Posts

Attention Span – three questions

During lockdown, one of the big questions for pastors and preachers has been about if and how to adapt our preaching. Can we just carry on as normal, preaching to a camera instead of a congregation, or do we need to adapt? A specific example of this, is sermon length. There is some suggestion that… Continue reading Attention Span – three questions

Coronavirus and the battle of three fridges

Here is the latest Government ad campaign in the battle of Coronavirus. You get the message don’t you. We are meant to keep our distance when out and about. We should be around about two metres apart from each other, that’s obviously not meant to be a precise measurement. It’s a rough distance.  There are… Continue reading Coronavirus and the battle of three fridges

Diversity and Discrimination

Here is today’s Afternoon Tea. We have started a conversation about race and diversity and hope to continue, hopefully with guests. Today we talked about Implicit bias. Prejudice can arise as much out of assumptions about our own superiority and experience as normal as it does out of hostility to others That in some cases… Continue reading Diversity and Discrimination

Becoming like our idols “When we make free speech an idol”

This morning the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party tweeted a claim that SAGE had produced new models showing that it would be safer for schools to return a fortnight later than suggested. As it turned out, the tweet was false. SAGE had not said this at all. I hope that the miscommunication was an… Continue reading Becoming like our idols “When we make free speech an idol”

The King and the Priest (Reflections on Psalm 110 part 3)

In Genesis 14, Abram is established as a strong powerbroker in the land of Canaan when a terrible thing happens. Enemy armies attack and his nephew who has become tied up with the affairs of Sodom is captured along with others. Abram joins a rescue mission and the attacking enemies are defeated. Later in the… Continue reading The King and the Priest (Reflections on Psalm 110 part 3)

Good news for the childless

Every morning we’ve been working through a Psalm. We recently read these words in Psalm 113 He raises the poor from the dust    and lifts the needy from the ash heap,8 to make them sit with princes,    with the princes of his people.9 He gives the barren woman a home,    making her the joyous mother of children.Praise the Lord![1] These… Continue reading Good news for the childless

Preaching shorter sermons (Do we need to in lockdown online?)

One question that keeps coming up during lockdown is whether we can preach the same length of sermons during lockdown or whether we need to shorten them. At a recent FIEC webinar, research by  educationalists was referenced suggesting that our attention span when viewing online content is about half that of when listening to or… Continue reading Preaching shorter sermons (Do we need to in lockdown online?)

Preaching longer passages

A recent FIEC webinar on church life during lockdown discussed preaching and one of the questions was around whether or not you can preach on longer passages online given the shorter attention span that online engagement causes. I am going to engage with the question of online preaching in my next article but in face… Continue reading Preaching longer passages