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Five inescapable tensions of COVID-19
All of us are getting used to new ways of doing things, new habits and new ways of seeing the world. Let’s begin with the superficial changes. Before COVID, I had never elbow-bumped anyone; now, extending my arm joint seems as natural as a handshake. Before COVID, coughs used to be background…
Phil Knox
No time like now
Firstly, there is a clear change in spiritual temperature of our country. The coronavirus pandemic is the ultimate bittersweet moment. The amount of people suffering, struggling and dying is absolutely tragic, and this is making this season so challenging. At the same time this crisis is presenting…
Gavin Calver
Emerging from lockdown in Scotland
This week saw the biggest step yet to reopening church buildings in Scotland as places of worship were permitted to reopen for corporate gatherings of up to 50 people from Wednesday 15th July. This is very positive news and is earlier than originally planned by the Scottish Government. Following…
Kieran Turner
One big idea: Raising the 'R number' of the gospel
The reproductive number ( R ) is, according to the Government’s website, the average number of secondary infections produced by a single infected person. It is basically a measurement of how contagious a society is. An R number of 1 means that on average for every infected person there will be one…
Creative worship: Gathering around a poem
Cath Woolridge shares how we can worship at home whilst gathering around poems
Creative worship: Cardboard testimonies
Cath Woolridge shares how cardboard testimonies can help us worship creatively
Creative worship: Gathering around a Psalm
Cath Woolridge shares how the Psalms can us worship creatively
Faith and Police Together
Faith and Police Together (FPT) launched in April 2018, with the help of the Christian Police Association, to encourage faith communities, the police and other statutory agencies partners to work together to help tackle some of the systemic problems within our communities: addiction, youth…
Good news in the pandemic?
This was a bad news day for Christianity. How could a loving, almighty God allow this to happen? The atheist philosophers of the enlightenment used the disaster to cast doubt on God’s existence. Today as the coronavirus ravages the world, hitting hardest the poor and most vulnerable, it looks like…
Prof Paul Ewart
A missional opening for the taking
Such was the finding of the Talking Toddlers research released in May. It showed that almost two-thirds of non-Christian parents with children under five have taken their children to a church-based activity such as a toddler group or Messy Church in the past year. “There’s a huge opening here,”…
Naomi Osinnowo
God's multi-ethnic kingdom
These social inequalities are present on both sides of the Atlantic. Here, in the UK, the disproportionate representation of Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) people in frontline services reveals that, for far too long, BAME people have been at the bottom of the social-economic scale. Take a look…
Rev Dr Israel Oluwole Olofinjana
Reopening churches: acting with confidence and wisdom
However, this year the return to normality is not at all like we're used to. It’s not a six-week break that we’re returning from, but a gradual and hesitant resumption of something akin to the usual after six months of very unusual times. Over the course of the coronavirus crisis, as a society, we…
Danny Webster
Hate crime and public order (Scotland) update
We want to encourage engagement with this bill and would encourage you to contact your MSPs to raise any concerns. However, in a highly charged media and social media environment it is also important to be clear about the what the bill does and does not do, where the concerns are, and how to most…
Kieran Turner
Lockdown latest: Scottish Government September update
This last month has seen some significant opening up of activities that many churches undertake with guidance published for a variety of sectors including youth and children’s work, community learning and development (that incorporates education), outdoor events and running meetings for the…
Kieran Turner
Report proposes a new deal with faith communities
The report recognises the invaluable role of churches noting that, “before the welfare state, social support was provided by parishes, and by a patchwork of independent charities, foundations, friendly societies, mutuals, trades unions, cooperatives – and churches… Many of our public services – our…
Peter Lynas
