The BU has a system, led by the National Settlement Team, which seeks to help ministers find churches to settle in and churches find a new minister. Recently the church here has been looking for a new Associate Minister; a process which I’ve found far more stressful than I expected. And it is not over... Continue Reading →
Learning by preaching
Life continues to be busy with lots of things that it isn’t appropriate to blog about; not least the church’s search for an associate minister. But in the midst of the routine I’ve spotted something I’d not noticed before. Preaching thematically this term about putting God first, I thought it would be appropriate to start... Continue Reading →
The light ahead is….
It is now a month since the summer holiday and, so far, there has been little time for blogging. Truth is I’ve been so busy and too exhausted to blog; which raises the question why? Is it that I’m disorganised or do I have unreal expectations of myself? Perhaps I’ve simply got a death wish... Continue Reading →
Reflections on Study Leave 1
I’ve been on study leave for a few weeks now and am making progress, albeit more slowly than I hoped, but enough to make me envious of anyone who gets to do this full time. One of the things I find hard to adjust to is the lack of adrenalin. Most of normal working... Continue Reading →
Leading a river
In an odd moment the other day it occurred to me that leadership in a church is like trying to use stones to change the course of a river. First, in order to use the stones effectively you have to put them in the river. But if you simply pile them up like a... Continue Reading →
Women in leadership 2
Following the letter to the BT I’ve been approached by some who are less certain that women in ministry is a good thing. I can’t easily blog all the reasons why I believe it is important we recognise the call of God on women but I do think that those who disagree need to consider... Continue Reading →
Women in leadership
There is a letter in the Baptist Times this week signed by myself, Simon Woodman, Andy Goodliff and Craig Gardiner. For those who don’t read the BT there has been some correspondence following BUGB Council’s recent discussion about women in leadership. As can be seen I’m wholly committed to women in ministry believing that this... Continue Reading →
Preaching at big conferences
Following my post prior to the Baptist Assembly Steve posted some insightful thoughts about festival preaching which got me thinking. All preaching arises from the interrelationship of God, Scripture, preacher and congregation. Though the interweaving of these relationships isn’t entirely straightforward as can be seen by the way the Spirit inspired and guided the writing... Continue Reading →
Baptist Assembly
Off to Baptist assembly today. Since I’m not taking the laptop I doubt there will be updates whilst I’m there. Assembly takes an enormous amount of work to put on and folk have been working on the planning for months. Many people, BUGB and BMS staff as well as volunteers put in untold hours over... Continue Reading →
Depending on God
In the run up to Easter our church preaching theme was about prayer and living a life that depended on God. I recognise most readers of this blog have other things to do with life, but if you want to listen to any of the sermons they are available for download here. I have also... Continue Reading →
Distinct Reflections 