconnected from the message … 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
