OK, so I'm a bit of an aviation geek, and I like flying. And having flown to the other side of the world and back I thought I’d share a few thoughts on the journey and flying in general. General From my previous long haul flying experience I've learned: 1. Aircraft are dry; so drink... Continue Reading →
Lessons from UK / NZ baptist life
As I’ve pondered my trip to NZ there are a number of things about Baptist life in our two countries that we might learn from each other. So as a final post on NZ let me draw some threads together. Ministry led or congregational There is much in the healthy church / ministry led model... Continue Reading →
Observing Baptist life in New Zealand
In the last blog I looked at three elements which define Baptist life in Christchurch: activist / community orientated, minister led church structures and in the influence of Pentecostalism. These then flow into some other aspects of life there. Independence After the earthquakes churches, like the rest of the community, pulled together to get life... Continue Reading →
Learning about New Zealand Baptists
One reason for visiting New Zealand was to learn about Baptist life in Christchurch. Rob, my host, is Senior Minister of Opawa Baptist and he organised lots of opportunities for me to interact with other local pastors and people involved in Baptist life. Christchurch is, of course, a particular place with its own history and... Continue Reading →
BUGB / BMS Baptist Assembly 2015
Back in the UK I attended the annual BUGB/BMS Baptist Assembly on Saturday. This year it was a one day event, which worked better than I thought it might. Obviously reducing the events length means that there are lots of things there isn’t space for, such as opportunities for other Baptist Organisations, plenary sessions with... Continue Reading →
New Zealand trip
I’ve just returned from an amazing couple of weeks in New Zealand; most of the time being spent in Christchurch; the largest (only) city on the South Island. I went as part of a sabbatical to see what Baptist Church life looks like in New Zealand; but also because we have built a link with... Continue Reading →
Favourite worship songs
Recently I was asked what my favourite worship songs were and since it is already half term and I’ve not done much blogging recently I thought I’d blog a response - don't take it too seriously though. 'Favourite worship songs' is always difficult to answer because it depends on loads of factors (and worship is... Continue Reading →
Fresh Streams 2015 Encouraging, affirming, empowering
I’ve been at Fresh Streams annual conference this week where the theme was ‘Developing leaders, developing leadership’. Danielle Strickland was booked as the main speaker but had to withdraw and so a different person spoke at each main session. Roy Searle and Chris Duffett are well known in UK Baptist life; Ali Summers is on... Continue Reading →
2014 Gender Stats, good news for Baptists?
Project 3:28 have published their latest research into gender balance among the speaker teams of UK national Christian conferences. In 2014 two conferences had a 50:50 balance, the BUGB Annual Assembly and the Church and Media Conference. Also, notably, the Youth Work summit has been in second place for the last two years with an... Continue Reading →
New Year resolve
As thoughts turn to the year ahead it’s always with a mixture of anticipation and uncertainty that I think about aims / resolutions. In any case 2014 demonstrated that whatever aims I wrote in January, I had no idea what was to happen! My ability to foretell the future hasn’t improved since last year but... Continue Reading →
Distinct Reflections 