The promotion of this book has been extensive on social media and I was very much looking forward to reading it. The fact that I read it in three sittings, rather than my normal 2-3 months says a lot about the very readable flow and the engaging nature of Charlie’s analysis of church inclusion and […]
‘In God we have a new dignity and God calls us to fullness of life’. My friends, these are the words that conclude the introduction to the Common Worship baptism service. These are the words written by our Church. These words are a call upon the church to invest in each and every person, each […]
Holy Trinity Church, Stratford upon Avon Isaiah 6: 1-8 and Luke 5: 1-11 My sister sent me an image online recently of different angels described in the Bible and how weird they are. It made me laugh out loud. I would recommend that any of you who are curious just google ‘seraphim’ and see what […]
Rachel Mann has become one of the most prolific Christian authors of the last ten years. She has written autobiography (Dazzling Darkness, 2012), poetry (The Risen Dust, A Kingdom of Love), fiction (The Gospel of Eve) and theology in many different forms, from a Lent course on the film The Greatest Showman, to reflections on […]
Sermon for St John’s Halesowen and St Margaret’s Hasbury Begin with an introduction to the work of IC. I had a challenging reading to preach on two weeks ago at St Peter Lapal and St Kenelm, and this week is no different. Here I am representing a charity which works on inclusion, which just held […]
Sermon for St Peter’s Lapal and St Kenelm’s Romsley, Halesowen. Start by introducing the work of Inclusive Church. This is a very difficult passage to preach on in the context of the recent removal of the £20 ‘uplift’ from the poorest on universal credit. The people on universal credit include those who cannot work due […]
If you are the kind of person who reads an ending to a book before you start it, you may, on the occasion of reading ‘The Gospel of Eve’, find it hard to forgive yourself. Rachel Mann’s first outing into the world of fiction Novels does not fail to impress, or surprise, or for that […]
There is something momentous about this year’s England men’s football team. Something huge. Not the historic fact that they got to the final of a major international tournament – only the second ever time. Not even the strange backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, which meant that a tournament played in 2021 was bizarrely called Euro […]
The practice of eating together – also known as commensality – is a conventional way to build community and show hospitality to others. Christian communities often eat together socially (in group meals) and symbolically (at the Eucharist). A recent resource from the Evangelical Alliance called Simply Eat (2018) demonstrates the significance of commensality in churches. […]
‘Being Interrupted: reimagining the church’s mission from the outside, in’ sets out an ambitious vision for seeing the church and mission through the lens of those at the margins, while framing the whole book with a journey through Mark’s Gospel. The style is deliberately broad and this allows the authors to cover a lot of […]