Let me talk about tribes.  Having a wee bit of a Scottish background and a rough working knowledge of some of its history, I know a fair bit about clans.  I know my own, I know the tartans of some, the history of some, the politics of some. Clanned Scotland was a primitive feudal society … More Rethinking Church 2

I left ministry in The Salvation Army in 2010 after almost a year and a half of serious reflection on the idea ‘what is the church?’  Quite simply, I went to an event and it filled me with such horror and, well, pain, that I was thrown into a deep search within myself. I wrote … More Rethinking Church 1

I’ve been having a renewed relationship with courage in these last few days!  The roots of that word come from the French for ‘heart’ – it carries the meaning that goes something like ‘take heart!’. It doesn’t matter what it is;  whether its a ‘what do we do with our lives’ question like we have; … More Courage

Although our final decision to move was only recently, the plans of what we are returning to Newcastle to do are established in that they were on our hearts before we left and some of the groundwork had already been laid.  What we hope to do is a result of 20 years of life together, working … More The Plan

Yes, we’re on the move again, back up north to Newcastle upon Tyne.  The reasons are ones that I can’t go into in detail, just family stuff that we’ve had to act on, little to do with the current church we’ve been at at all.  Yet, we’ve tried to be philosophical about it…in fact, we’ve … More Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes…

The last line of Brendan the Navigator’s prayer is, Tune my spirit to the music of heaven, and somehow, make my obedience count for You. It is so easy for our spirits to be tuned elsewhere:  our own wisdom; common sense opinion; whatever suits our comfort and sensibilities; whatever is easier; or, whatever makes us … More Making Obedience Count

Reflecting on the idea of what we sometimes do with our dreams, hopes and vision for our lives, inspired by Brendan’s missionary voyages, I’ve put into poetic form an idea of how we sometimes treat our dreams. What hope is there of unleashing them? The poem is called ‘Dreams’ Dreams I laid you to rest, my … More Dreams

In many ways, I’m thankful that my path is far from smooth.  I am glad there is nothing to lull me into a complacent security behind self-built walls.  I’m glad for a heart pre-disposed to weakness and brokenness.  It is through the cracks of my own suffering that I can begin to enter into the … More Even now…

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.  – TS Eliot As I continue to spend some time with the Prayer of Brendan the Navigator this Lent, I remembered these lines by TS Eliot, words … More Journey Beyond the Familiar

I’ve been dreadfully unprepared for Lent this year, and whilst thats not the end of the world, I feel a little careless about it.  Having said that, being unprepared for Lent has brought me up close to some key questions around the idea of resistance. I think I could easily make the excuse of an … More Lenten Resistance