I wrote earlier this month about the need for national church leaders to speak up clearly on the issue of Christian Nationalism and why the Gospel and the Cross can have nothing to do with ethno-cultural nationalism, or to give it its proper name “fascism.” I wrote more because this is what should be happening… Continue reading The silence of the shepherds
Category: Leadership
The pipelines that might be broken and why it probably does not affect many of us directly
I’ve just written some thoughts in response to an article that GYD shared about perceptions of a break in the ministry pipeline. In conversation with them, they talked about being involved in conversations about recruitment and there was an indication that they were also talking about the pipeline of youth workers into the church. So… Continue reading The pipelines that might be broken and why it probably does not affect many of us directly
Pipelines again and youth work
This article on the Growing Young Disciples website caught my interest. It’s worth saying up front that it did for two reasons, one was a couple of minor areas of disagreement. The other an area of major agreement. So first of all, a note of caution. Regular readers will be aware that I attempted, about… Continue reading Pipelines again and youth work
Can you stay faithful in an unfaithful church?
I’ve just watched this video by a guy called Rev Dan. It’s about why he believes that not only should he stay in the Church of Engand but you (if you belong to the CofE) should do too. Now, I’ve got a lot of time for Dan, and people like him. In fact, I quite… Continue reading Can you stay faithful in an unfaithful church?
The invasion we need to guard against
I’ve talked a little bit here about how the language of “invasion” is being used to describe asylum seekers and immigrants. Christian Nationalism puts the focus on nation states and ethno-cultural groups and says that these are the things that need to be protected. Once again, they miss what Scripture actually tells us. In Acts… Continue reading The invasion we need to guard against
The deficient shepherd culture
Back the other week, I was talking to some Evangelical Anglicans about the state of the CofE. I explained to them the problem. With their “stay in” strategy that it leads to people thinking they have to stay when their evangelical vicar is inevitably replaced with a liberal. One response was to the effect that… Continue reading The deficient shepherd culture
More discussion on ministry pathways and training
Evangelicals Now have published two articles on ministry pathways and training recently. There’s this one by Clive Bowsher, Provost at Union School of Theology and this one by Carrie Sandom of the Proclamation Trust. Each article offers some helpful thoughts and reflection but also there are questions I would like to ask and challenges to… Continue reading More discussion on ministry pathways and training
On casual dressing mayors
Did you see the story about the mayor who turned up at a public event, a formal ceremony for royal marines wearing shorts, trainers and a floral shirt? My friend, Steve Kneale, has shared his reflections here and I agree with much he says, though I’m perhaps less bothered about whether mayoral roles should exist.… Continue reading On casual dressing mayors
Spurgeons College and choosing the lessons we want to learn
In an article about why Spurgeon’s College suddenly closed, Evangelicals Now picks up on comments from three men trying to explain it. Peter Williams of Tyndale House picks up on the financial situation, the college spent more money than it had. We know that a primary donor had pulled out. Bill James, principal of London… Continue reading Spurgeons College and choosing the lessons we want to learn
Don’t train leaders
This may be a surprising title. However, I’m increasingly of the view that we have put too much focus on identifying and then training leaders. We look first at whether people show potential to lead and then we train them. Though of course sometimes we leave them to get on with it. The risk is… Continue reading Don’t train leaders
Faithroots 