Living in Belfast, the cultural response to a Sudanese suspect who allegedly stabbed a white person in June’s evening daylight was predictable: streets, buses and houses were ablaze in full technicolour hatred in time for the ten o'clock news, the self-justified expression of pent-up aggression against migrants.
One Pastor in North Belfast, Jack McKee, made the local news for speaking out against the violence and standing up for his parishioners: “They’re good Christian people and they’re getting put out just because they’re black... I’m doing my best to help them, it’s as simple as that". [1]
“People just aren’t interested in the gospel.” It’s a familiar refrain, often voiced with a weary sigh in church coffee queues and leaders’ meetings alike.
In what feels like an increasingly secular society, it can seem as though faith has slipped firmly to the margins. But is that really the case?
Christian churches, organisations, and charities are entrusted with managing resources – donations, grants, and assets – to fulfil their missions. This stewardship now extends to the digital realm.
As financial operations increasingly rely on technology, cybersecurity is no longer only an IT issue but a fundamental aspect of financial integrity and missional continuity. For finance teams and treasurers, safeguarding digital assets is as crucial as maintaining physical security.
This article is a "part two" to the piece of the same title (enonline, 13 Sept. 2025) and has been written after comments on the initial article led its writer, Neil, to do some more thinking about Adam and Eve. Read that first articlehere.
"Misunderstand not sickness, as if it were a greater evil than it is; but observe how great a mercy it is…Our sickness and death are sent by the same love that sent us a Saviour, and sent us the powerful preachers of his word, and sent us his Spirit, and secretly and sweetly changed our hearts, and knit them to himself in love; which gave us a life of precious mercies for our souls and bodies, and has promised to give us life eternal; and shall we think, that he now intends us any harm? Cannot he turn this also to our good, as he has done many an affliction which we have complained about?"
One of the uncomfortable tests of leadership development is less about whether people grow under us, but whether we are willing for them to grow beyond us.
Most church leaders would say that we want to raise up leaders as a core conviction, yet sometimes we can unconsciously shape people only to the size of our own ability. We develop leaders who can help us, but perhaps not challenge us. We want Shetland ponies—loyal, manageable, small—whereas God may be giving us racehorses. And racehorses are sometimes hard to handle.
If someone were to pin me down and ask me the question: “What is the most common underlying cause of pastoral problems in the church today?”, I wouldn’t hesitate to give an answer. It might be controversial and provocative, but I would say it anyway.
“We had Iranian drones being shot down above our church last Sunday. How was your week?” That was how Gareth Franks (New Life Church, Abu Dhabi) started his talk at this year's Pillar International Conference in Edinburgh.
The statement reflected the international mix of individuals at the conference: representatives from an underground church in Morocco, an international church in Turkey, a church plant next to the Vatican, and thriving churches in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, as well as a lot of Americans, and Brits, from Exeter to Orkney—about 260 people in all.
Disability affects 12 per cent of children, 25 per cent of working-age adults, and 45 per cent of people over State Pension age.
Many people in these figures will have been born with a disability, but the greater proportion of those with a disability have become disabled, due to either illness, a sudden medical event or an accident.
"You’ve been stabbed? Don’t think you ’ave, mate."
Those words, spoken by a police officer to a dying university student as he mistakenly cuffed and arrested the young man, just a few hundred yards along the road from my own home, are currently echoing around the nation on every kind of news site, chat forum and social media platform.
Have you ever wondered why heretics were burned in England during the 15th and 16th centuries? We can thank John Wycliffe for that. He is probably England’s greatest rebel, having a far larger impact on society than most other possible claimants to the title like the quasi-mythical Robin Hood or anti-Norman Hereward the Wake.
Wycliffe’s writings about the abuses of the Church, its hypocrisy and misuse of power, shocked the nation and the king to such an extent that a new law was written into the statute books: De heretico comburendo.
A YouGov poll in 2025 stated that 40% of UK adults have not read or listened to a single book in the last 12 months, and The Reading Agency’s “State of the Nation” report in the same year found that 35% of UK adults identify themselves as “lapsed readers,” having stopped their regular reading habits.
Perhaps the most worrying part of this trend can be seen in children; the latest annual survey by the National Literacy Trust showed the lowest levels of daily reading (18.7% of 8- to 18-year-olds) since records began in 2005.
Contentment is one of the great Christian graces. Paul tells Timothy that “godliness with contentment is great gain”. He tells the church in Philippi to be “anxious about nothing”.
Our Lord Jesus commanded His disciples not to worry about life. How could Jesus say this? How could He expect and even demand that His disciples not worry? Is this not sheer idealism? Is it not actually absurd to expect believers always to be content and never to be anxious? Clearly not. Our Saviour never engaged in idealism or mere wishful thinking. In fact, Jesus gives His disciples reasons why they should not worry. He makes the observation that worrying never accomplished anything of any significance. But more importantly, Jesus tells His disciples that their lives are cared for, watched over by and dearly loved by their heavenly Father. It is the fatherly love and care of God that is the bedrock of the Christian’s contentment.
Christians can feel helplessly situated in a world stymied by the embargoed Strait of Hormuz (if it's still closed by the time you're reading this) and Europe’s bleeding gash – the war in Ukraine.
At home, little sign of a let-up in the cost-of-living crisis only enlarges the aurora of neon gloom across British skies.
Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir Starmer… Leadership, it seems, is getting increasingly difficult in the UK at the moment.
Some politicians ascend to the top job only for it to become sadly apparent that, quite apart from any party political considerations, they lack the appropriate skill set with which to govern effectively. Into this category we might, sadly, put most of those named above.
There is increasing interest as to what death doulas (who are also called end-of-life doulas, soul midwives, death coaches, dying guides, death midwives, and palliative care doulas) do. For example, there's this article on the BBC website; Nicole Kidman and Ruby Wax are reportedly undergoing training for this role, whilst Davina McCall has announced that she is planning to do so when she retires from her television activities.
Like birth doulas, who support mothers during pregnancy, childbirth and early parenthood, death doulas support people at the end of life. They help the dying person and their family in the final months and may be present at death, assist with funeral arrangements, and sometimes simply offer company.
In July this year, the Church of England could see the most significant Private Members Motion (PMM) on sex and marriage in the last 40 years being brought to General Synod.
The PMM in question reads as follows: “Same-sex relationships compatibility with Christian discipleship. Professor Helen King (Oxford) to move: ‘That this Synod affirm that there are no fundamental objections to being in a committed, faithful, intimate same-sex relationship, and that such a relationship can be entirely compatible with Christian discipleship.’”
We have reached the end of the football season – the point at which winners and losers are determined. The ten-month, 38-game marathon, which began last August, finally draws to its climactic conclusion.
The season’s finish provides either the highest highs or the lowest lows as a year’s effort boils down to a handful of key moments when players must perform at their best or face the unravelling of much of the work they have put in throughout the year.
Does your church mention Pentecost? Many churches, especially those that do not follow the liturgical year, barely mention it at all.
The gift of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost was a turning point in salvation history. It was a never-to-be-repeated moment that applied the finished work of Christ to the disciples and implemented Jesus’s heavenly reign over the church. Jesus baptised His disciples with the Spirit, just as John had prophesied and He had promised. They received the same anointing He received at His baptism so they could continue His ministry on earth. The Book of Acts records all Jesus continued to do through His disciples by the empowering presence of His Spirit.
It is extraordinary that after barely two years we are in a similar crisis of leadership in the Labour Government to what we saw in the later years of the Conservative Government.
It brings back painful memories to me, as I was a member of the Executive of the 1922 Committee which governed Party leadership elections. I was one of the “men in grey suits” – although we had women in the Executive and I rarely wore grey! Our task was to let the Prime Minister know the mood of backbenchers and views about issues of the day. It also had the ultimate role of telling the PM when his or her time was up.
When I was a boy growing up in Wales, World Cups arrived with a particular smell: the smell of a freshly opened packet of Panini stickers.
Before social media, before 24-hour football coverage, Panini albums were how many of us first discovered the wider world of football. I can still remember sitting on the floor staring at teams from countries I barely knew existed, learning flags, kits and improbable surnames long before I understood geography.
Comment
What is needed in Northern Ireland now?
Living in Belfast, the cultural response to a Sudanese suspect who allegedly stabbed a white person in June’s evening daylight was predictable: streets, buses and houses were ablaze in full technicolour hatred in time for the ten o'clock news, the self-justified expression of pent-up aggression against migrants.
One Pastor in North Belfast, Jack McKee, made the local news for speaking out against the violence and standing up for his parishioners: “They’re good Christian people and they’re getting put out just because they’re black... I’m doing my best to help them, it’s as simple as that". [1]
Are people more spiritually open than we think?
“People just aren’t interested in the gospel.” It’s a familiar refrain, often voiced with a weary sigh in church coffee queues and leaders’ meetings alike.
In what feels like an increasingly secular society, it can seem as though faith has slipped firmly to the margins. But is that really the case?
Are Christian charities more at risk of hacking?
Christian churches, organisations, and charities are entrusted with managing resources – donations, grants, and assets – to fulfil their missions. This stewardship now extends to the digital realm.
As financial operations increasingly rely on technology, cybersecurity is no longer only an IT issue but a fundamental aspect of financial integrity and missional continuity. For finance teams and treasurers, safeguarding digital assets is as crucial as maintaining physical security.
The comforting doctrine of the necessity of affliction — part two
This article is a "part two" to the piece of the same title (en online, 13 Sept. 2025) and has been written after comments on the initial article led its writer, Neil, to do some more thinking about Adam and Eve. Read that first article here.
"Misunderstand not sickness, as if it were a greater evil than it is; but observe how great a mercy it is…Our sickness and death are sent by the same love that sent us a Saviour, and sent us the powerful preachers of his word, and sent us his Spirit, and secretly and sweetly changed our hearts, and knit them to himself in love; which gave us a life of precious mercies for our souls and bodies, and has promised to give us life eternal; and shall we think, that he now intends us any harm? Cannot he turn this also to our good, as he has done many an affliction which we have complained about?"
Are you limiting your ministry trainee?
One of the uncomfortable tests of leadership development is less about whether people grow under us, but whether we are willing for them to grow beyond us.
Most church leaders would say that we want to raise up leaders as a core conviction, yet sometimes we can unconsciously shape people only to the size of our own ability. We develop leaders who can help us, but perhaps not challenge us. We want Shetland ponies—loyal, manageable, small—whereas God may be giving us racehorses. And racehorses are sometimes hard to handle.
Are men our biggest pastoral problem today?
If someone were to pin me down and ask me the question: “What is the most common underlying cause of pastoral problems in the church today?”, I wouldn’t hesitate to give an answer. It might be controversial and provocative, but I would say it anyway.
Men who abdicate their God-given responsibility.
Pillar Conference 2026 — some reflections
“We had Iranian drones being shot down above our church last Sunday. How was your week?” That was how Gareth Franks (New Life Church, Abu Dhabi) started his talk at this year's Pillar International Conference in Edinburgh.
The statement reflected the international mix of individuals at the conference: representatives from an underground church in Morocco, an international church in Turkey, a church plant next to the Vatican, and thriving churches in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, as well as a lot of Americans, and Brits, from Exeter to Orkney—about 260 people in all.
My church friend has become disabled: What do I do?
Disability affects 12 per cent of children, 25 per cent of working-age adults, and 45 per cent of people over State Pension age.
Many people in these figures will have been born with a disability, but the greater proportion of those with a disability have become disabled, due to either illness, a sudden medical event or an accident.
Henry Nowak: 'Will justice ever be done?'
"You’ve been stabbed? Don’t think you ’ave, mate."
Those words, spoken by a police officer to a dying university student as he mistakenly cuffed and arrested the young man, just a few hundred yards along the road from my own home, are currently echoing around the nation on every kind of news site, chat forum and social media platform.
Why the medieval Church was 'terrified' of John Wycliffe
Have you ever wondered why heretics were burned in England during the 15th and 16th centuries? We can thank John Wycliffe for that. He is probably England’s greatest rebel, having a far larger impact on society than most other possible claimants to the title like the quasi-mythical Robin Hood or anti-Norman Hereward the Wake.
Wycliffe’s writings about the abuses of the Church, its hypocrisy and misuse of power, shocked the nation and the king to such an extent that a new law was written into the statute books: De heretico comburendo.
When did you last get lost in a good book?
A YouGov poll in 2025 stated that 40% of UK adults have not read or listened to a single book in the last 12 months, and The Reading Agency’s “State of the Nation” report in the same year found that 35% of UK adults identify themselves as “lapsed readers,” having stopped their regular reading habits.
Perhaps the most worrying part of this trend can be seen in children; the latest annual survey by the National Literacy Trust showed the lowest levels of daily reading (18.7% of 8- to 18-year-olds) since records began in 2005.
'Fatherly love is the bedrock of Christian contentment'
Contentment is one of the great Christian graces. Paul tells Timothy that “godliness with contentment is great gain”. He tells the church in Philippi to be “anxious about nothing”.
Our Lord Jesus commanded His disciples not to worry about life. How could Jesus say this? How could He expect and even demand that His disciples not worry? Is this not sheer idealism? Is it not actually absurd to expect believers always to be content and never to be anxious? Clearly not. Our Saviour never engaged in idealism or mere wishful thinking. In fact, Jesus gives His disciples reasons why they should not worry. He makes the observation that worrying never accomplished anything of any significance. But more importantly, Jesus tells His disciples that their lives are cared for, watched over by and dearly loved by their heavenly Father. It is the fatherly love and care of God that is the bedrock of the Christian’s contentment.
Everyone has faith – what makes ours different?
Christians can feel helplessly situated in a world stymied by the embargoed Strait of Hormuz (if it's still closed by the time you're reading this) and Europe’s bleeding gash – the war in Ukraine.
At home, little sign of a let-up in the cost-of-living crisis only enlarges the aurora of neon gloom across British skies.
Prime Maelstrom
Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir Starmer… Leadership, it seems, is getting increasingly difficult in the UK at the moment.
Some politicians ascend to the top job only for it to become sadly apparent that, quite apart from any party political considerations, they lack the appropriate skill set with which to govern effectively. Into this category we might, sadly, put most of those named above.
What can we learn from death doulas?
There is increasing interest as to what death doulas (who are also called end-of-life doulas, soul midwives, death coaches, dying guides, death midwives, and palliative care doulas) do. For example, there's this article on the BBC website; Nicole Kidman and Ruby Wax are reportedly undergoing training for this role, whilst Davina McCall has announced that she is planning to do so when she retires from her television activities.
Like birth doulas, who support mothers during pregnancy, childbirth and early parenthood, death doulas support people at the end of life. They help the dying person and their family in the final months and may be present at death, assist with funeral arrangements, and sometimes simply offer company.
The most significant Synod motion in forty years?
In July this year, the Church of England could see the most significant Private Members Motion (PMM) on sex and marriage in the last 40 years being brought to General Synod.
The PMM in question reads as follows: “Same-sex relationships compatibility with Christian discipleship. Professor Helen King (Oxford) to move: ‘That this Synod affirm that there are no fundamental objections to being in a committed, faithful, intimate same-sex relationship, and that such a relationship can be entirely compatible with Christian discipleship.’”
Here's what I think football can teach us about the Christian journey
We have reached the end of the football season – the point at which winners and losers are determined. The ten-month, 38-game marathon, which began last August, finally draws to its climactic conclusion.
The season’s finish provides either the highest highs or the lowest lows as a year’s effort boils down to a handful of key moments when players must perform at their best or face the unravelling of much of the work they have put in throughout the year.
Our greatest need is to be filled by the Spirit
Does your church mention Pentecost? Many churches, especially those that do not follow the liturgical year, barely mention it at all.
The gift of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost was a turning point in salvation history. It was a never-to-be-repeated moment that applied the finished work of Christ to the disciples and implemented Jesus’s heavenly reign over the church. Jesus baptised His disciples with the Spirit, just as John had prophesied and He had promised. They received the same anointing He received at His baptism so they could continue His ministry on earth. The Book of Acts records all Jesus continued to do through His disciples by the empowering presence of His Spirit.
The UK leadership crisis: Responding Biblically
It is extraordinary that after barely two years we are in a similar crisis of leadership in the Labour Government to what we saw in the later years of the Conservative Government.
It brings back painful memories to me, as I was a member of the Executive of the 1922 Committee which governed Party leadership elections. I was one of the “men in grey suits” – although we had women in the Executive and I rarely wore grey! Our task was to let the Prime Minister know the mood of backbenchers and views about issues of the day. It also had the ultimate role of telling the PM when his or her time was up.
Do today's children lack embodied childhood experiences?
When I was a boy growing up in Wales, World Cups arrived with a particular smell: the smell of a freshly opened packet of Panini stickers.
Before social media, before 24-hour football coverage, Panini albums were how many of us first discovered the wider world of football. I can still remember sitting on the floor staring at teams from countries I barely knew existed, learning flags, kits and improbable surnames long before I understood geography.