I’ve spent the last 48 hours at the Fresh Streams conference. Although I’ve been to the odd day over the last few years it is the first time I’ve been to the whole thing for 5 years. It hasn’t changed much over that time (though the leadership has become more plural and has a better... Continue Reading →
Lead a movement; what’s that mean?
Earlier this month I blogged that one of my New Year dreams was to lead a movement not an organisation. Recently I’ve heard plenty of talk about the need for a ‘Baptist movement’ which poses the question what do I/we mean by movement, particularly when used in distinction to organisation or institution? A movement is... Continue Reading →
Blue Christmas service outline
I know we've now moved on to New Year but this year I experimented with a 'Blue Christmas' event; something I think we might do again in future years. I did it as an opportunity to reflect on Jesus incarnation for those who don't always rejoice at the thought of Christmas, perhaps because of loss,... Continue Reading →
Happy New Year – dreams for 2014
As thoughts turn back to work after the Christmas / New Year break with a mixture of relief and anticipation I wonder what the year might hold? I don’t do resolutions which are a guilt inducing way of setting myself up to fail, but my three personal dreams for the year ahead are: 1. Speak... Continue Reading →
Politics of #foodbanksdebate
This week the UK parliament debated foodbanks. On Facebook and Twitter this proved to be a big deal but on the main news outlets it never got a mention. So what’s gone wrong? We need to remember the nature of the debate. It was one of 17 occasions in this parliamentary session that the Labour... Continue Reading →
dream of leading a big church?
Last week I shared three reasons big churches keep getting bigger on facebook and wondered how the UK church would be different if 1 in 10 Christians attended a church of over 2000, whether it would be a good thing and what chance there would be of any of them being Baptist? Whether vision or... Continue Reading →
BMS Catalyst LIve: my impressions of #catlive
Yesterday I went to Catalyst Live in Manchester, a new event put together by BMS world mission. The day aimed to help Christian leaders think about the ‘Mission of the Mind’, bringing together speakers with backgrounds in theology, apologetics, science and culture. I’d been a bit wary of an event with so many different speakers... Continue Reading →
BUGB council meets again – without me :)
The new style BUGB Council meets for the first time today; one of a number of small steps in changing the Union as a result of the ‘Futures’ process. I’m not part of this so have no idea what’s going on, and I suspect that the change of format will mean fewer social media updates... Continue Reading →
Larger Churches leaders gathering
It was great to attend this earlier in the week, an annual gathering facilitated by BUGB for team leaders from the Union’s ‘larger’ churches. It’s encouraging to spend time with people who do a similar role to me, who face similar challenges and struggles, without feeling the need to apologise. [It is a strange quirk... Continue Reading →
A bank which wants to say yes
I had an idea the other day whilst thinking about Baptist life (though it could be applied more widely). Why not start a ‘bank’ whose purpose was to loan money to projects which might not pay back but which need money to get something started. OK ‘bank’ may be the wrong word, but words like... Continue Reading →
Distinct Reflections 