Living in the last dim rays of gospel light in Western culture can give the church a strong sense of isolation and marginalisation. The vestiges of public sympathy and visibility which may have been enjoyed in previous generations has diminished to the point where most of our work is undertaken in a context of obscurity…
Broadly, if not universally, these are extremely tough times to be a Pastor. Compared with the searing persecution of previous generations, or the relative penury of our nearer forbears, we do of course have it easy, but Pastors today are facing unique pressures. Following the shutdown of our public worship services globally, the diminishment of…
Church families are returning to their buildings once again in the UK and Ireland, after a break of almost four months. For many this is a welcome signal that some semblance of normality is once again being recovered, for others it is a time of intensified anxiety over what feel like huge steps forward in…
As the barriers erected by Covid 19 in the UK and Ireland start to lift a little, the prospect of being able to gather for public worship is beginning to glimmer on the horizon. Governmental sanction for regathering is simply affirmative of what many church leaders have been feeling - we are almost at the…
In approaching the narrative sections of Scripture, there is always the danger of foreclosure, of assuming the conclusion, and missing the true nature of the issues at hand. The story is always easier when you can read the ending, the drama reduced when you know the outcome, but give a man or woman the middle…
In the present global health crisis there are some whose fears and needs could easily become a footnote to a larger narrative of reassurance and confidence. While coronavirus will one day be a memory, and while most who experience it will find it mild and minor, there is a margin of people for whom news…
For many in my generation, worship style was war paint, a badge of one's loyalty to the novel in public praise, or the traditional - a war of attrition which could sink whole fellowships, and could divide brothers and sisters. In such an environment, with its proliferation of false binaries and battle lines, thinking clearly…
The news is becoming horribly familiar - a pastor who has been used of God, who has even counselled and helped others through their struggles with depression and self destructive thoughts, takes their own life. The tragedy of Jarrid Wilson's suicide that emerged yesterday is all the more poignant given his work of intentionally teaching…
Metrics really matter in our current moment in Western culture. By them we can measure the popularity of a movement, the legitimacy of a cause, the trajectory of social change, and the influence of an individual. Social media sites emblazon a person's influence on the sidebar of each user, flagging up the weight an individual…
