Church in long term lockdown

Here’s the recording of today’s #AfternoonTea as we talked through the implications of a long term lockdown for church. Here are my notes from the FIEC’s very helpful webinar with John Stephens on this subject. 1. He opened with Daniel 9 -not identical but some analogies esp the sense of being in a situation longer… Continue reading Church in long term lockdown

Coronavirus in our care homes – why does sorry seem to be the hardest word?

Special Agent Gibbs is the hero of NCIS.  A man of few words with his own traumatic past, he leads a team of agents with a passionate commitment to justice.  One of the unique things about Gibbs is that he has a rule for everything, a code to live by.  One of his best known… Continue reading Coronavirus in our care homes – why does sorry seem to be the hardest word?

Don’t forget about children during Coronavirus Church

This is an appeal to all those leading churches and preparing for Zoom, Youtube and Facebook services.  It is also an appeal to parents. I appreciate there are so many reasons why we might put that a long way down the list.  Putting together an online service can be complex for those of us not… Continue reading Don’t forget about children during Coronavirus Church

The Care home scandal we cannot ignore

For a little while, I have been arguing that the one true scandal of the Coronavirus pandemic is that we allowed the virus to get into our care homes.  The one place where you did not want the virus to run riot was also the one place we could have protected. I think that in… Continue reading The Care home scandal we cannot ignore

An open letter to Boris Johnson

Dear Boris, First of all, I want to let you know that we are encouraged by your own recovery from the COVID-19 virus.  Many Christians around the country were praying for you each day as well as for Carrie and your baby boy. We continue to pray for you, for your ongoing recovery and for… Continue reading An open letter to Boris Johnson

When Tragedy Comes

It was about quarter to five on Saturday 11th May and we had just switched on Grandstand to get the final scores. I wasn’t yet attending football games but I had followed my football team, Bradford City’s fortunes with pride that season as they had stormed to the old Division 3 title.  It was the… Continue reading When Tragedy Comes

Learning the right lessons – it is possible to engage

Early in the Coronavirus pandemic I shared a few articles about the dangers of learning the wrong lessons from the data that was being thrown at us about how different countries were doing.  I want to follow that up with some articles about what we can learn about the virus. My reason for saying this… Continue reading Learning the right lessons – it is possible to engage

Coronavirus Interview with a Doctor

We had the opportunity to catch up with Dr Steve Sturman on Afternoon Tea today. Here are some of the things we talked about (watch the interview below) – What is it currently like to be working in hospital? – Is it safe to go into hospital if I’m unwell with another condition? – What… Continue reading Coronavirus Interview with a Doctor

Coronavirus – do the models work?

A lot of decisions about Coronavirus over the past few weeks have been made on the basis of models predicting potential outcomes In fact, it is probably more accurate to say that decisions have been guided by the models than that they have been guided by the science in some unmediated way as though there… Continue reading Coronavirus – do the models work?