Synod – Reasons to be Cheerful (Pt 2): inclusion is the fruit of evangelism
It is probably because I am of a certain vintage that often, when I am thinking of a title for a blog post, a song lyric pops into my head.…
Evangelism
General Synod elections: can ‘Save the Parish’ save the Church of England?
"There are about to be General Synod elections. So, stand. Stand and write in your manifesto that you are standing to ‘Save the parish’," writes the Rev'd Marcus Walker, Rector of the Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great on…
CofE General Synod couldn’t find time to discuss evangelism… “Oh, what’s the bloody point?”
Kenneth Williams of ‘Carry On’ fame was not, alas and alack, a member of the Church of England’s General Synod. And yet his are the words for which I find…
The General Synod of the Church of England puts same-sex relations over youth evangelism
There is perhaps nothing more challenging in mission than the proclamation of the gospel to those who have never heard it, in a foreign land, in an unfamiliar culture, in…
Bishop Philip North is good news for the poor – what a shame he’s sidelined
It is #GoodNewsFriday – space and time to tell of God's love, miracles, joy, hope and peace – and Bishop Philip North provides today's subject matter. Here are a few…
Diocese of Truro advertises for Mission leader, but “You do not need to be a practising Christian”
"Mission goes out from God. Mission is God's way of loving and saving the world." So declared the Church of England at the 1998 Lambeth Conference. This quotation leads the…
Martyn Percy: the Church of England is being “reformed by bankers.. theology is ruthlessly excluded.. populism and narcissism are in the ascendancy”
Following Martyn Percy's first letter and Adrian Hilton's response, here is Martyn Percy's response to Adrian Hilton's first letter: Dear Adrian, Thanks for your letter, which gave me plenty to…
Forget the Holy Spirit: the key to Church revival is Pokemon Go
According to the Daily Mail (please don't stop reading at that), something called Pokemon Go (or Pokémon GO for the accentually pedantic and orthographically precise) is set to bring…
Salt & Light: the gospel, the EU, and the misappropriation of God's word
Steve Thomas is the International Team Leader of Salt & Light - "an international family of churches together on mission". Their core commitments are impeccably orthodox and undeniably evangelical,…
Welby: witness gently for Jesus, and wait until you're asked (most of the time)
There's always a danger when you pick up a comment piece from a newspaper that you glance at a headline and form an opinion from a crass summary of…
Justin Welby inaugurates a new set of Lambeth Awards
On the third anniversary of his installation to the See of Canterbury (and on the 460th anniversary of the martyrdom of Thomas Cranmer; and on the 10th anniversary of…
Palm Sunday: the Kingdom of God and a new social order
The Kingdom of God was heralded by the Messiah riding a donkey. By reason and provocation, He urged anyone who would fully accept that Kingdom to enter into its…
Introducing TGI Monday – What does it mean to be a "real Christian"?
Move over Gogglebox. Forget Question Time. Ignore Everyday Ethics, The Big Questions and Loose Women. TGI Monday is here! It has been many months in development, through creative tensions,…
Pentecost evangelism? What is the gospel in an age of religious relativism?
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have written to every clergyman and woman in England (all 11,300 of them, which is a lot of stamps), urging them to pray…
The Servant Queen, and the Foreword which declares the glory of God
Her Majesty the Queen has written the Foreword to a book being published to celebrate her 90th birthday on 21st April this year. The Servant Queen - and the…
Rev'd Kate Bottley: "I hate it when I agree with a Tory"
The Rev'd Kate Bottley is the vicar on Gogglebox, and probably one of the most recognisable of all Anglican clergy in the country. It's usually a good thing to…
Church of England continues its decline – but is revival stirring?
The Church of England has published its attendance stats ('Statistics for Mission') for 2014. Don't yawn. Yes, the interesting Anglican stuff is leavening this week in a Canterbury crypt,…
The Church of England's investment in social media is a major embarrassment
Quite often when I attend a variety of events and conferences, I’ll end up in conversation with total strangers from all sorts of backgrounds talking about this blog. It’s…
The ironic lack of politics at Christians in Politics
I genuinely expected to be disappointed when I first found myself at an event organised by a Christian political group. Four years ago I put a blog together after…
As 40% of adults think Jesus is a myth, has Religious Education failed?
Richard Dawkins and the other prophets of atheism love to tell us that in the fabricated battle between religious belief and rationalism, there can be only one winner, and…