tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-157434072012-01-29T08:22:00.056ZRadical Emergent Unitarian BlogStephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.comBlogger3931100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-20337075414757574972012-01-25T09:41:00.002Z2012-01-25T10:28:41.356Z

This morning I read this provocatively-titled article Why Evangelicals Hate Jesus. The author admits the title is a bit provocative, but he still makes some really good points. (I would only add that it's written from a US-perspective and that even in that context it does not describe all Evangelicals, though it does describe a significant segment of conservative Evangelicals. For a fruitful

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-31508181055168136952012-01-18T17:42:00.002Z2012-01-18T17:46:27.195Z

This does fit into my current musings on theology of ministry, honest.

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-20809424968445680842012-01-18T09:43:00.002Z2012-01-18T09:51:28.506Z

Have you read Art Lester’s 2008 Anniversary Sermon? If not you should do, go on, do it, I’ll wait for you. Even if you’ve read it before, or heard it at the time, go read it again. It’s really important stuff. Go on.Art’s words are on my mind at the moment. You see what I find most disheartening about some Unitarian gatherings is not someone saying “there’s not enough of us” or “we don’t have

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-63241042390798100952012-01-14T18:12:00.003Z2012-01-17T07:30:33.270Z

There may be many reasons why orthodox Christianity doesn't make sense to me, one of them is about a theology of time. Orthodox Christianity seems to me to be a lot about the future and the past, and for whatever reason that doesn't make any sense to me. There's a lot of talk about "what God has done" and "what God will do" which just seems sort of irrelevant to me. Maybe it's because I'm a

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-60349298831531349192012-01-14T11:29:00.003Z2012-01-14T12:25:11.655Z

The previous post on what ministers should wear during a protest led to a conversation about what ministers should wear in any case, which also leads to the question of what a Unitarian minister is in any case.Sometimes people call me a vicar, usually non-churched friends while we're sitting in a pub. I'm not exactly offended by this, the worst thing to do is judge non-churched folks at using the

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-26534538114747091202012-01-12T17:14:00.003Z2012-01-12T17:19:23.259Z

I love the Quakers. I find it quite inspiring the way they have come to a decision on same-sex marriage. They have produced a fantastic document, designed to explain their decision to other faith communities, that you can download here.The most signigicant paragraph of their decision is this one:…we are being led to treat same sex committedrelationships in the same way as opposite sex marriages,

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-52789524418158395322011-12-16T11:33:00.003Z2011-12-16T12:37:10.179Z

OK, I'm wandering into the territory of Beauty Tips for Ministers here, but a couple of recent conversations have brought up the issue of what clergy should wear for protests.I know a number of Ministers who only wear clerical collars for protests. The logic is that it's important to identify as a Minister when you're supporting something society doesn't expect clergy to. So Ministers will wear a

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-3996477720437437732011-12-14T10:12:00.002Z2011-12-14T11:32:53.852Z

Posts by a couple of my colleagues have got me thinking. Here Andy posts about the slogan of his church in London: "A church for atheists... and everyone else." And here Danny says "There is no such thing as atheism."How interesting. So do Unitarian churches welcome atheists? To me this is not the significant question. I don't know of any church that would say it wouldn't welcome atheists. If I

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-13529941891041501602011-12-08T09:45:00.001Z2011-12-08T09:46:33.928Z

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-23490448508409741462011-11-03T15:22:00.003Z2011-11-03T15:47:06.193Z

A commenter on the last post asked why I call myself "evangelical."Now it's certainly true that I'm not part of the Christian movement called Evangelicalism (although I do have a lot more respect and admiration for some aspects of it compared to some liberals). Evangelicalism is characterised by a strong commitment to the authority of the Bible, amongst many other things. As a liberal I do not

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-83412050651143338002011-10-09T14:38:00.002+01:002011-10-09T14:59:19.439+01:00

It's the time of the year when the Unitarian Directory comes out. This means I can do some number crunching, and thinking about the health of our community. There are 172 congregations in the Unitarian General Assembly. This is one down from last year (173). Two congregations have disappeared from the directory, though I can't remembering anything being reported about the congregations closing.

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-17560802401316056082011-10-07T11:11:00.002+01:002011-10-07T11:25:37.878+01:00

This week the Prime Minister David Cameron said he was in favour of same sex marriage, saying, "I don’t support gay marriage in spite of being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I am a Conservative.” I remember reading a similar argument a number of years ago in America. I sort of agree with it, though I'm not a Conservative in any way. Marriage equality is a pro-marriage position:

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-36512913828365742252011-10-01T18:56:00.002+01:002011-10-01T18:57:01.089+01:00

In the last few weeks there have been two articles on Unitarianism in the Guardian. In the first Theo Hobson described visiting a Unitarian church in the US. He describes what sounds like a summer lay-led service that might be different to what he would get a month later. He describes three women who led a service based on a play they had recently put on. In his final paragraph he says this:"I

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-74600963325625568232011-08-15T17:28:00.008+01:002011-08-16T11:36:03.260+01:00

There's been plenty of talk about the English riots last week. There will no doubt be a lot more as politicians, police, religious leaders and all of us try to work out what all those riots mean for our society. I don't want to get into too much speculation, but just want to reflect personally on my experiences in Greater Manchester. On Tuesday night I was following Facebook and Twitter and

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-15862746631717717772011-07-07T22:36:00.002+01:002011-07-07T23:09:20.819+01:00

"We say that revelation is not sealed but we often act as if our purses were."John Clifford, Anniversary Service Sermon, 2003Unitarians should tithe. Yes I said it. Let me say it again: Unitarians should give away 10% of their income.Sound radical? Crazy? Controversial? If so maybe we should ask ourselves why.Unitarianism is a radical liberal way of being religious. We say what matters is not

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-33136614436147909902011-06-25T14:02:00.003+01:002011-06-27T11:10:41.677+01:00

This blog has always been a place where I have been critical of the Unitarian movement. I've always been acutely aware that the Unitarian movement is in deep trouble and has lost its way in many ways. It has been in decline, and many congregations have been devoid of the Spirit and very inward-looking. So I always try to balance this out when I can when I think I can say something positive. There

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-91984337893100791322011-06-14T13:33:00.002+01:002011-06-14T14:13:26.947+01:00

I was never in favour of civil partnerships. Living in Massachusetts in 2004 I saw marriage equality come to that state, and I was very aware of all the debates at that time. In the American conversation civil partnerships were the conservative compromise position. Pro-marriage equality campaingners generally considered them to be based on a doctrine of "separate but equal" which had been

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-61597161115385275582011-05-23T15:29:00.002+01:002011-05-23T16:12:41.255+01:00

OK, I've been writing a lot about statistics lately, and you have to be very cautious about statisitics. There's all kind of ways in which they don't report the full picture of reality. But they are worth keeping an eye on.The UU World has reported that the membership numbers of UUA congregations in the United States have fallen for the third year running. This was reported at the latest UUA

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-38307416419381502942011-05-19T16:08:00.002+01:002011-05-19T16:27:14.563+01:00

The Government has released plans to reform the House of Lords, replacing an entirely unelected chamber with a wholly or partly elected chamber.The plans are that the House of Lords should be either 100% or 80% elected. I don't want to express an opinion about whether it should be 80% or 100%. But if we are going to appoint 20% I want to make sure that that does not include, as a matter of right,

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-66910116362502567852011-05-17T21:49:00.002+01:002011-05-17T22:04:25.614+01:00

A friend of mine from my time in Boston, Christana Wille McKnight, is doing a really interesting ministry and blogging about it here.She's re-starting a church, First Unitarian Church of Norton, Massachusetts. There was a church building, but the congregation went extinct some time ago, and her ministry has been to go in, and see where there is possibility for re-starting the congregation.This

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-64107516083215886622011-05-07T18:31:00.002+01:002011-05-07T19:25:21.295+01:00

So, I'm going to shift from talking about politics back to church planting now.The Executive Committee have committed to grow the Unitarian community by 20% in five years. How do you achieve that? Do you expect every congregation to grow at 20%? Well if you did then every congregation would have to grow as laid out here by Scott Wells.But the fact is not every congregation well grow at 20%.

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-43008048437062531112011-05-07T14:19:00.003+01:002011-05-07T16:09:08.020+01:00

Well, obviously I'm disappoointed at the results of the referendum. But it's important not to live and die but such things. From a spiritual point of view I think you have to be engaged and fighting for the politics you believe in, but it can't be your ultimate concern. The Beloved Community is not built on the results of any one election.It is positive that it was a reasonably high turn-out,

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-83338681107570841682011-05-04T16:37:00.002+01:002011-05-04T17:07:53.853+01:00

Tomorrow is the the vote to decide what system we want to elect our MPs to Westminster. First-past-the-post, the obvious system to use when 90% of people voted for two parties, is not a fair system to use in a multi-party democracy.AV, however, is a simple, common-sense solution to having fair votes in a multi-party democracy:Most elections under first-past-the-post are won in a small number of

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-65442015019583601422011-04-28T18:17:00.002+01:002011-04-28T18:56:17.053+01:00

Where should we concentrate our ministry and mission as British Unitarians? Ever since I started this blog I have been calling for church-planting. Five years ago I wrote this post doing some analysis of the largest population areas without a Unitarian presence, therefore where you could plant new churches.It's probably time to do some updating. The following is a mixture of analysis of

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-71689588445767946412011-04-25T12:47:00.002+01:002011-04-25T13:02:08.322+01:00

In one of the early episodes of Batttlestar Galactica (2000s series) the President carefully writes down the number of surviving humans on the band of surviving spaceships on a whiteboard. She adjusts the number with each news report of loss of life.That reminds me of the situation we're in now in British Unitarianism. We passed a resolution in 2006 calling for growth, and it's taken five years

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-780265231172480372011-04-20T12:43:00.003+01:002011-04-20T13:34:24.386+01:00

Back in January I posted about the AV referedum with a reasonably open mind. Since then I've become more convinced that AV is a far superior system than first past the post. I don't mind publicly saying so.AV will mean fewer safe seats, and more marginal seats which means elections won't be fought just in a few isolated places. True, the difference is quantitative, not qualitative. But it is an

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-21051758003550820862011-04-18T21:21:00.002+01:002011-04-18T22:00:26.032+01:00

I was very tempted to call this post "Why the Unitarian Executive Committee's growth strategy will fail" but I don't want to be quite that negative.Actually I want to say that I think a lot of what our national Unitarian leadership is doing is absolutely right. I completely agree with what they have prioritised and most of what they're doing to get there. It is good to aim for growth. 20% growth

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-70641763745374748262011-04-18T11:40:00.002+01:002011-04-18T11:55:41.055+01:00

I'm still blogging about (but not at anymore) the GA. I'm keeping an eye on the Twitter feed.This morning Undodaiaid Bangor Unitarians were welcomed into the General Assembly as a new small congregation. This is great news, in many ways the best news to come out of the these meetings.If I had been there this morning I would have stood up and said that this is the kind of thing we need to be

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-30959673295415558982011-04-17T18:46:00.002+01:002011-04-17T19:48:35.601+01:00

The Annual Meetings are still on-going but I am home now, and can report on the first half of the meetings that I attended. Derek McAuley, the Chief Officer is also blogging from GA on his blog. The Ministerial Fellowship conference was good, and included a live video link up from a consultant in Seattle who lead a workshop on social media and communication strategy.The only other thing I can

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-74958926945641681792011-04-13T21:02:00.002+01:002011-04-13T21:12:13.322+01:00

The Unitarian General Assmebly Annual Meetings are on this weekend. The Minister's Conference starts tomorrow and then the main meetings on Friday. I'm not staying for the whole conference this year (I'm not staying away from my congregation on Palm Sunday). So I'm not going to be live blogging exactly. I'll do some reporting when I get back. Anyone else want to do some live blogging? Anyone?I'm

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-697203521929220112011-03-28T18:42:00.003+01:002011-04-06T09:33:30.402+01:00

For the past ten months or so we've been working on a process to create a mission statement at my congregation. The process was led my a small group including myself. We began by having a meeting of the Chapel Council when all members tried to come up with a mission statement, then get together with another person and try to come up with a consensus statement between two. Then each pair joined up

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-32365861856442288102011-03-26T13:28:00.004Z2011-03-26T14:19:28.549Z

For the first time the Annual Report of the General Assembly had included membership numbers in it's report. I still think it should include the total number of Unitarian congregations and the total composite membership numbers as a matter of policy. The UUA does this as part of it's annual reporting. But this is a step in the right direction.I think the way the numbers are reported they're

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-79421469222605473332011-03-08T18:20:00.002Z2011-03-08T18:31:39.114Z

This morning my census form arrived in the post. I read through it and had a few thoughts.I wonder whether I should be English or British?Ten years ago I remember agonising over whether to list myself as "Christian" in the religion question. Today I am more confortable describing myself as Christian but I will list myself as Unitarian. But it's interesting to note that there is not enough room in

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-38591454029556657812011-03-07T15:27:00.003Z2011-03-07T15:47:24.083Z

Last week I went to a lecture at the University of Manchester by the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. The lecture was on the relationship of church and state. The link says there will be a video of the lecture available online, but I don't think it's there yet.It was of the high standard I would expect of Rowan Williams. He talked a lot about Christian witness in the political

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-20400474581253387192011-02-14T18:41:00.002Z2011-02-14T18:53:37.839Z

To promote our new website and our Invite Service this weekend I've done some publicity and this week I'm doing mini-reflections on Twitter @BoltonUnitarian.An article appeared in The Bolton News here.

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-36104092876659466592011-02-09T09:29:00.003Z2011-02-09T09:42:10.579Z

Yesterday we launched our new website at Bank Street. Our webmaster's been working on it for a while and it's really good to finally have it up and running. There's a few new features and hopefully it will be easier to maintain and update than the last one.Any constructive feedback is appreciated as we try to work out any kinks.Bank Street Unitarian Chapel, Bolton

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-13928160723106348232011-02-01T09:13:00.003Z2011-02-01T09:20:32.412Z

The view from EgyptThis is an amazing icon of nonviolent dignified prayer vs the power of the state.Let's hope that any protests remain rooted in prayer and non-violent action.H/T Young Anabaptist Radicals

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-75009686112164190262011-01-14T14:38:00.002Z2011-01-14T15:01:29.520Z

I've started to have a think about the AV referendum in May. I've been disappointed so far that I've not seen any wide-ranging discussion about a possible change in our voting system.My instinct has been to support Alternative Vote, but I'm happy to change my mind in a public debate. I just want to see a public debate. I haven't seen one yet. I feel like this is a pretty important issue and we

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-16291945778826288622011-01-09T16:57:00.002Z2011-01-09T17:03:23.830Z

"Management is a set of processes that can keep a complicated system of people and technology running smoothly. The most important aspects of management include planning, budgeting, organising, staffing, controlling, and problem solving.Leadership is a set of processes that creates organisations in the first place or adapts them to significantly changing circumstances. Leadership defines what the

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-48151440721667716522011-01-08T16:04:00.002Z2011-01-08T16:13:37.177Z

Happy New Year!My new year's resolution is to for my congregation to reach out to more people than we have before. As such I've finally given in and started a Twitter account @BoltonUnitarian. Please note this is not my personal Twitter account, but the congregation's. This blog remains my own thoughts and reflections. But the Twitter is for Bank Street Unitarian Chapel.While I'm at it I've also

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-86451901355403172692010-12-24T09:10:00.001Z2010-12-24T09:17:40.074Z

Merry Christmas

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-34119852370926639672010-12-13T11:33:00.002Z2010-12-13T11:57:20.272Z

I'm glad that there's now a proper campaign in Britain for same-sex marriage: Equal Love. Living in Massachusetts in 2004 when same-sex marriage came in there I've been impatient to see people fighting for it in the UK.I'm not sure however, about the part of the campaign to allow civil partnerships to be open to different-sex couples. It is logical I suppose. But I've always viewed civil

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-81977839002004927282010-12-05T17:09:00.002Z2010-12-05T17:13:55.796Z

(Quoted in "Hope for the Church: Contemporary Strategies for Growth" by Bob Jackson)1. Energized by faith rather than just keeping things going or trying to surviveworship and sacramental life: moves people to experience God’s lovemotivation: energy comes from a desire to serve God and one anotherengaging with Scripture: in creative ways connect with lifenurtures faith in Christ: helping people

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-81848791852417724942010-12-01T21:45:00.002Z2010-12-01T22:02:00.426Z

I just came across this link about the Comment is Free column in the Guardian. They do sometimes publish unsolicited submissions for the column. Catherine Robinson managed to get this article published about Unitarianism a while ago.So should I submit something? Maybe if I have some spare moments sitting around after Christmas? Anything on this blog worth publishing in a national newspaper? What

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-23894940769192688132010-12-01T09:37:00.002Z2010-12-01T09:48:17.219Z

Re-posting from last year.

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-74000825436360594882010-11-28T16:17:00.004Z2010-11-28T17:00:09.475Z

I know I'm really late in blogging about Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion" and I'm sure there's a huge amount of stuff on them there interwebs all about it. But we've just had a very nice little discussion group about the book at church so it's on my mind. So I thought I'd give just a small thought about it.I think the key part of the book is the first chapter when Dawkins discusses in some

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-47295800474010851242010-11-18T14:43:00.002Z2010-11-18T14:46:31.560Z

On the 24th October we were lucky enough to be joined by Bill Darlison who preached with us in the morning and gave a presentation about his book, "The Gospel and the Zodiac" in the afternoon to Bolton Theosophical Society.

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-25917354558587855792010-11-13T14:00:00.002Z2010-11-13T14:16:46.798Z

I'm crunching some numbers for my church as we approach the end of the calendar year.We are pretty much stable in terms of numbers and I'm trying to work out what our "limiting factor" is. We're getting about 25 visitors in a year and about 2 new members. I'm trying to work out if we should be working to attract more visitors, or working to convert visitors into members. What kind of a percentage

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-36884138567748662032010-11-08T16:12:00.002Z2010-11-08T16:15:03.259Z

I'm thinking of preaching about Israel-Palestine during Advent.My consciousness was raised about this at Greenbelt this year, but I still don't know much about it. Anyone know of any resources to inform me on this issue? What should local religious communities know about this issue? And what should they be doing?

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-26545318493796897932010-11-01T19:59:00.002Z2010-11-01T20:33:56.981Z

Sometimes people ask me why I don't despair. I'm 28 and have dedicated my vocation and career to a religious community that is only 4,000 strong and in decline. Whether there will still be a Unitarian community to serve in 40 years at the end of my career is a genuine question.In fact I talk about this all the time (at least on this blog). I'm always arguing for us to face up to the reality of

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-13973686275827581522010-10-25T13:56:00.001+01:002010-10-25T13:58:10.066+01:00

I'll repost this without comment for now:Popularis Ltd I confirm I have received nominations for the following candidates: No Forename Surname Nominated by Email 1 John Christopher Clifford Aberdeen Unitarian Congregation Clifford@universalist.ednet.co.uk 2

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-12641301097690680912010-10-04T12:10:00.000+01:002010-10-04T12:11:05.926+01:00

Via Ekklesia:The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches has announced that it is joining the Accord Coalition on inclusive schooling. The body is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian and Free Christian congregations in the United Kingdom. The Accord Coalition, a broad campaign network, encompasses a wide range of different religious and non-religious groups and

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-65671494533289662972010-09-30T17:37:00.004+01:002010-09-30T17:49:26.598+01:00

I just received this message on Uni News (which anyone can subscribe to, by the way) with a very strong message from the national Executive Committee of the Unitarian General Assembly:The Executive Committee, having considered the responses of the “Difficult Choices” consultation with the wider Unitarian Movement, agreed the following strategic priorities for the work of the General Assembly.

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-37929586742059496672010-09-29T09:09:00.002+01:002010-09-29T09:13:25.144+01:00

I thought this was worth re-posting from the UU Growth Blog.It's by Michael Durrall. If you haven't read his books, The Almost Church, and the Almost Church Revitalized, read them. Just read them, you must.I. Things churches should do Once and For All, Get Serious About Your Congregation’s Purpose. Seeking beauty and truth doesn’t cut it. Church is more important than that. Finding Capable

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-51317567518068160762010-09-20T18:02:00.003+01:002010-09-24T11:17:42.141+01:00

In a comment on the last post, Joseph said we should be asking the question of why British Unitarinaism is in decline.So here goes:First and foremost Unitarianism is in decline because religion in Britain is in decline. For whatever reason (and plenty of people are thinking about this) active adherence to religious institutions has been dropping for a very long time. Immigration reverses this

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-54004254677503272962010-09-14T19:56:00.002+01:002010-09-14T20:36:44.399+01:00

This is the time of the year that I receive my copy of the Unitarian General Assembly Directory. I usually do a bit of comparing and number-crunching as I read through the new directory.The most significant thing is the number of Unitarian congregations. Although you would have thought this kind of thing is what would be included in the General Assembly Annual Report, and discussed at the Annual

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-9222889743682425472010-08-16T11:27:00.002+01:002010-08-16T11:36:54.867+01:00

This blog is five years old. For most of the past five years I've been the only active UK Unitarian blogger. There were one of two that came and went, and Andrew Brown has been publishing his sermons for a long time (not sure I count that as blogging exactly). But now all of a sudden there is a whole blogosphere for the UK Unitarian community. I think a lot of this came from a workshop that

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-48523824516288182052010-06-29T10:09:00.003+01:002010-06-29T10:16:08.594+01:00

New BBC sitcom "Rev."Watch here.

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-10849848317451381722010-06-17T17:23:00.003+01:002010-06-17T17:46:46.218+01:00

I'm sure that all you readers subscribe to the Journal of Bisexuality (who doesn't?). If you do you'll have seen that the most recent issue is a special issue on the subject of Bisexualities and Spiritualities. And it features an article I wrote called "Bi Christian Unitarian: A Theology of Transgression." The copyright is owned by the publishers, so I can't reproduce the article here, but the

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-19967516136700445902010-06-15T22:12:00.004+01:002010-06-15T23:07:44.606+01:00

Picture the scene: it's the summer of 2008, and I'm in San Francisco. I'm wandering down the Castro and drop into a bookshop. Perusing the shelves I see a book that I simply have to buy. It is the above book. You might understand my excitement if I tell you in my first period of theological study my dissertation was on sexuality, and in my second theology degree my dissertation was on evangelism.

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-32853510173402085292010-06-08T10:32:00.002+01:002010-06-08T12:46:52.638+01:00

I'm pondering the theology of Unitarian ministry in preparation for a conference in Oxford in two weeks where we're going to be discussing this issue.It's very difficult to speak about professional ministry with a community that believes in the priesthood (and prophethood) of all members. We do not have a "high" or sacremental theology of ministry. We say that everything a minister can do, a lay

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-72431941473703319112010-05-24T11:40:00.003+01:002010-05-24T19:18:43.812+01:00

Last week we had about 60 children from primary schools passing through our Unitarian chapel. They were visiting us as part of their religious education, and had also visited a mosque and a Hindu temple before they came to us.So you have 60 primary-aged children, of all faiths and none, sitting in front of you, and it's your job to tell them about Unitarianism. What do you say to them?This was my

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-84700106363354608742010-05-19T10:12:00.001+01:002010-05-19T10:20:18.850+01:00

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-18183552425470536222010-05-05T22:39:00.002+01:002010-05-05T22:49:49.593+01:00

With the caveat that this blog represents my own opinions and nothing more...I'd like to urge all UK readers to vote tomorrow. However you vote (as long as you don't vote for any extremist party) please vote.I shall be voting for the Liberal Democrats, though I doubt it will do any good here. I'm hoping for a good number of Liberal Democrat MPs. I'm hoping the Green Party will manage to get an MP

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-1757108707610710332010-04-23T08:00:00.005+01:002010-04-26T12:45:42.432+01:00

It's time we reclaimed St George's Day. It should be a bank holiday in England, and a day to celebrate the English traditions of dissent, and fighting for democracy and religious freedom.St George was definitely not English, and definitely not white. He was born in what is now Turkey, and so is an immigrant to this country.St George was a soldier in the Roman army. He went to the Roman emperor,

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-78549145963511402112010-04-20T20:51:00.002+01:002010-04-20T21:30:58.780+01:00

Here's the questions that I care about this election. Here's the questions I will ask my parliamentary candidates:1. Will you support the Robin Hood Tax on the banking system to raise billions for international development and fight against climate change?2. Will you talk about immigration responsibly, support this country's responsibility to give sanctuary to those fleeing persecution, and end

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-32929804063041872292010-04-13T11:09:00.003+01:002010-04-13T13:06:46.210+01:00

So I used to say that Reignite was the only live news source for the British Unitarian Annual Meetings. I'm afraid I can no longer make that claim. Not only was I not able to blog "live" I have been over-taken by Twitter. The Twitter hashtag was #GAUK. This is what you should have been following if you wanted the most up-to-date coverage and comment.(Before you ask, no, I'm not on Twitter, I've

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-27770341506633956852010-04-03T22:01:00.001+01:002010-04-03T22:03:55.599+01:00

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-29252298969030612432010-03-18T17:20:00.005Z2010-03-18T17:50:32.547Z

Please pray for peace this weekend in Bolton as we are descended upon by the English Defence League as well as a counter protest by Unite Against Fascism, and lots and lots of police.Please support the One Bolton Pledge to stand up for a divese and united Bolton. I shall be praying in a church, a mosque and a Hindu temple on Saturday. And Bank Street Chapel is witnessing to its values with our

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-79318012855336144802010-03-15T10:40:00.002Z2010-03-15T10:53:29.821Z

Britain is second only to Iran in giving established religion so much power in the constitution. Twenty-six male Anglican bishops sit in the House of Lords (the second chamber) as a matter of right and vote on legislation. This gives a particular religious voice power as a matter of right rather than merit. This is clearly unacceptable, and most people in the country, and indeed most Christians

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-75356271583870150652010-03-02T15:56:00.000Z2010-03-02T15:58:05.767Z

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-54237371395041847682010-02-24T09:10:00.002Z2010-02-24T09:34:24.300Z

The Children, Schools, and Family Bill was passed last night by Parliament. In general this was a good piece of legislation that made Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (which includes sex education) part of the National Curriculum. However an amendmend was added that seriously weakened the bill by allowing tax-payer funded schools with religious foundations to opt out of these

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-55699900080130651952010-02-22T17:56:00.002Z2010-02-22T18:08:04.535Z

Last month I did an activity with my congregation, Bank Street Unitarian Chapel, about the words we use to describe ourselves. We had a general discussion and then each person voted (with three votes each) on the words or phrases they liked the best. This was concentrated on working out what we think about the words we (or other Unitarian communities) currently use, rather than trying to

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-70668116253776533102010-02-16T12:39:00.003Z2010-02-16T16:24:20.064Z

In the last few years in the Unitarian community there has been a lot of talk of growth. In these conversations there often arises some tensions around growth. Some people are unapologetic about going for growth for growth's sake. They would argue that is it a moral imperative to grow our congregations, that if we are doing things right, if we are healthy and living out our mission, our churches

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-36996767215928599322010-02-11T12:00:00.002Z2010-02-11T12:03:49.982Z

I really shouldn't be blogging this much when I'm off work so I'll just leave you with something I quite liked before I go off for the weekend.

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-31621660606007749162010-02-10T10:44:00.002Z2010-02-10T11:26:00.962Z

There's less than three months until a General Election, and I'm trying to get a wee bit excited at the prospect, but I really can't. Compared to the last American election, which was already at fever pitch by this point, I just can't get excited by this election. None of the leaders are very exciting. I can't even really think of a debate about the issues that is really exciting. I am a

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-56359241331420246542010-02-05T12:28:00.004Z2010-02-06T08:34:33.192Z

Peter Whitman, in a letter to The Inquirer, has worked out some numbers for Unitarian membership in the UK. I'm not quite sure how he's done it, perhaps it's not difficult if you want to delve through Annual Reports, but I'm glad he has. Once again, I want to know why such numbers are not publically available and discussed at the Annual Meetings.Here's the numbers:2005: 39522006: 37542007

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-68335019183886493502010-02-05T11:42:00.004Z2010-02-05T12:15:00.562Z

As I sit at home this morning, waiting for a delivery of a new power cord for my laptop (the old one is frayed and crackling vaguley when I move it - not good) I thought I'd offer some reflections.I'm thinking about the silliness of liberalism, liberals can be very silly sometimes. Despite trying to be rational and sensible liberals can convince themselves of their own stories through the

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-71309904600508689692010-01-24T08:59:00.002Z2010-01-24T09:03:22.365Z

I had to re-post this article about Stoke from Ekklesia. Although he's not mentioned in this article, my dad did organise this event at his church (have I mentioned on this blog before that my dad is an Anglican priest?) Leaders from the main religious communities across Stoke-on-Trent are today (23 Jan) making a united stand against an anti-Muslim march which they believe is

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-53042673039822434722010-01-21T15:03:00.000Z2010-01-21T15:04:56.400Z

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-70684701283939145532010-01-14T12:26:00.002Z2010-01-14T13:31:14.941Z

So I've said it before, but I'll say it again: this is a very good book.The vision of evangelism presented in this book is deeply challenging to both conservative, mainline and liberal Christians. The basic premise is that evangelism is not about giving an intellectual message, nor coercively persuading people of that message, and neither is evangelism about church growth. Rather evangelism is

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-44189907259402353572010-01-10T13:50:00.004Z2010-01-10T14:24:56.279Z

Happy new year. I thought it was worth commenting on two maps I've seen recently.One is just to say "holy shih tzu! Look at all that snow."The other is this map from the Unitarian Communications blog which shows the location of every Unitarian congregation in Britain:I find it really interesting to look at this distribution, which is so obviously uneven. A few observations:You can see the "Black

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-62089667521841049852009-12-23T21:46:00.003Z2009-12-23T21:52:24.720Z

View of stream by my home taken today. You wouldn't believe I live just outside Bolton town centre would you?

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-74232030317931512942009-12-16T18:29:00.002Z2009-12-16T19:26:36.013Z

So I'm musing more about the theology of creedlessness in Unitarianism. Sorry if this kind of thing bores you.Here's a realisation I came to during my dissertation last year, that I think is worth sharing, if not preaching evangelically. I may begin to bang this drum more in the future.Unitarianism is creedless: there is no written creed that members or minister are asked to sign up to.But what

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-44699464946465029422009-12-12T13:58:00.003Z2009-12-12T14:40:41.045Z

This isn't very contemporary, because this TV programme was on a number of months ago, but I'm just watching on 4 OD. It's annoying the hell out of me, so I can't resist blogging as I'm watching it.The programme is called Make Me a Christian and features George Hargreaves and three other Christian ministers trying to convert about a dozen non-Christians in Leeds. Charlie Brooker is right in

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-41643182295667662372009-12-09T10:46:00.003Z2009-12-09T10:55:25.087Z

Just wanted to share our new sign outside of chapel. I'm dead happy with it. We're just steadily working to get ourselves noticed...

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-74604046873125393982009-12-08T10:05:00.001Z2009-12-08T10:08:25.267Z

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-27741157557269260142009-12-06T17:18:00.002Z2009-12-06T18:20:57.068Z

I'm reading Bryan Stone's Evangelism After Christendom. It's bloody good. Reading it really makes me regret that I didn't take his course (based on the book when he was writting it) when I was studying at Boston University. I easily could have done.Anyway, as I say, it's really good, and really readable, which I can't say about most things I read, when I'm usually skipping ahead to think, "only

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-3349351877673995702009-12-01T07:39:00.001Z2009-12-01T07:40:38.619Z

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-59391663904102041942009-11-06T17:34:00.004Z2009-11-06T17:58:35.819Z

Jonathan Sacks has said some good things and some rather silly things in a lecture to the think-tank Theos (I haven't read the full lecture, just the report in the Times).The Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth said one thing I think is very sensible: that Christians and Muslims need to learn from the experience of Jews in being a religious minority. Most Christians

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-34634559675209693692009-10-30T17:35:00.002Z2009-10-30T17:44:36.448Z

I admit that I don't really get news from very traditional sources - usually things like Ekklesia, the Daily Show, Radio 1, and sometimes Radio 4. But how the hell did I miss that a gay man was attacked and killed in Trafalgar Square in central London in a homophobic attack? Have I just been watching the Simpsons rather than the 6 o' clock news and missed it or has this been under-reported?It was

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-51265696167048364702009-10-28T09:44:00.002Z2009-10-28T23:18:07.064Z

'I went to see a sage in Jerusalem, because I was attracted to someone in yeshiva. I told him I was attracted to men and women. He said, "My dear one, you have twice the power of love. Use it carefully."'Rabbi Steven GreenbergI heard Rabbi Greenberg, an openly gay rabbi, a number of years ago at Harvard University at an evening about "Gays and God" (the video is here, but the quality is not very

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-70021265245736676072009-10-03T15:31:00.002+01:002009-10-03T15:41:00.081+01:00

For the first time since I became a Unitarian 7 years ago I'm not ashamed of my religious communty's website.It was pretty bad, then they launched a "new" one a few years ago - which was basically the old one, but coloured purple.Now due to the persistence of a few dedicated volunteers we finally have a website that looks better, is more easily navigable, and is more appealing to newcomers.It has

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-68237322132286135762009-10-03T15:10:00.002+01:002009-10-03T15:27:51.807+01:00

A few weeks ago I asked the following question to the Executive Committee:How does the Executive Committee intend to objectively measure numerical growth? I ask this question as I am not aware of any publicly available figure for the number of Unitarians in Britain, other than the electoral role number for the Executive elections. But why should this number be only available as a by-product of

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-25014069251296679402009-09-22T09:42:00.002+01:002009-09-22T09:55:39.126+01:00

After a pilot scheme last summer, a period of review, volunteer recruitment, and fund-raising the Nite Cafe has relaunched as "Bolton Street Angels" and the "Safe Space Cafe."The Safe Space Cafe is based in Bank Street Unitarian Chapel, and is the home to Street Angels, which are groups of volunteers who go out on the streets to chat to and help out anyone enjoying Bolton's nightlife.Street

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-48971838972460157322009-09-12T19:57:00.002+01:002009-09-12T20:00:53.277+01:00

Once again the Unitarians marched in Manchester Pride. And it's good to see the faith contingent in Pride getting bigger and more organised. Here's a good report from Changing Attitudes. Let's hope this just keeps getting bigger and better.

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-32423208789587048942009-09-12T19:28:00.002+01:002009-09-12T19:38:49.998+01:00

I've been considering starting some kind of YouTube ministry, or, if you like, video blogging. A couple of things got me thinking about this. One is the Unitarian video that I recorded at the Annual Meetings this year, that is now on YouTube. The other thing is doing a few "Thought for the Day" things on a local community radio station, that I could easily do to a camera. I was thinking about

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-11327454341618652732009-09-12T17:36:00.002+01:002009-09-12T17:39:55.096+01:00

Just reporting. Significantly it's on the GA website before I've posted, which is different from last time when I reported before it got on the official website.Well done, Derek.STATEMENT BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF UNITARIAN AND FREE CHRISTIAN CHURCHESThe Executive Committee is pleased to announce that Derek McAuley has beenappointed to the post of Chief Officer of the General Assembly of

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-70679306588897478732009-09-05T12:05:00.002+01:002009-09-05T12:27:50.921+01:00

Yewtree asked in a comment on the last post what I mean by 'missional' (thanks for the book recommendation by the way Yewtree).What I mean is that the church does not exist to serve itself; its own instutional growth, survival or health. The church exists for others. The church is an agency with the purpose of the transformation of the world, the building of the Basileia (realm) of God, the

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15743407.post-17600298214921863522009-08-16T18:24:00.002+01:002009-08-16T19:20:26.413+01:00

I thought I might as well continue in my reviewing of the words I've used to describe this blog, having covered radical and Unitarian I now want to cover "emergent."I have to admit I was thinking a lot more about the emergent church and alternative worship 4 years ago when I labelled this blog than I have been since. During my life as I've been writing this blog over the last 4 years I've spent a

Stephen Lingwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05785168356362616200noreply@blogger.com6