Where do ‘we’ go from lockdown?

What are the things we need to learn from this lockdown situation? How do we support the return to normality? Currently our buildings are locked, people are not permitted to congregate, our lives are "not normal". Well, what is normal? We may see that Nature, in this crisis, positively heals. The lagoons of Venice, the…Read more Where do ‘we’ go from lockdown?

Living it not just talking it

This post was originally written prior to the #CoronaVirus Crisis. Hence consideration should be given to how we might consider this in the future, rather than in the here and now. John Wesley once got into hot water because he questioned whether the very people who were teaching the next generation of leaders were living…Read more Living it not just talking it

What to consider – Liquid Church

So, if we are looking to reimagine Church, just what could we consider? Firstly, where and when we meet? The trappings of the past offer significant portals into the past, displaying our roots but possibly, to those who outside of the traditional church, not the present. I'm trying to consider their perspective, not ours. Would…Read more What to consider – Liquid Church

Church – a change?

We may soon be inundated with ideas on how to spend time whilst in self-isolation: be that knitting, praying, drawing or writing - even finding time to complete that 2000 piece jigsaw which hasn't seen the light of day for many a year. We have seen in the past few days, literally, such significant changes…Read more Church – a change?

Can we look forward to more one-to-one contact?

Popped into Asda today to find people giving every one a wide berth but sharing stories as they inspected the hand sanitiser shelves, devoid of any container other than some shampoo someone had discarded. We have also seen incidents of people fighting over the last few rolls of toilet paper - necessitating arrest! This was…Read more Can we look forward to more one-to-one contact?

Choppy water anyone?

I recall, back in 1989, flying from Mount Pleasant airport to the South Georgia as a navigator in the Hercules C-130 to drop airmail. As we descended into the bay (right to left, below) the pilots flew the aircraft towards the centre of the expanse of water, where an inflatable boat was positioned nearby. The…Read more Choppy water anyone?

Are we strangers?

I was listening to someone describe an aspect of their life in the past, of the struggles that had faced. They said that they had often passed by the church without actually noticing it. How can you miss a great big pointy building, often with large signs advocating prayer etc or even a thermometer showing…Read more Are we strangers?

What could be so different?

When you step away from the 'normal' what do we expect to see? I go to a Church which, it would be fair to say, worships traditionally. How you might describe that may differ: the 'Methodist 5-hymn 4-prayer sandwich' describes it for me. You know where you are when you come to this kind of…Read more What could be so different?

‘Do we wish to invest in a church-as-we-have-known-it?

Could Church be a verb, not a noun?(The word ‘ecclesia’, often translated to church in our Bibles, doesn’t mean a church building but an assembly, a meeting.) I have been reflecting upon what is ‘Church’ today. Although we have seen increased attendance at churches over Christmas, they may not seem to wish to continue attending…Read more ‘Do we wish to invest in a church-as-we-have-known-it?

New Years Resolutions

Have you thought of any New Year's Resolutions yet?...or reminded yourself of last year's resolutions! How we would go running and get fit!!?... For every half hour we run, we live for an extra half hour, which we spent running...David Spiegelhalter (allegedly) Have we ever thought of what resolutions our Churches might consider? In today's…Read more New Years Resolutions

When is a Third Place a winner?

Where do we go to relax, to be free to say what we want to? Where could we all go to, to gather, to feel 'at home', to allow relationships to flourish amidst a diversity of people, to enable community to be sensed and grow, to encourage sociability rather than isolation? We could start at…Read more When is a Third Place a winner?

What Christmas are you looking for this year?

It's Christmas time when the churches are bedecked with tinsel on Christmas Trees, oranges with cloves poking from every side and candles adorning, and a myriad of different Carol services or midnight Mass'. It is one of the special times of the year when people do 'flock' to the church. Isn't it weddings, deaths, Easter…Read more What Christmas are you looking for this year?

TDOR 2019

"The Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. With so many seeking to erase transgender people - sometimes in the most brutal ways possible - it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice"Gwendolyn Ann Smith…Read more TDOR 2019

Administration…Liquidation…what’s next for the church?

If administration is the process for a company to escape insolvency, and if that were to fail, liquidation is the ending of a company, the selling off of any assets to pay off creditors, this would suggest that the business model currently used has not worked. There's an alternative, known as "pre-pack insolvency" which is…Read more Administration…Liquidation…what’s next for the church?

What’s next for the Methodist Church?

On Saturday 19th October, 250+ members of the Methodist Church travelled to Westminster Church House, adjacent to the Houses of Parliament, to consult on the latest policy document from the Methodist Church Evangelism and Growth team, entitled God For All. There was something else going on #SuperSaturday as well - not the football, nor England…Read more What’s next for the Methodist Church?