There is much that is notional and fleeting in the approach of a New Year, and there is a great…
Clive James’ ‘Sentenced to Life’, an appreciation
An oft cited truism is that the Victorians viewed sex as taboo and death as commonplace, while the modern age has…
A Pastor in Therapy
In February of this year I burned out. It was a surprising, disconcerting, and ultimately enlightening experience. The full account…
Handling encouragement in pastoral ministry
The swing of a pendulum can be a dangerous thing, correctives can oversteer away from one error and into another,…
Book review: Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson
Christianity and creativity can have a fairly complex and conflicted relationship. On the one hand there is the sheer volume…
October 2019
(written on the occasion of new abortion laws being introduced in Northern Ireland) Mid-autumn clear, the October morning colours cold…
Making and mending pastoral mistakes
It is something we may not like to acknowledge to ourselves and to others, but as Pastors we make mistakes…
5 Pleas for Sung Worship
For many in my generation, worship style was war paint, a badge of one’s loyalty to the novel in public…
10 Thoughts in the wake of the Jarrid Wilson Tragedy
The news is becoming horribly familiar – a pastor who has been used of God, who has even counselled and…
Brothers, shall we weep?
As Christian ministers we are vulnerable to the twin temptations of activism and stoicism, of deploying our energies or cutting…
