mission

How to choose your own personal Jesus

by

Over the new year, I had an interesting, though at times bizarre, interaction with a well-known church leader in Australia (such are the wonders of the internet). This person had posted a graphic/meme similar to the one here as a light-hearted New Year’s resolution, and I added the comment: —Tell people they are sinners who … Continue Reading

Where are all the young people?

by

One of the most important debates in General Synod last week was on children and young people in the Church of England—or rather, why they aren’t. The paper we were offered summarised the analysis of where young people are in the Church based on church attendance returns, and built on a question asked at a … Continue Reading

Food, culture, and the challenge of the gospel

by

There is a small number of television programmes that I love to watch regularly when they are on. Monday nights are quiz nights, with Only Connect and University Challenge; Fridays from the Spring means  Gardener’s World; but there are two less regular mid-week programmes that I love. One is Michael Mosley’s ‘Trust me, I’m a … Continue Reading

Why do churches manage people badly?

by

Jon Kuhrt writes: The church frequently has to respond to the scandal and upset created by safeguarding failures and other cases of serious malpractice. As we all know, these scandals powerfully undermine the integrity of the church’s witness. One key factor in ecclesiastical failures that is frequently downplayed is the poor state of basic ‘human resources’ … Continue Reading

The distinctive people of God in Matthew 5

by

This Sunday’s lectionary reading, the Third Sunday before Lent in Year A, is Matt 5.13–20, a short section of the so-called Sermon on the Mount following on from the Beatitudes. In some ways, this collection of sayings is well known, with some of it passing into common parlance (‘salt of the earth’)—and yet the important … Continue Reading

Why is Franklin Graham being turned away?

by

Paul Eddy writes: Franklin Graham’s UK Tour sought to reach eight cities with the gospel in 2020.  As of today, three out of the eight venues, the O2 in London, Liverpool and now Sheffield have refused to sign contracts with Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA,) and others may well follow. Is this an attack on the … Continue Reading

What does Holy Communion do for us?

by

I have been contributing to the Church’s Renewal and Reform stream on developing lay leadership, and one of the questions that has come up is: ‘What does the Church of England actually believe about the laity and lay leadership?’ I am not referring here to what some have called ‘ecclesial lay leadership’, that is, the … Continue Reading

Should Christians be ambitious?

by

Emma Ineson was Chaplain at the Lee Abbey Community in Devon, then Principal of Trinity College Bristol. She is now suffragan bishop of Penrith in Carlisle Diocese, and has just published a book Ambition: what Jesus said about power, success and counting stuff exploring the issues around faith, vocation and the question of ambition. She kindly agreed to … Continue Reading