Grove

Is our worship any good?

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Have you ever had the experience of attending a church (visiting another, or even attending your own), and what you need is some sense of encounter with God—but the entire attention is taken up with the words on the screen not appearing on time, or the person leading constantly going ‘Ummmm…’ or the thurifer not … Continue Reading

Can leaders be truly vulnerable?

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In current discussions about the challenges facing the church, there is often a call for ‘strong leadership’. Sometimes this is explicit, but more often it is implicit: we need pioneering, courageous, risk-taking leaders who will help make the step-change that the church needs to address key issues. This approach raises a key pastoral, ministerial and … Continue Reading

Will leaving the EU lead to war?

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David Cameron claimed yesterday that leaving the EU could threaten the peaceful co-existence of European nations. Can we be so sure that peace and stability on our continent are assured beyond any shadow of doubt? Is that a risk worth taking? I would never be so rash as to make that assumption. His comments were … Continue Reading

Making our mind up on the European Union

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As with much of the wider population, many Christians remain unclear as to how they will vote in the June referendum on EU membership. Some are strongly committed to leave or to remain but most are probably still making their mind up. Sadly much of the campaign is focussed simply on claims and counter-claims about … Continue Reading

Questions for evangelical leaders

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I am pleased to say that my Grove Leadership booklet Evangelical Leadership: challenges and opportunities is now available on the Grove website. You can order it post-free (in the UK) or have a PDF emailed to you. In it, I address what I think are the five major challenges for evangelical leaders—which of course offer five … Continue Reading

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

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