Follow me… Why should I?

We follow those who lead, not for them, but for ourselves. (Simon Sinek) In his TED talk Simon Sinek tells why the ‘why’ is important. Much more important than the ‘what’ or the ‘how’. I work for a Church. I think my job is about the ‘why’ but very often it has little to do Read More …

Missing Generations (part 4)

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 …

disconnected from the big story?

… and the big story of God.  For example, when we celebrate communion I’m fairly sure that most people don’t know the wider context of that.  Can this week’s gospel (John talking more about blood and flesh) be understood without knowing about Passover and the Levitical laws and kosher practice?  But we are not Jews Read More …

better together

Iain mentioned in a facebook response to my last post that he hadn’t yet heard me talk about partnership… I was struck by the comment because for me partnership is implicit in community engagement. When I talk about how the church needs to engage with communities of course I mean with people but I also Read More …

what if?

What if over the past 50 years an organisation had lost the majority of its members? What should it do?  What should it change? The decline in membership of the church in the UK has been well documented and plenty of words have been used on diagnosing the problem but I wonder how much time Read More …

Fit for what?

There is a truism in the world of fitness… ‘fit for what?’ The question is simple but hugely important.  Fitness is completely subjective.  Being fit to run a marathon doesn’t make you fit to play rugby. Fitness is built on repetition of specific exercises to build up your capability to do these more efficiently.  So, Read More …

What does growth look like?

On Sunday I was wondering about that little conversation Jesus has with Peter where he ask him three times “Do you love me?”. Each time Peter says “yes, of course I do!” and after each reply Jesus says something odd. Feed my lambs.  Look after my sheep.  Feed my sheep. Odd. I wondered aloud about Read More …