ministry

Do we need to take Jesus to our urban areas?

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Last week, Philip North, suffragan bishop of Burnley, made a typically challenging and provocative claim in an article in the Church Times: ‘We don’t need to bring Jesus to urban estates’. His central argument is that we have failed to engage with our urban areas because too often we have brought a packaged message from … Continue Reading

How to lead all-age Communion

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There were some very interesting responses posted, on the blog and on social media, in response to the case I made in the previous post that we can do all-age worship well, that it is important to do so, and offering guidelines to make it work. But there was one particular response from those living … Continue Reading

Can we do all-age worship well?

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There was a time, a few years ago, where there seemed to be a significant movement arguing for good, engaged all-age worship as an important part of our ministry to and with children. As I visit different churches, usually as a visiting preacher, it seems to me that movement has died away. It might be … Continue Reading

Is it time to scrap the ‘curacy’?

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For many years (how many?) the Church of England has had a standard pattern for ordination training, that starts with two or three years residential (or now, three years part-time course-based or two or three years contextual training), followed by a three- or four-year curacy. This is so standard that initial training is always considered … Continue Reading

Should clergy count their days and hours?

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A few days ago, Donald Allister, Bishop of Peterborough, wrote to his clergy and talked about self-management in relation to time keeping and time off. It has garnered some interesting reactions. This is the extract in question: Clergy Care In a number of dioceses, bishops have started instructing clergy to take two consecutive days off … Continue Reading

Where can worship leaders find wisdom for their leading?

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John Leach writes: The role of the ‘worship leader’ and the ‘worship band’ are relatively new on the church scene, coming into mainstream denominations with the rise of charismatic renewal from the 1960s. Before that a worship leader, at least in Anglican circles, was the minister (often but not exclusively ordained) who led the congregation … Continue Reading

Is this the best theological book ever written?

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Oliver Harrison writes: What’s the best theological book you have ever read? Something by Barth or Bonhoeffer? Aquinas or Calvin? Luther or Spurgeon? Rowan Williams or C S Lewis? Mine is a novel published 15 years ago, written by a middle-aged American woman and called simply Gilead. Gilead is a single, relatively short and deceptively simple … Continue Reading

Using personal disclosure in preaching

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How much should I share of my personal experience in the context of preaching? This is a perennial question facing anyone in ministry in the local church—and relevant to speaking on other occasions too. My first encounter with the issue arose when I was a teenager. I remember one of the lay preachers in the … Continue Reading