I’ve been looking for the latest bits of news and while I can’t vouch for the accuracy I’ve learnt the following:Sourced from Elcomercio.pe 1. River levels look as if they may keep rising till mid May and then take months to recede.2. About 200,000 people are affected by flooding. Not all have been displaced, many... Continue Reading →
Iquitos flooding
It’s now four weeks since I was in Iquitos, during which time the flooding has got worse. The Red Cross now estimate that in the region 200, 000 people have been affected, 43,000 homes flooded; a number that is still rising as the water levels increase meaning that perhaps 1 in 3 people are flooded... Continue Reading →
An unusual Easter
My normal Easter routine has gone a bit awry this year. Spending two weeks in Iquitos, Peru and then returning for Holy Week has meant that most of the week I’ve been suffering jet lag. Nevertheless, the usual run of services has come to a great conclusion with an Easter Sunday baptism. Yet half the... Continue Reading →
Iquitos visit
Now back from my trip to Iquitos I've put some of my photo's onto a video. The pictures will be the basis of my sharing with the church here which makes the video fairly lenghty.The visit was different to last time; my previous visit was more of a fact finding visit whereas my return was... Continue Reading →
Rowan Williams retires
Yesterday saw C of E Archbishop Rowan Williams announce his retirement. I believe the church in the UK owes him our thanks. We may not all agree with him but he has made a good fist of an impossible job; and is a model of how to lead a denomination through difficult issues. The Church... Continue Reading →
BUGB Council: good, bewildering, agonising
So March Council is now over; but what to say? Hopefully there will be a brief on line account of the material the ‘Futures Group’ shared in the next 24 hours (if not I’ll have a go at summarising). [Futures update gives the background here but not the suggested ways forward] Good: Overall it feels... Continue Reading →
BUGB Council and social media
I had deliberately refrained from blogging about Council's concerns over the use of social media but having mentioned it on twitter I seem to have started some debate. So for those who want to know: 1. Concern has been expressed by people using social media whilst at Council. The original Council documentation described this as... Continue Reading →
BUGB Council – humility is undervalued
BUGB Council meets again. 400 years after the first Baptist church in England we are starkly reminded that our faith should not be placed in institutions, our treasure should not be in investments and our confidence should not be in numbers. As we recall Jesus walking purposefully to Jerusalem we are reminded that he invited... Continue Reading →
Futures proposal for #BUGB
Over the last few weeks I've been thinking about how we might move the conversation forward; particularly since BUGB Council meets again next week. So I have produced two things. The first is a video giving an overview of the steps we need to take. The second is a longer paper giving more detail (here).... Continue Reading →
Praying for BUGB futures
A number of folk are trying to encourage prayer for the BUGB futures process and are inviting people to pray at 8:50 every Tuesday morning. In amongst all the opinions, words and pictures shared about the future it is vital we hold the process before God. As we go along this journey we want to... Continue Reading →