John Stevens recently drew followers of his Facebook page to a quote from Sinclair Ferguson Within Reformed theology there has always been a diversity of viewpoint on various issues. Being aware of this saves us from naively (but dogmatically!) saying, “The Reformed view is…..” when all we are entitled to say is, “The view held… Continue reading Is there such a thing as “The Reformed view”?
Tag: diversity
Who is in the room and how does that shape the conversation?
I was reflecting further on the recent “Lesson learnt” Symposium on the Church and COVID and it struck me that one of the main lessons presented to us was unstated but highly visual for those who had eyes to see. You see, as I looked at my fellow panellists and as I watched the feed… Continue reading Who is in the room and how does that shape the conversation?
Have the National Trust got rid of Christmas and Easter?
It’s that time of year, we’ve had first sight of the big department stores’ adverts, Cliff Richard has released an album and the annual market stalls, lights (unless you live in Medway) and Ferris Wheels are going up. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. So, bang on time, along with complaints about the… Continue reading Have the National Trust got rid of Christmas and Easter?
A Diverse Church (1 Corinthians 12:12-30)
Remember that one of the big problems in Corinth was the rivalry and tribalism among believers. They were in the habit of identifying themselves with particular leaders and seeing their tribe as better than everyone else. The same habit was at risk of infecting their attitude to gifts so that people would see their particular… Continue reading A Diverse Church (1 Corinthians 12:12-30)
Diversity Quotas for books? Should every edited book have at least one female contributer?
A few years back, the BBC decided that they should insist on having at least one female on every panel show. It was a well intentioned effort to correct an imbalance and specifically in the context of comedy to give more women comedians the opportunity to showcase their talents. The other day, I saw this… Continue reading Diversity Quotas for books? Should every edited book have at least one female contributer?
White Fragility
The death of George Floyd, the outpouring of anger, the marches, people “taking the knee” and the apology videos seem an age away now. Few people are talking about #BlackLivesMatter and a significant proportion of those who are, do so negatively as part of counter attacks against Marxist wokeness. Yet if we genuinely are concerned… Continue reading White Fragility
Pride, Prejudice and Privilege in The Church
Yesterday, we talked about pride, prejudice and privilege in society. Today, I want to think more about it in the context of the church. One church that particularly struggled with division, rivalry and pride was the church at Corinth. Right at the start of 1 Corinthians, Paul has to rebuke the church because of this. … Continue reading Pride, Prejudice and Privilege in The Church
Discrimination, diversity and the church
Here’s the second part of our discussion about diversity and discrimination. Today we focused more on what this looks like in the church. People who came to the UK from around the Commonwealth had often served in the forces during the war and were also asked to come to help rebuild industry. They then often… Continue reading Discrimination, diversity and the church
Why I changed my mind about diversity and church
A few days ago, I republished an article I wrote sometime back about whether or not our churches should focus on reaching specific cultural groups based on things like ethnicity nd class. In the article, I argue that we should aim to grow churches which are culturally diverse. I argue against the Homogenous Unit Principle… Continue reading Why I changed my mind about diversity and church
HUP
How important is ethnic diversity to a church? At Bearwood Chapel, we place a great emphasis on this. People within the church have explicitly prayed that we would reflect the neighbourhood around us. Nb 3 there are parts to this. FIrst is seeing it in attendance and there id movement on this though there are… Continue reading HUP
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