Author: faithrootsdw

The Cost of Living Crisis: What does Liz Truss need to do?

Today, the United Kingdom gets a new Prime Minister. However we feel about her personally and the party she represents, our first responsibility as Christians is to pray for her and the government as well as for the leader of the opposition. Liz Truss comes into power with some pressing challenges to respond to. The… Continue reading The Cost of Living Crisis: What does Liz Truss need to do?

“Come over and help us” Start by praying

Over the past few days, I’ve been writing a little bit more about how you could partner with us for the Gospel as we seek to see the urban West Midlands reached with the Gospel.  I’m spending a little time on this now because people often use the beginning of the academic year to evaluate… Continue reading “Come over and help us” Start by praying

Something has changed -marriage, singleness and friendship

Last week, I responded to some of the speculation around Matt Chandler’s leave of absence from The Village Church. There seemed to be a strong presumption and a lot of speculation around the announcement that the sin must have been far worse than suggested. Otherwise, in effect, Chandler’s church were imposing a legalistic “Billy Graham… Continue reading Something has changed -marriage, singleness and friendship

Church plants come in different shapes and sizes

Church plants come in different shapes and sizes.  In this article, I’d like to describe the main ones to help those thinking about urban church planting to consider which option would be best in their context. Mother-daughter plant This seems to have been the most common approach to church plant in recent times. This approach… Continue reading Church plants come in different shapes and sizes

Where do you live? Types of urban context

How do you imagine the city?  You may have a dominant image of what urban life is like, a busy city centre, student halls of residence and digs, a tough council estate or an ethnic inner city. The reality is that city life is about all of these and more.  When we talk about urban… Continue reading Where do you live? Types of urban context

A lesson in how (not) to communicate

If you watched the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony on the BBC then you’ll have benefited from a running commentary about what was happening, particularly the symbolism of the giant raging bull.  Live in the stadium (certainly for the dress rehearsals), you would not have had that benefit. Instead, you would have simply seen the amazing… Continue reading A lesson in how (not) to communicate

Between Legalism and Licence: Wisdom and the Billy Graham Rule

Yesterday I wrote about why speculation is not necessary and not helpful in response to the speculation following Matt Chandler’s announcement. Some people have asked then whether we can or should say anything at all.  I think we can respond to things that are in the public domain. The story is unavoidably there, not just… Continue reading Between Legalism and Licence: Wisdom and the Billy Graham Rule

Good questions about depression, anxiety and mental health

A few weeks back I had the opportunity to speak to a group of teenagers about mental health and to share my own story about experiencing depression and anxiety. After speaking for a few minutes, I opened the floor to questions. I expected an awkward silence and maybe some prompted questions from the leaders but… Continue reading Good questions about depression, anxiety and mental health

You don’t need to speculate

This week, Matt Chandler, pastor of the Village Church and president of Acts29 announced that he was taking leave of absence from preaching and teaching at the Church. The reason given was that he had been direct messaging a female on social media and had been confronted about this by one of her friends.  An… Continue reading You don’t need to speculate