In Praise of Indifference

I recently listened to a sermon that focused on Romans 14:1-19, which essentially talks about subjects on which people can ‘agree to disagree’. It got me thinking, however, how do we categorise the various beliefs we hold more generally? Particular those things that we can’t afford to disagree on? I won’t break out the contents …

Parish decline and pioneer ministry

I recently read a piece over on Unherd by the Journalist/Priest Giles Fraser on ‘The neoliberal revolution within the Church’ which I’d normally have passed over but something in this has made me want to dig deeper into the claims it makes. I normally like some of the stuff Fraser writes, but in this instance …

A brief autopsy of the methodology surrounding discernment and calling

When I started wondering about discernment there were two mental maps in my mind of what the process looked like. The first was based on my experiences, growing up I lived near London School of Theology and at my church we would frequently have theological students come and worship with us. When I was older …

Opposition to Incense in the Early Church Fathers and Anglicanism

There was a recent thread in a patristics group I contribute to on the topic of incense in the early church. As a topic it was never one I paid massive attention to but I found the ensuing discussion really fascinating. It’s not something done in my own tradition but I figured it might be …

Is paedobaptism a prerequisite for Christendom?

Having a minority view on Baptism (That of a mixed approach accepting both paedo and credo approaches, albeit assuming a credo mode as normative) within my tradition means I spend a long time having to justify my position repeatedly to critics. What follows is a reflection on a recent criticism on paedobaptism being a prerequisite …

Abuse, Ecclesiology, and the Eucharist

When news of the abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church was popular news I became really interested in how the laity responded to what was unfolding. A reoccurring theme was that many laity were sick of the practices of many of the clergy but had nowhere to go because of their beliefs around apostolic …

What I have changed, what I retain, what I wish for more in practice

I don’t know how appropriate this is but with my recent reflections I’ve been wrestling with some of the cognitive dissonances I’ve been feeling about my place in the Church. Becoming a Father has raised a lot for me and prompted me to examine what I believe on a range of issues. I've also been …

On Baptism and it’s timing. Part Four: Conclusion

Introduction Having looked at Baptism I am left with a number of impressions. On the one hand we hear everyone who is saved is baptised. On the other hand not everyone who is baptised is saved. What is more is that baptism takes a panoply of forms. It can be in the ark of Noah, …

On Baptism and it’s timing. Part Three: Witness of History

Introduction In the last entry, I covered for opening half millennium of the church regarding its position on the timing of the baptism. My conclusion, having looked at various sources, was that conversion, following catechism, was the normative time for baptism. The ritual and process for both developed considerably over the opening centuries but this …

On Baptism and it’s timing. Part Two: Witness of the Early Church

In the first part of this endeavour, I took a brief top-level view at the passages that had been raised by others, from scripture, during my discussions and reading on the topic on the timing of baptism. What I hope to subsequently address in this next, albeit not final part of my exploration is the …