With Graham Sparkes moving to Manchester to become the new President of Luther King House the Union is now advertising for his replacement as the head of Faith and Unity. Details here Graham has done a great job and so will be a hard act to follow. But if you can combine a theological reflection,... Continue Reading →
Assembly draws to a close
Blogs about events can easily become a list of gripes and congratulations. So for a different approach I thought I would compare it to a regular month at PBC. - Prism. As a church we run ‘Interactive’ on a monthly basis, as an alternative alongside the usual Sunday morning service; the feel is deliberately dynamic... Continue Reading →
Assembly: who is it for?
So far it has been a great Assembly; the weather has been fantastic, the speakers good and the opportunities for meeting up with people plentiful. Yesterday I particularly enjoyed Jeff Lucas who was much better than I remember as a preacher (I know that sounds a bit pompous!) Yet in the midst of this love-in... Continue Reading →
Baptist Assembly has started: what sort of Union should we be?
This years Baptist Assembly is now underway. The annual showcase of Baptist life in England is up and running in Blackpool with ‘Your Kingdom Come’ as its theme. One question posed on the opening night was ‘what is God saying’? Perhaps the answer lies in the question: where are we going as a Union? What... Continue Reading →
Baptist Assembly ~ here we come
Off to Baptist Assembly (well BUGB’s) this weekend. I will try and post some comments as events unfold. One thing I’m looking forward to is the recognition of ministers on Sunday evening. I’m always struck that the two occasions Assembly recognises your ministry are at the end of the accreditation period and after your death.... Continue Reading →
Baptist Pensions
I hesitate to blog about pensions, since I’m no expert, but several people have visited this blog having searched for ‘BU pensions’ so here is my personal take on the subject. 1. It is sad that we have to change the pension scheme but there is no reasonable alternative. Some of the changes are because... Continue Reading →
5 P’s of #leadership
A blog post caught my eye earlier this week where Rob Petrini suggested the two things a Christian leader needed to remember were process and perception. I’d not come across this before but it got me thinking; and so here are my 5 key elements of church leadership (leaving the question of the relation of ministry... Continue Reading →
Baptist bloggers banquet?
The Catholic Church is holding a special meeting between bloggers and the Pontifical Councils for Culture and Social Communications in Rome on 2nd May. It appears the Catholic Church is anxious to engage with new media practitioners, to listen to the experiences of those involved and gain a greater understanding of the blogging community. A... Continue Reading →
It’s a generational thing
Over the last month I’ve listened to more members of the church here preaching than usual and I’ve been struck by the variety and how they preach differently to me. Some of this is down to character, the impact of ministerial formation and the fact that I preach on average once a week. But I... Continue Reading →
Death of ministerial training?
An article is it time to write the Eulogy?: The future of Seminary Education caught my eye (HT Steve Harmon who blogs at Ecclesial Theology). My impression is that the situation in the US is different to the UK but the question of what we expect from our Theological colleges is nevertheless worth asking. Not... Continue Reading →
Distinct Reflections 