Category: Church life

COVID and Cold Contact Evangelism

I’ve been writing about how we go about building back our outreach as we move out of lockdown. In a recent post, I wrote that I didn’t think we should rush to put back some of of our traditional outreach ministries such as children’s clubs and Toddlers groups.  The reason for this is that we… Continue reading COVID and Cold Contact Evangelism

COVID’s long tail and the church

Remember when we thought that the pandemic would be dealt with by the short sharp shock of lockdown and then we would be back to church as normal again. We looked forward to those summer services when would be gathering back, packing in to services with a sense of thanksgiving. Those optimistic days seem a… Continue reading COVID’s long tail and the church

“Family and friends” are not your accountability.

One of the things that you may have picked up from the Ravi Zacharias scandal is that a lot of responsibility for accountability lay with family and friends.  That’s one of the problems with a self selected group of people becoming responsible for a person’s accountability.  If we simply choose our own friends and family… Continue reading “Family and friends” are not your accountability.

Building back better -discipleship after lockdown

Some of our churches are going to need to do some building back after lockdown. I’ve mentioned before that I don’t think that we were pandemic proof and so COVID-19 hit us like a full on Tsumani.  Yet, in many respects, what the pandemic took out for our churches was not the real stuff. We… Continue reading Building back better -discipleship after lockdown

Did we grow to love the fringe too much?

I resisted for a while, especially when I hoped lockdown would be short but eventually I succumbed. I realised that my hair was beginning to look like I was channelling Boris Johnson.  So, I bought some clippers and in a dramatic, bold move set them to number one before unleashing them on my head.  I’ve… Continue reading Did we grow to love the fringe too much?

Idolatry and Abuse

I am republishing this article from 2016 in the light of recent challenging news stories How can we be alert to the risk of abuse, manipulation and control in church life?  Sometime back, I  preached on 1 Corinthians 12:1-3. I talked about how the devil wants us to stop hearing God and instead turn to… Continue reading Idolatry and Abuse

Has COVID exposed our problem with legalism?

I remember a conversation with someone who came from a fairly strict church background about when it was permissible to not say grace. They explained how church leaders in the past had gone to great lengths to talk about the size of the meal. It was a bit like the gymnastics the government went through… Continue reading Has COVID exposed our problem with legalism?

Anchors Up!

I grew up in the Boys Brigade singing the song “Will your anchor hold.” So don’t hear me wrong. I don’t want to take away from the imagery of our anchor grounded firm and deep as we are rooted in Christ. However, I want to use the metaphor in another context. It is right that… Continue reading Anchors Up!

Zoom or in person? – another faulty question

In a recent article I got us to think a bit more about communion and suggested that the question of “open v closed” communion was the wrong one.  Another question that has come to the forefront during COVID is about what it means to gather as a church. This is of course related to the… Continue reading Zoom or in person? – another faulty question