I saw a sad statistic in the Telegraph and Argus, the local paper from my home city of Bradford. Apparently last year the local authority spent 130000 pounds on 70 Public health funerals, traditionally known as paupers funerals. These were funerals for people who didn’t have relatives willing to come forward and organise the funeral,… Continue reading Dying alone
Tag: death
Home and grief
It’s now 3 years since we said goodbye to my mum and Sarah’s dad within the space of a few weeks. In both cases, there was an unexpectedness although we were aware of serious health conditions. In mum’s case, she had gone into hospital for surgery on a hiatus hernia but didn’t recover from the… Continue reading Home and grief
Christians and long-term grief
I’m continuing to do some work on how Christians can walk alongside each other through grief. Partly, that’s about how do we all as believers bare one another’s burdens and partly it’s about how pastors and elders can particularly support church members but it is also about what it means for those of us who… Continue reading Christians and long-term grief
Sharing your faith in the face of death, dying and bereavement
We have been working through a summer series about sharing Jesus with others at our church. One of the things we wanted to get across that this is about the whole of life and so we have picked up on a few examples of life circumstances and how to live for Jesus and speak for… Continue reading Sharing your faith in the face of death, dying and bereavement
Pastoring the grieving: The funeral
An important part of looking after people through grieving is the funeral which offers some form of closure. Although it is not the end of grieving, it does provide a marker, enabling the bereaved to move on with the next phase of their life. There isn’t really a right or wrong way to hold a… Continue reading Pastoring the grieving: The funeral
What happens when we die?
It’s funny, the things we get finicky about and the things we relax about when someone dies isn’t it? I was intrigued by one conversation I observed on social media following the death of the late pope. It was in response to Stephen Kneale’s excellent article about how we should respond to the news. As… Continue reading What happens when we die?
Really alive, really reborn
I revisited James 1:13 as part of my discussion on desire today. It struck me that in that debate, we need to pay attention to what James says about how desire conceives and gives birth to sin which grows into death. That statement should make us sit up and think carefully about what is going… Continue reading Really alive, really reborn
How Evangelicals were caught napping by the assisted dying bill
I believe that Evangelical Christians were caught unprepared for Kim Leadbeater’s private members’ bill currently going through parliament. It is telling first that the briefings circulating amongst Christians prior to the vote were suggesting that it would be much closer than it was. We were told that the vote was on a knife edge. I… Continue reading How Evangelicals were caught napping by the assisted dying bill
Pity as the enemy of compassion
The UK Parliament has just voted for a second reading of the bill to introduced assisted dying. I want to step back and reflect on the debate that was held in the House of Commons. I tuned in to the early stages of the debate and heard several of the speeches. What struck me was… Continue reading Pity as the enemy of compassion
Both opponents and proponents of assisted dying need to be open about faith presuppositions
The other day, I responded to Lord Falconer’s complaint that some MPs were bringing their faith into the debate on assisted dying. Today, Esther Rantzen has argued that opponents of assisted dying need to be open about their faith reasons. Well as it happens, I agree with her (kind of). You see, I’ve persistently argued… Continue reading Both opponents and proponents of assisted dying need to be open about faith presuppositions
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