musings on ministry
Several years ago I began a chapter in a book about the state of the Church of Scotland with these words, “This isn’t working!”. I was talking then in particular about how as adults we don’t take learning very seriously in the church, but I think the statement applies more widely to the general malaise Read More …
The new edition of Spill the Beans is out and the material starts from Trinity Sunday (26 May) and goes through to Pentecost 14 (25 August). As usual there are great resources from a hugely talented team for children and young people and those who lead and enable worship. You can download a free sample Read More …
I was invited by the good people of Angus Presbytery to come and talk about the stuff I’ve written about Missing Generations last weekend and they kindly filmed all the seminars. So, here’s my seminar…
What’s missing today is a high-quality discourse on rethinking the design and evolution of the entire system from scratch. The quality of the results produced by any system depends on the quality of awareness from which the people in the system operate. (Otto Scharmer) Since writing the first batch of posts on Missing Generations I’ve Read More …
How people learn has changed. I talked about learning preferences in part 1. This video shows just how much teaching and learning has moved on since I was at school. I wonder how much church has recognised and embraced these changes? Or, if the church has actually been at the forefront of them? I see Read More …
What spiritual practices do you do? Eh? What’s a spiritual practice? I wrote in my chapter of Inside Verdict that the church isn’t very good at helping members keep the promises they make. I promised to read the Bible, to pray and to join with other believers in worship. Reading the Bible is difficult. So Read More …
I’ve been one for 20 years. It began around 1989 when I completed the Boys’ Brigade’s King George IV officer cadet training and became a BB officer. I’ve worked with young people and the adults who work with them for all of my adult life. Most of this work has been in a church context Read More …