This is a reflection comes from a discussion on a URC Facebook page about what amounts to the Fellowship necessary for worship. I am not answering that question directly here but looking at the forms of fellowship that happen during Christian worship. This is a personal piece reflecting on my experience. Firstly in the two… Continue reading Seven Elements of Fellowship in Worship?
Category: Church
Divine Curiosity or the Scholarly Vocation
There are two tribes within Christianity who are holding a debate about which is the better way to faith, that of simple trusting faith or that of the struggle of doubt. In a sense, this is talking to this debate but is doing so by picking up an aspect that is overlooked. My faith, which… Continue reading Divine Curiosity or the Scholarly Vocation
Prayer belongs in the Home – A Rant
I am regularly hearing the line that goes something like this “we as Nonconformist do not use our churches for private prayer we do that at home” The implication being that Roman Catholic and Anglo-Catholics only pray in church buildings. I am needing to call you out on this. It is not true, personal devotion… Continue reading Prayer belongs in the Home – A Rant
Lack of Ecumenical Language
This came up recently when I was talking with my parish priest. I am of Reformed heritage, he is a Society Anglican. Wanting a term which did not include URC clergy as well as Anglicans and did not carry the baggage of ‘priest’ so opted for ‘Minister’ and then got caught out on his understanding… Continue reading Lack of Ecumenical Language
Twin star Biblical Interpretation
Friday was the feast of St Peter and St Paul. I would have thought they were uneasy feast day sharers, Paul’s strident certainty must grate on Peter’s impetuosity of faith and visa versa. It is too simplistic to see Peter as all emotion and Paul as all intellect. A careful reading of Paul will show… Continue reading Twin star Biblical Interpretation
Ethnographic Reflection on Praying the Rosary
Background I have been attending St Matthews Carver Street at the evening (6 pm) Mass. I suspect it is done partly as it gives a time the priest can be quite contemplative while praying the Mass and partly so members of St Matthew’s Carver Street who cannot make the morning Mass have another opportunity. Whatever… Continue reading Ethnographic Reflection on Praying the Rosary
Easter Triduum – Iona Style 2017
I spent Easter as a guest at Iona Abbey. The communal side of the Abbey is run by the Iona Community, while the Tourist side is run by Historic Scotland. Most importantly the worship that regularly happens in the Abbey is largely under the auspices of the Iona Community. Therefore if you go to the… Continue reading Easter Triduum – Iona Style 2017
Testing the Waters – Reaching out to “Dones”
This is a think piece because I am reassessing. About a decade a book came out called “A Churchless Faith” which broadly argued that those who were leaving the Church were Stage IV in the Fowler Stages of Faith and that this made them less than docile sheep in the flock. Now I am not… Continue reading Testing the Waters – Reaching out to “Dones”
A gym encounter and evangelism
I started going to the gym about 20 months ago. This was after a slow realisation that Ph.D. had left me in a relatively poor state. I was obese according to my BMI although nobody commented on me being overweight. I was also relatively unfit. I came to acknowledge that my lifestyle was largely sedentary and… Continue reading A gym encounter and evangelism
Groupings – A historic memory of why
There is a lot of hitting out at groupings suggesting that they are causingdecline at present. I have a memory that goes back to the early days of grouping within the URC, and I think it is time to tell the story of why they originated. I am talking of things that happened in my… Continue reading Groupings – A historic memory of why