2011

The Great Escape...

That’s not a reference to my favourite TV war movie (!), but to the way Evangelicals spent the last sixty years of the 20th Century, as they tried to work out exactly where, why and how they had lost touch with the Jesus of the New Testament.

The Lament of Faith...

In the past two weeks we have been dealing with two tragedies as a Church. The first, a 19 year old boy who, while watching Liverpool FC on TV was suddenly taken ill and died within an hour; the second, a mother who was asphyxiated by a fire in her home.

Process Theology!

How do we effectively process all the stuff that God does in our lives through events, people and circumstances?

Finding Your Voice - the Truth of Authentic Words

We’ve all had the experience no doubt, of losing our voice at a critical moment. Not because of a sore throat, but when we have been tongue-tied, lost for words, paralysed by nerves or just gone momentarily blank.

Leaders Who Last

Longevity is the key to an effective life – well it’s certainly the key to a long life!! But gentle humour aside, I’ve become fascinated by the correlation between a long term commitment to a job and its success.

The King's Speech

After all the hype and the four Oscars I eventually got to see The King’s Speech last week. It’s a fascinating story about a sovereign with a stutter.

Culture and Change: Moving Vision Forward

I’ve been reflecting on how as a Church we keep before us the challenge of our Strategic Vision in relation to starting a satellite congregation in Pontprennau, building a centre for vocational training and sending Mission Partners, like Huw and Alison Williams, to Italy.

Priorities in Mission?

I’ve been re-reading David Hesselgrave’s book “Paradigms in Conflict” as preparation for the mission module we run this term on our Network ministry training course.

Pontprennau Blog

It’s been a momentous week for those of us who want to start a new church in Pontprennau.

Mission Possible

You have to admire the balance of optimism and realism in Jesus’ words - “the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few."

Send/Receive

I click this button on my computer dozens of times every day. Just to confirm that no earth-shatteringly important emails have come in during the last five minutes.

The Great Outdoors...

The other evening, we returned to our apartment after a busy day, to discover that our street had been transformed into the scene of a party!

Gustav Mahler and the Apostle...

One of the things I knew would miss most in our move was, of course, making music.

Two Nuns and a dog

She’s called the Digital Nun and with Sister Lucy and the dog Duncan Disorderly, she lives the life of a Benedictine in Holy Trinity Monastery, East Hendred, Oxfordshire.

Pizza, planes and partnership...

I write this having just waved off most of the party of Highfields visitors who have been with us for the weekend.

Building work begins…

Almost a month on from the last blog post and how time flies!

City Life

“Look at that street! Can you believe we live in this city?” said Alison the other evening as we walked home. And she had a good point.

Wanted: A Superman who doesn’t fail

Last week I heard that Superman had started wearing Sam Warburton pyjamas to bed. Apparently he’s now taken them to Oxfam.

The Unfinished Smile

I read last week that works of art worth £400 million pounds, stolen last year from the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, are now in fact believed to have been dumped and crushed in a rubbish truck.

The wonderful thing about Tiggers!

Within days of his arrival in the Hundred Acre Wood that is Highfields Church, I noticed the remarkable similarities between Simon Price, our new fresh-out-of-bible college Assistant Pastor and AA Milne’s character Tigger!