Recommended books & reviews

New book from author of The Shack – ‘Cross Roads’ + your chance to win a free copy

Today, WM Paul Young is launching his second novel Cross Roads.  His first novel The Shack was a global bestseller, shifting over 600,000 copies in the UK and 18 million copies globally. I must confess that I was not a huge fan of the style of writing of The Shack but the book still had… Continue reading New book from author of The Shack – ‘Cross Roads’ + your chance to win a free copy

Social commentary

Gaza, London, Streatham & the randomness of violence

Photo by Roy Reyna on Pexels.com After a meeting this Thursday, I got the underground from London Bridge station back to my office. As I walked onto the platform, a man spat on the ground just as I walked past. Instinctively I glanced up but I continued walking along the platform and a few yards… Continue reading Gaza, London, Streatham & the randomness of violence

Ethics & Christian living

Conviction and tolerance…in an age of bigotry

What theme could more appropriate on November 5th than religious tolerance? After all it is the night when we remember the failure of Catholic activists to blow up Parliament and kill the King. An event we have celebrated for over 400 years by gleefully burning effigies of the most celebrated conspirator, Guy Fawkes, who was… Continue reading Conviction and tolerance…in an age of bigotry

Social commentary

Halloween: a time to confront our real fears (of young people)

Photo by Yaroslav Shuraev on Pexels.com We spent last week on holiday so we were out of London for Halloween for the first time in years. We were in a quiet village but we received a warning about what to expect from one of the locals: "You should expect to be busy, all the kids… Continue reading Halloween: a time to confront our real fears (of young people)

Homelessness, Social action

Homelessness: how the Church still offers hospitality and hope

Two major events happening in November show why the Church continues has such an important role in addressing  homelessness. Firstly, on November 8th there is the Annual Service of Commemoration for homeless people who have died in the past year which is held every year at St Martins-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square. This is always a… Continue reading Homelessness: how the Church still offers hospitality and hope

Ethics & Christian living, Youth work

The best thing I did last summer – Lee Abbey Camp 2012

It was a great summer: the Jubilee, the London Olympics and my 40th birthday. The weather was not great but our family holiday in Costa Del Kent coincided with the hottest week of the year and my birthday picnic was only slightly dampened by a torrential downpour… But for me, the best week of the year… Continue reading The best thing I did last summer – Lee Abbey Camp 2012

Politics

Left behind: Why the Christian Socialist Movement needs a new name

I remember someone saying to me years ago that Christian Socialist Movement (CSM) had three main problems. Firstly, it wasn’t Christian. Secondly, it wasn’t Socialist. And thirdly, it definitely wasn’t a Movement. And five years ago CSM was struggling. The average age of the membership was the on the rise, numbers were in decline, finances… Continue reading Left behind: Why the Christian Socialist Movement needs a new name

Recommended books & reviews

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas [review]

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian and Pastor, who was killed in a Nazi concentration camp, is undoubtedly a Christian hero. But in a Church plagued by theological tribalism, the legacy of such heroes can become a sharply contested. Different tribes claim the legacy of such heroes as their own as lives are analysed and attributes… Continue reading Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas [review]

Recommended books & reviews

‘The Lion’s World: A journey into the heart of Narnia’ by Rowan Williams [Review]

The Narnia books had a very significant role in shaping my Christian faith. I read them as a young teenager and then around the time I decided to be a Christian at 16, I re-read them. No books, before or since, have given me the experience of entering another world like these did. Yet it… Continue reading ‘The Lion’s World: A journey into the heart of Narnia’ by Rowan Williams [Review]

Theology

Speak the truth about staffing problems

This is an expanded version of a previous R&R post Why churches manage people badly which was published in The Church Times last week: Managing people decently is an essential part of Christian work - not a bureaucratic luxury, argues Jon Kuhrt Photo by Brett Jordan on Pexels.com The organisational dysfunction exposed by the Archbishop… Continue reading Speak the truth about staffing problems