I was ordained as a Baptist Minister in the year 2000. This was the first year that I attended the Eastern Baptist Association’s annual gathering of ministers at High Leigh Conference Centre. It’s located in Hoddesdon, just on the outskirts of London. Over the ensuing 17 years, I’ve attended and – more often than not – enjoyed this conference. It’s… Read more →
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A thin place…
I first stayed at Sizewell Hall in the winter of 2005 – 30 years after it was opened as a Christian conference centre. The place has a rich and interesting history. It was a large country house which was extended and established as the centre of a 6000 acre farming estate in the mid 19th Century. In 1920 the house… Read more →
Hints about the future…
When the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein was a ten year old boy he was given some junk and bits and bobs to play with. To the surprise of his parents and siblings, he managed to use the oddments to construct a working sewing machine! This amazing display of childhood brilliance gave a strong hint about what the future held for young… Read more →
“Here we are!”
You’ll be pleased to know that the St Andrew’s Street Baptist Church Baby and Toddler Group (or ‘BTG’ for short) is doing very well. Each term it has followed a similar pattern with regards to attendance: a slow start, a lovely gathering of momentum and a strong finish. We ended in July with a dozen parents/carers and their children per… Read more →
Beyond questions…
I recently received an invitation to visit the Christian Union meeting at a local school. The teacher in charge was kind enough to email me with a selection of questions that the students wanted to ask during the meeting: Why do you believe in God? Why do you have faith when there is so much suffering in the world? How… Read more →
Partners In Faith
I’d like to begin by reminding you of the occasion when Jesus told Simon Peter to go fishing, despite an earlier failure: And when [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word… Read more →
The African Children’s Choir
Wednesday 29th June was a very good day. There were a number of enjoyable elements: a time of excitement and building friendships in my Police Chaplaincy; some encouraging meetings; and then, the evening came… I fought through the Cambridge traffic and got to St A’s at about 6pm. The African Children’s Choir had arrived a few hours earlier and been… Read more →
The CND Symbol
During my days as an undergraduate, I decided to add a few ‘button badges’ to my rucksack. There were various places on our campus where you could purchase badges with pop-stars and messages. I bought one with a little picture of the musician Prince – my absolute favourite – and a couple with pithy phrases written on them. I also… Read more →
Reflections on the office of Police Chaplain…
Around ten years ago, I was asked to represent the Baptist churches in Norwich at a meeting organised by the emergency services. The meeting was to discuss the ways in which the faith community could help during a ‘critical incident’. A critical incident can be defined as follows: A critical (or traumatic) incident is any event outside the usual realm… Read more →
Reflections on the office of Baptist Minister…
I have been a Baptist Minister for nearly sixteen years – eleven of those have been spent as minister of a local church. I clearly remember the tumultuous days of exploring and testing my calling: had I heard God correctly? Was the Lord really calling me away from a dynamic teaching ministry among 1,100 young people and 200 staff? Could… Read more →