Tag: Coronavirus

Christians, conspiracy theories and COVID-19

Do you know what one of the biggest problems with conspiracy theories is? It’s not that the theorists lack access to the facts on the matter or that they are necessarily failing to share them. Rather, what happens is: The conspiracy theorist has learnt not to trust those in authority and therefore infers suspect motives… Continue reading Christians, conspiracy theories and COVID-19

When a community has a blind spot

I want to pick up on a brilliant question that was raised by one of our church family on the Zoom discussion last Sunday. We had listened to James preach on Matthew 7:1-6 and then one of the members asked “is it possible for these verses to talk about a whole community, church or institution?”… Continue reading When a community has a blind spot

The responsibility of universities and the A- Level results scandal

So now the fall-out from the response to the fall out starts. Attention has moved from our concern about the impact of last week’s grading debacle on students to how it will affect Universities. Universities are now being presented as the new victims. They had no choice but to offer places to those who met… Continue reading The responsibility of universities and the A- Level results scandal

What a church can learn from a public heath director

Yesterday I had the privilege of interviewing Lisa McNally, Sandwell’s Director of Public Health. We were talking about avoiding local lockdowns and the part the community can play. Reflecting back on the conversation I was struck about some important lessons for churches in the discussion that go beyond questions about pandemics. So, here’s a summary… Continue reading What a church can learn from a public heath director

What if people don’t come back to church?

This article from Thom Rainer is a sobering read. Although written from a US perspective, I think it is likely to be very true of the UK situation too. Certainly, there are things I recognise as I read the article. I want to add a qualification and then consider how we respond.  The qualification is… Continue reading What if people don’t come back to church?

Church is about more than a quick in and out visit

When people have come to join us at Bearwood from a more Roman Catholic or High Church background, there are often some tell-tale signs. One is the tendency to arrive as close to the start time as possible and leave quickly at the end avoiding much social interaction with others. So, when I first saw… Continue reading Church is about more than a quick in and out visit

We won’t beat COVID-19 if we don’t understand the problem

This is a fascinating report from the BBC on Coronavirus on my home city, Bradford.  I had already seen some reports of smaller towns and villages which are included within the metropolitan district complaining that they had been included in measures because the local authority did not want to make distinctions within its boundaries. Meanwhile… Continue reading We won’t beat COVID-19 if we don’t understand the problem

If 30% of the public did not comply with lockdown then what good will future lockdowns do?

Here is a nugget from the Telegraph’s COVID-19 live feed. “Only 71 per cent of Brits, Americans and other English speakers around the globe followed guidelines set by their governments during the Covid-19 lockdown, according to a new study from Durham University Business School. This was drastically lower than French and Italians – where 89 per… Continue reading If 30% of the public did not comply with lockdown then what good will future lockdowns do?

Herd Immunity – on avoiding conspiracy theories

If as Christians, we want to engage with the world around us, it is important that we engage with the facts and stay clear from conspiracy theories.  Conspiracy theories ask us to believe that we cannot believe the evidence in front of us because secret, malign forces are at work. A good example of this… Continue reading Herd Immunity – on avoiding conspiracy theories