What form of Christianity is coming? What will the Church look like in the new era? To begin to find an answer to that question, please join me at a recent gathering of parish delegates from the two adjacent Welsh dioceses of Cardiff and Menevia. It was in a parish hall in Miskin, outside the Read more
What is the difference between Faith and Belief? It was an interesting question, and if it had been asked in a room full of people, we could have had many answers. My response is that both are important, but Belief belongs to the head and Faith belongs to the heart. The journey from head to Read more
Disruptive innovation is not a common term in theological and liturgical discussions. The term comes from Clayton Christensen’s 1997 book The Innovator’s Dilemma. Christensen explains that successful companies are those that can meet not only their customers’ current needs but anticipate their future ones too. Disruptive innovators – disruptors – are more likely to displace Read more
University of Oxford developmental psychologist Dr. Olivera Petrovich has spent years researching a single question: Are children predisposed to belief in a transcendent being? This research, much deserving of greater exposure, intrigued me, since I have engaged atheism’s most prominent modern proponents. I chaired three of atheist and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins’s debates with his Read more
Naomi Fong’s mum saw she had an interest in Christianity and bought her a beaded wooden necklace with a cross on it when she was 15 years old. At the time, living with her family in New Zealand, Naomi was a believer but unbaptised, wandering the online wilderness through “anti-Catholic” websites searching for “something more”. Read more
Reverend Esther, the leader of a South Korean doomsday cult, has been arrested for allegedly holding some 400 followers captive in Fiji. Esther, whose legal name is Shin Ok-ju’, is the founder of the Grace Road Church. The church has a corporate branch called the GR Group. Esther was arrested with three other cult leaders Read more
Here’s a question for you. To what degree do you understand the key principles of the world’s major religions? Judaism. Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism? And how did you develop that knowledge? Through school? Your parents? The media? Your church, perhaps? Or maybe through your own research? I’ll put up my hand and say that Read more
A recent poll, which Fr Lucie-Smith has blogged about [recently], suggests that 40 per cent of the British don’t believe that Jesus was a real historical figure. Here is another depressing statistic from the US: 79 per cent of Catholics who lapse, do so before the age of 23. I learnt this from the blog Read more
There are three kinds of Christians that outsiders to the faith respect: pilgrims, activists, and artists. The uncommitted will listen to them far sooner than to an evangelist or apologist. So says Philip Yancy in the HuffingtonPost. He says he decide to write his book Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to the Good News? after reading Read more
Those responsible for bringing the Sunday Assembly to New Zealand are keen to dispel any preconceived negative ideas people may have about their movement. Just like any church service, there is singing, service sheets and meaningful readings. But unlike others, the Sunday Assembly is a godless congregation focussed on inspiring guest speakers. “We don’t say Read more