Following some of my earlier comments I’ve been having some more thoughts about vision, partly prompted by a book Lyle Schaller. The premise is that most ministers spend the majority of time focused on front line tasks. Preparing sermons, pastoral care and the basic organisation / administration required to keep the church going. Some... Continue Reading →
The future of Evangelicalism
Just returned from a day led by Glen Marshall (nah-then) looking at the current state of evangelicalism and its future possibilities. Much of what Glen said used Bebbington’s quadrilateral as abase but it was interesting to consider the extent to which current trends are relativising the things Bebbington sees as core markers of evangelicalism. (For... Continue Reading →
More friends anyone?
Fewer blog posts recently due to pressure of work! At the Church Meeting earlier this week I asked, as a throw away question, how many people wished they had more friends in church. The answer, it appears, is almost everyone. If I had shown greater presence of mind I would have tried to get... Continue Reading →
If church was like Starbucks…..
I came across this clip whilst looking for sermon illustrations. Nuff said.
New Director for Evangelical Alliance
News is out today that Steve Clifford is to be the next General Director for the EA. (see here). I don't know Steve so can't really comment about his appointment but he is taking on a challenging role. Whatever you may think of the recent tensions within the evangelical scene in the UK (think of... Continue Reading →
Vision or imagination?
One bizarre element of this time of year is doing Christmas services whilst actually planning the church programme for the spring; it isn’t easy to decide on Easter message titles whilst everything around you cries out ‘Merry Christmas’. But within a week or two people will once again be asking ‘what’s your vision for the... Continue Reading →
Advent thoughts
Yesterday marked the start of Advent. I'm not going to blog lots of advent thoughts: simply point to the hopeful imagination blog which will have advent reflections by a number of people, including me. However, if you want to join others in some further prayer and biblical reflection why not joint the Northern Baptist College... Continue Reading →
The most stupid thief ever?
Associated Baptist Press are running a story about a man who has been charged with stealing the collection from a Baptist Church in Florida. Grabbing the collection from the treasurer and running away. Unfortunately for Harold Williams, he was recognised as someone who came as a visitor the previous week, helpfully filling out a visitor... Continue Reading →
Good worship songs
I've had a number of conversations recently with people who lament the quality of songs that we use in worship. For some it is the words that get to them, for others it is the musical style and for others it is the limited range of material (how many new songs are laments or confession?)... Continue Reading →
Distinct Reflections 