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I have often wondered why we hear so little from the established Churches on climate change. It has become impossible to ignore – and yet many are still trying. It has always seemed basic common sense that, if God has created this world for us, then it is incumbent upon us to care for it.
Continue readingThere’s a lot of talk about religious ‘deconstruction’ and ‘reconstruction’ at the moment, particularly coming from the #Exvangelical movement. We’re seeing high-profile Christian leaders, authors, theologians and musicians like Joshua Harris (author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye) and Marty Sampson (Hillsong writer) walking away from Christianity, and doing so publicly. Christians would label this as “leaving the fold” or “falling away”, but for many, and maybe for these former Christian leaders, these terms fail to represent the journey. In fact,…
Continue readingIf the church you attend/attended is/was anything like mine, the mantra “Bring your bible, notepad, pen and a friend” would have been repeated to you so many times that it’s going to stay with you until your dying day. Those who managed to fulfil this edict were celebrated by the leadership team each week as though they were the best performing salesman at an internet security company. Walking said friend “down the front” at the end of the service to…
Continue readingTo my long lost Christian friend, You and I grew up together, wedged between the rows of plastic seats at the back of church in our floral dresses and bare feet. We’d scribble over colouring in pages of Noah and his animals, Jonah and the whale, Mary and baby Jesus. At Children’s Church we’d make paddle pop stick boxes for our mothers and leather pressed tea coasters for our fathers. On church camps, we’d proudly chant Father Abraham as we’d…
Continue readingImagine this: a room full of people chanting the same prayer that has been chanted for decades in hundreds of other rooms just like this one. There’s a girl sitting in the back. She’s about 14. She’s wearing a dress from Jay Jays and she has straightened hair. The year is 2011. The sound of these voices are alien to her; they sound like possessed zombies or something. She doesn’t know why she’s here, and not in an existential, totalitarian…
Continue readingIn the name of those who want to hold the warm hand of a same-sex lover. In the name of the women who feel called to preach the Bible to their communities. In the name of left wing voters who maintain their faith in Jesus but struggle with conservative culture. In the name of sexually active congregational members suffering the burden of shame from the teachings of purity culture. In the name of those struggling with a mental health condition…
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