Food from around the world wide web

You can’t hack your way to a faithful ministry : “An industry has grown to help us. Books, blogs, podcasts, and conferences offer us tips and hacks for ministry. But here’s what every pastor needs to know: you can’t hack your way to a faithful ministry. You can’t learn pastoral ministry from blogs (including this… Continue reading Food from around the world wide web

Church buildings close because churches die

It has been reported that 400 Church of England parish churches have closed in the last decade and 1000 in the last 30 years.  This has prompted concern, not just, or so much from practicing Christians but non-believers too.  See for example this by Michael Deacon in the Daily Telegraph. The primary concern of those… Continue reading Church buildings close because churches die

Creation, Mission and worship

Because we live in a good world which a good and purposeful God has made, this helps us to understand a little bit more about why we are here and what God has made us for.  The Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Confession of Faith asks the question “What is the Chief end of Man?”… Continue reading Creation, Mission and worship

Race, class and geography (more thoughts on that report)

Just before Easter, the Commission on Race, equality and disparity reported.  The report has proved controversial with people focusing particularly on associated headlines questioning the existence of institutional racism and suggesting that the UK was in fact a positive example of improvements in race relations.  I chose to hold off from making an immediate response… Continue reading Race, class and geography (more thoughts on that report)

The Both and of Mission

One of my personal passions and priorities is to see people get involved in urban mission, making disciples who make disciples in communities where there is practically no gospel witness at the moment. That urban focus means that we have a particular concern for poor/deprived neighbourhoods and working-class people. It means that we have a… Continue reading The Both and of Mission

The “both – and” of mission

Republished from the archives (2018) One of my personal passions and priorities is to see people get involved in urban mission, making disciples who make disciples in communities where there is practically no gospel witness at the moment. That’s why I keep pointing visitors to faithroots.net to our ActBC pages. That urban focus means that… Continue reading The “both – and” of mission

The challenge is not the state of the harvest, it is the need for workers

The fall out continues from  the recent announcements of cutbacks in the Church of England. If the church of England had a particular strength in the past, it was that it was a church for the whole country and this was reflected in the Parish system. The risk with this was that the CoEE got… Continue reading The challenge is not the state of the harvest, it is the need for workers

The urban mission field is not a playground

There are a number of parachurch organisations dedicated to encouraging people to get involved in evangelism and world mission. There’s often a focus on young people and an emphasis on short term missions. Now, this is one of those articles where lots of disclaimers are needed and I’m running the risk of causing offence.  So,… Continue reading The urban mission field is not a playground