by Benjamin Welby & Andy Brims Vineyard English School, run by Croydon Vineyard church In the nondescript hotel lobby doubling as our makeshift classroom, Tariq*, a new student, lingered after class. Anxiety etched on his face, he asked: “Am I going to be sent to Rwanda? I’ve got a domestic worker visa…my wife is pregnant.”… Continue reading ‘Am I going to be sent to Rwanda?’ Thinking Christianly about asylum
Christianity: what is real and what is fake?
Photo by Johannes Plenio on Pexels.com I have just read Philip Yancey’s memoir Where the Light Fell. Its an account of his life growing up in poverty and fundamentalism in Atlanta, Georgia with his widowed mother and older brother. Yancey’s father was a Baptist Minister who was just 23 when he died from polio: ‘Dozens,… Continue reading Christianity: what is real and what is fake?
Jeremy Swain: mentor, friend & inspiration
I was devastated to hear that Jeremy Swain had died after a short illness. Jeremy was a great friend, mentor and colleague who had a huge influence on my working life. No one has shown me more about what good leadership looks like. Jeremy had worked for homelessness charity Thames Reach for 30 years. He… Continue reading Jeremy Swain: mentor, friend & inspiration
Comfortable in our own skin? – by Stephen Brown
A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said. Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” Mark 1: 40-45 (NLT) I vividly remember the first time… Continue reading Comfortable in our own skin? – by Stephen Brown
The denial & reality of trauma: a tale of two books
A few months ago, Keith Hebden wrote a G+T guest article titled Complicity or challenge? Responding to self-limiting excuses in which he shared insights from the psychologist Alfred Adler. He wrote: “For Adler it is our goals that determine our limitations and not our past. He argued that it can be tempting to take comfort in the… Continue reading The denial & reality of trauma: a tale of two books
What a monk, a psychiatrist & a rabbi taught me about living with constant pain – by Simon Hall
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com I was converted into charismatic Christianity in my mid-teens and this started a loving and life-giving relationship with God. But after 13 years, I felt the tap of the Holy Spirit had been turned off. The feeling of God’s loving presence disappeared. For several years I scoured my tradition… Continue reading What a monk, a psychiatrist & a rabbi taught me about living with constant pain – by Simon Hall
Why the government has failed to ‘end rough sleeping’
Photo by James Frid on Pexels.com The Conservative Manifesto for the 2019 election said this: "We will end the blight of rough sleeping by the end of the next Parliament.” (p.30) With today’s announcement of a General Election in July, we will have a new Parliament this summer. And, as anyone who spends time in towns… Continue reading Why the government has failed to ‘end rough sleeping’
Finding space for grace
The chapel at Scargill, Yorkshire, UK After Easter, I felt I needed a week off work and cleared my diary for a week in May without a firm idea of what I would do. I thought a retreat would be good to explore, so I looked at the website of Scargill House in Yorkshire as… Continue reading Finding space for grace
Truly Woke
Photo by Spencer Selover on Pexels.com I have always fallen asleep extremely easily. Whilst this is a positive thing when I go to bed, it’s also been embarrassing at other times: when I have fallen asleep watching TV, at the cinema, getting my hair cut, in church or even in meetings at work. I have… Continue reading Truly Woke
Let’s be more Frank about the politics of poverty
Last week saw the passing of one of my political heroes, Frank Field, the Labour MP who represented Birkenhead for 40 years. We were both graduates of Hull University and I first came across him when studying Social Work because of his work as Director of the Low Pay Unit and the Child Poverty Action… Continue reading Let’s be more Frank about the politics of poverty
Grace + Truth 