Tag: church

Is food poverty real and do food banks help?

If you were to talk to people about the big needs in communities and how churches can help, you’ll find that they quite often settle on the assumption that a primary issue is food poverty.  Furthermore, it tends to be assumed that a major solution to food poverty is the existence of foodbanks (alongside things… Continue reading Is food poverty real and do food banks help?

Updated data and thoughts for church COVID risk assessments

As promised here’s an update on where I think we are in terms of COVID-19 and its impact on our return to in person church gatherings. First of all, here’s an update on the data. The first important graph is the one showing case growth. As you can see, we saw a return to positive… Continue reading Updated data and thoughts for church COVID risk assessments

Are small groups overrated?

Jonathan Carswell was seeking to provoke a bit of discussion with this tweet -and he succeeded. So, what do you think? Are they overrated, ineffective and unaccountable?  It’s worth noting at this stage that Jonathan is making a relative comparison to the other ministries run in a local church, presumably including your retired ladies meeting,… Continue reading Are small groups overrated?

After the pandemic -don’t forget about the body of Christ

We are enjoying our new church and particularly the prayer meetings and mid-week community groups. Often at these, one of the elders will pick up on a key thing from the Sunday sermon and encourage us to think about practical application before turning to prayer.  The other Sunday, the speaker had talked about Christ returning… Continue reading After the pandemic -don’t forget about the body of Christ

Must we leave our trauma at the door?

Two wings of the Evangelical church tend to suffer from a bit of stereotyping.  On the one end are those frequently accused of focusing so much on the emotional aspect of worship that they forget exposition and doctrine, requiring you to leave your brains at the door. At the other end are those who are… Continue reading Must we leave our trauma at the door?

Stepping In: An Introduction to Idolatry

An important part of the Subversive fulfilment approach is an understanding of idolatry. The subversive part of the term comes from the fact that even our dreams and desires are idolatrous. We cannot simply offer the possibility to people that their life will find fulfilment in Christ, we must start by showing them that in… Continue reading Stepping In: An Introduction to Idolatry

Journey out of lockdown – return to the Church building with communion

Yesterday was our first opportunity to meet again physically after the second English lockdown.  After the first lockdown, we kept things simple at the building. We decided not  to recommence communion and we continued to stream a Facebook service from someone’s home which people could then opt to watch at the building. Yesterday we did… Continue reading Journey out of lockdown – return to the Church building with communion

Redundant

Can you meet with the Trustees urgently about the financial situation?” “Are we looking at redundancies?” “We need to talk options…” That’s the gist of a conversation I was having a few weeks back.  Like quite a few churches in our context, we’ve been encouraged over the past ten years to see Gospel growth but… Continue reading Redundant

The problem with Christian Exceptionalism and the distinction between submit and support

From this Sunday, church buildings in England will be closed again for public worship due to a second lockdown.  I expect that most church leaders will comply with this, all with a heavy heart.  Some will do this quietly. Others will have raised objections through blog posts, letters to MPs, petitions and possibly a legal… Continue reading The problem with Christian Exceptionalism and the distinction between submit and support