Grove Books

Women meeting Jesus in John’s gospel

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The latest Grove Biblical booklet is Meeting Jesus in John’s Gospel: Seven Encounters with Women by Bridget Baguley, a curate in Ely diocese. It offers a fascinating set of explorations which could be used as a basis for preaching or small group study. This is the first part of Bridget’s introduction. The Gospel of John … Continue Reading

The Language of Leadership

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It is often commented that ‘leadership’ is not a very biblical word, and this should be a concern not just to evangelicals (who particularly want to root their understanding in the biblical texts) but to anyone who is in a reformed or Protestant church for which Scripture is a key locus of authority. The first … Continue Reading

How to sustain long-term ministry

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The latest Grove Pastoral booklet is P 144 on Long-term Ministry by Paul Rosier, a Baptist minister. It is a fascinating exploration of the advantages and challenges of both long-term and short-term ministry in the same place. It starts with some rather startling statistics about the frequency of change in jobs in general and ministry in … Continue Reading

The democratic deficit in the EU

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One of the central claims of those supporting leaving the EU is that the current arrangements represent an unacceptable democratic deficit. This is writ large over Boris Johnson’s Telegraph article announcing his support of the Leave vote. Above all, we will be told that whatever the democratic deficiencies, we would be better off remaining in because of … Continue Reading

Do we need Karl Barth’s help with ethics?

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I have a confession to make: I feel rather ambivalent about Karl Barth. As a theology undergraduate, I absolutely loved reading his Evangelical Theology. But when doing my PhD on hermeneutics and Revelation, I came across some of his later writing on saga, and was very much less convinced. In rejecting the legacy of Liberal Protestantism’s … Continue Reading

Can you be an effective leader without destroying your family?

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It is a poignant week to consider this question—which quite separately a friend raised with me yesterday by email. I’m leading a workshop on ‘Living in the love of God at home and with family’. As I’ve prepared for it I’ve found very little theological and pastoral reflection (in print) on a theology of pastors/leaders as … Continue Reading

The Challenge of Loneliness

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The latest Grove Pastoral booklet explores the challenge of the growing loneliness many in Britain face in old age. Written by John Dawson, a hospital chaplain, and Pete Rugen, a parish priest in Chester diocese, it is a multifaceted exploration of the problems of loneliness—and some possible solutions. It begins by offering some typical examples of loneliness … Continue Reading

Is ‘inclusion’ a Christian virtue?

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Most people reading the title above will wonder what the debate is about—but in different directions. Some will say ‘of course is it’ and others ‘of course it isn’t’. The latest title in the Grove Ethics series explores this vexed question and is a powerful and important study by Dr Edward Dowler, formerly Vice Principal of St Stephen’s … Continue Reading

Reading Luke’s gospel

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As we approach Advent, we are coming into the new Liturgical Year, and in the lectionary we will be in Year C. This is the year when we focus on continuous reading of Luke’s gospel, though as in other years there are significant contributions from John. I have just been teaching about Luke in Hereford Diocese … Continue Reading

Fairer Sex—fair enough?

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The latest Grove Biblical booklet is by Dr Richard Briggs, Lecturer in Old Testament at the University of Durham and Director of Biblical Studies at Cranmer Hall. The title is Fairer Sex and the blurb runs as follows: The church is often accused of being obsessed with sex—and contemporary discussion is often contentious and has a very … Continue Reading