Grove

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

Services of Remembrance

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Which form of service is growing fastest in the Church of England? Perhaps surprisingly, the answer is services of remembrance for the bereaved. Despite the fact that there are now many other options than the Church for the taking of funerals, the reality is that no-one does follow-up and continued pastoral care like the Church—and … Continue Reading

Should Christians think?

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I am continuing to read through Thom Shultz’ book Why Nobody Want to go to Church anymore, in which he identifies four key objections to church and proposes four responses, what he calls the Four Acts of Love. Having explored Radical Hospitality, the next chapter explores Fearless Conversation. Interestingly, Shultz addresses this in two quite distinct … Continue Reading

Expressing God’s welcome

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Thom Shultz has explored the reasons why people both leave and stay away from the church in the West, and proposes Four Acts of Love that could make the church ‘irresistible.’ With a bit of cultural translation, I think he is on to something important. The first Act of Love is called ‘Radical Hospitality.’ Shultz … Continue Reading

The Grammar of Leviticus 18.22

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Last year, I wrote a Grove booklet on the text relating to same-sex unions; some of this material has also contributed to the resources for the ‘facilitated conversations’ in the Church of England. I posted on the blog an extract on the texts from Leviticus 18 and 22, which generated quite a bit of discussion. … Continue Reading

What to preach at a funeral?

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The previous post, including a competition to identify a quotation, was prompted by my reading the next Grove Worship booklet, How to Prepare and Conduct a Funeral by Charles Chadwick and Phillip Tovey from Oxford Diocese. Aimed primarily at Readers as well as other licensed lay ministers, it is an excellent guide to the whole process of … Continue Reading

What to preach at funerals? Competition!

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I came across this interesting quotation in the next Grove Worship booklet, which is about preaching at funerals. There is a prize of a free copy of the booklet for the first person in comments who can identify the somewhat surprising source! (I have doctored one or two words to prevent the source being too … Continue Reading

Extending human ability through technology

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The next Grove Ethics booklet is a fascinating study of transhumanism, the idea that we should transcend the limitations of our physical bodies through technology. It is by Michael Burdett, who is Postdoctoral Fellow in Religion, Science and Technology at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford. I was struck by his opening introduction: Kevin Warwick, formerly Professor … Continue Reading