Part 1 of 7 from ‘A Short Theology of Conflict in Churches’ by Olof H. de Vries and translated by Pieter Lalleman Unfortunately, the reality of conflicts in the Church of Jesus Christ cannot be denied. Conflicts do exist in… Read More »Resistance to Acknowledging Conflict
In my PhD thesis, An exploration of classical and emergent theologies of ordained / accredited Baptist ministry amongst Baptist ministers within the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB) (Garland, 2022), I resolved to identify some key theological ideas surrounding the… Read More »A Ministry of Word?
Summary This article contains seven guidelines that will help us read the Bible well. We need to pay attention to the context, to God’s ongoing revelation, and to the genre of the text. We don’t expect to find new revelations… Read More »How to read the Bible well. Seven guidelines
In this article I will consider the principle of integrity in ministry and why adhering to that integrity strictly prohibits persons participating in same sex relationships from holding the office of ordained/accredited ministry within our Baptists Together network of churches. … Read More »Ministerial Integrity
This letter can be used as a template by Baptist Minister’s to personalise and send to your own local MP Dear Sir, I am a minister of a Baptist Church. I now write to you about a matter that has… Read More »A letter to my MP
The Issue The Baptist Union has circulated a survey about sexuality: The specific issue under discussion is as follows: Our current Ministerial Recognition Rules for Accredited Ministers are clear that any sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage is deemed gross… Read More »Homosexuality and Christian Ministers
It seems that in the Christian debate around same-sex marriage it is assumed by some that I will naturally be on the affirming side because I am a woman and a pastor. Why, you may ask, is that relevant? I… Read More »Because I’m a woman
The Wider Picture Today. Testing Times The article from the ESV Study Bible was written before the UK introduced Same-Sex marriage. It has proved to be prophetic. Christian Adoption agencies who refuse homosexual adoption have been closed down, and the… Read More »Christian Ministers: The Call to Faithfulness
‘What’s the point, they’ll do what they want anyway’ ‘Our church cannot see why we are even in the Baptist Union’ ‘There is a general drift towards liberalism’. These represent the three most common comments I have received over the… Read More »Why should I engage with the BU consultation?
It has been interesting to see the statistics that have come out recently regarding those churches that have taken the liberal stance on issues of sexuality. According to John Hayward (a Christian mathematician) over the last 10 years, all those… Read More »Church Growth, the Truth of Scripture, and Young Adults