Oct 19th 2012 -
I was amazed to read a story in the paper yesterday of the blind grandfather who was tasered with 50,000 volts for carrying his white stick. The officer then proceeded to use excessive force and continued to arrest and handcuff the man. The reason? Apparently there was a 'swordsman' on the loose and this was a case of mistaken identity. The old...
Oct 18th 2012 -
"To be perfectly honest guys, I don’t really have anything to say today. Stuff is just hard.” This was me, teary-eyed, with my church student team. We sat in some old throne-like chairs at the back of York Minster and any agenda went out the window. We didn’t say much. We prayed more. Sometimes the right thing to do is to tell...
Oct 17th 2012 -
The church does not hold the monopoly on adventure, joy or fulfilling, healthy friendships. If we’re honest, I think we can become absorbed in the ideal that the church would run the best football team, the best Brownies group, the best orchestra and the best youth hang out in town, and that kids would fill their entire week with church activities. ...
Oct 15th 2012 -
Last week saw the completion of the political party conference season and I was struck by a similarity between these conferences and the church in the UK. In the 1950s, political parties were boasting over 4 million members between them and their conferences were very well attended, exciting events. Today membership of political parties isn’t even an eighth of what it use...
Oct 12th 2012 -
Mark Powley, Associate Rector of St George's Leeds has written a great update on what they are doing to reach students in their church. ‘If God throws a party who gets to come?’ This is the question we put on 1,000 flyers launching our new evening services specifically aimed at calling a lost generation back to God. Here at St George’s...
Oct 11th 2012 -
"In Norway we dress for the weather" remarked a some what perplexed third year, as she chatted with her housemates about British student attire on nights out. In Britain, it appears we refuse to dress for the weather. And let's face it, when has "the weather" ever done us any favours? We can't live our lives in water-proof onesies can we... As...
Oct 10th 2012 -
Six weeks ago I got married. Four months before that I got engaged. My new husband stood up behind the table on that day and, addressing the gathered crowd, announced “when Pip and I said we were going to plan a wedding in three and a half months, I think what we actually meant was that you were going to plan...
