Church leaders: how are you, really?

A friend once told me about the great tree that used to dominate his back garden in Oxford. It was a magnificent thing - tall, full, the sort of tree children point out from a mile away. It had stood through summers of blistering heat and winters that lashed at it without mercy. Anyone looking on would have called it healthy. Solid. Unshakeable.

But one night the wind rose.

By morning, the tree lay sprawled across the neighbouring flats, its impressive weight now a source of wreckage rather than wonder. The tree surgeons didn’t take long to diagnose the problem. The trunk was hollow. Years of hidden rot had eaten away the core. What looked strong had been quietly crumbling for a long time.