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COVID-19 and the challenge of discipling young people
Young people have long been labelled screen junkies, constantly glued to their smartphones, 24-hour gaming, YouTube and Twitch, or dancing away to the latest TikTok trend. So it came as a bit of a shock that, when the world moved online due to the lockdown restrictions, the young people we had…
Mat Walls
The transformative power of imagination
The Oxford Dictionary defines imagination as “mental faculty for forming images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses,” and “the ability of the mind to be creative and resourceful.” Imagination involves taking time to be creative, to develop unknown worlds. It is forming in our…
Taking good care of yourself
Many of us are exhausted. We have faced challenges that we never expected to face, and without warning or preparation, we were thrown into a blizzard of change. It has been draining. Leaders across the country are starting to feel the strain. There are times when the calling of leadership can leave…
Community matters
Beneath the surface, responding to urgent demands with limited resources has led to reprioritised needs, categorised people and social divisions in a way that subtly reshapes values and culture. These are community matters. Community matters to God. Community matters for the church. “Christianity…
Donna Jennings
Redeeming the time
In Ephesians 5, Paul, pretty much, does exactly that, as he encourages the church to “look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians…
Chris Ringland
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
The pursuit of justice
So, what effect will the coronavirus pandemic have on our view of human rights and human wrongs? Will we emerge from the crisis with the same concept of justice as we entered the crisis? Or will we see new ideas surface, or even old ideas of justice come to the fore? The Bible identifies justice as…
Dr David Landrum
Bridging the gap
Many times, though, we fail to see any common ground between ourselves and our neighbours, let alone our enemies. When we do, we’re conditioned to believe it can only be entered by way of compromise. So, the idea of hosting on a shared space, or even setting foot there, requires the willingness to…
David Smyth
Hope in the face of death
We are only just seeing the beginning of this. I believe that we haven’t recognised the heavy burdens placed on healthcare staff during this time, and there will be many challenging conversations over the coming years as we fully process this season. My role as a spiritual care coordinator and the…
Christine Uhlig
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
Kick-starting community restoration with CAP
Having been by the side of those who need practical, spiritual and emotional support since the beginning of the crisis, local churches are perfectly placed to support individuals and families through the next phase of this trying time. So Christians Against Poverty (CAP) has launched Kick Start – a…
Naomi Osinnowo
Values or praxis?
Everything on the list sounded great, and some were extremely important to us as a faith community. However, we soon realised that many of us could not remember why certain programmes and activities had started. This didn’t mean they were bad things, just that we had been doing them for so long…
Why and how we do justice
The pandemic has exposed inequalities here in the UK with the coronavirus disproportionately affecting people from BAME communities, families being pushed into food poverty, and many struggling with mental health issues. The global picture is stark too: The World Bank defines extreme poverty as…
Catherine De Souza
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…
Changing Church Toolkit: Sharing Jesus
A series of resources for your leadership team on how to think missionally and share this gospel in this moment
