The Temptation

One of the most devastating sins that seem to haunt the pastoral offices (no pun intended) is that of sexual misconduct. While the press hits it hard and the institution has made moves towards addressing this issue in a public manner, the culture that acts as a seedbed goes undiscussed and, therefore, without critique.
I was [...]

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The Baxter Model: For when people really count (at home or in the office)

Wallace Benn, The Baxter Model: Guidelines for Pastoring Today. Orthos 13. Biblical Theology in the 21st Century. Edited by Lance Bidewell. Fellowship of Word and Spirit. Derbyshire, England. 1993.
The little booklet I flicked through today was a pleasant reminder of Richard Baxter. This puritan minister in England grew his little church in the town of [...]

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GTD at work in CPE: The cure for Mondayitis any day of the week.

As some of you know, I have been doing CPE over the summer break. This has been a worthwhile and challenging experience that I have discussed elsewhere. I intend to post a review of my experience of CPE in the near future.
For now I want to consider what holds me back from doing effective pastoral [...]

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TH404 Ridley Essay – The Doctrine of the Lord’s Supper in the Theology of Thomas Cranmer

Charting Cranmer’s Theology of the Holy Communion is an interesting, if not perplexing, task. As the religious reforms in England developed so to, it seems, did Cranmer’s view on Holy Communion. Moving from the inherited position of the church, being transubstantiation, towards a real spiritual presence, Cranmer left as an inheritance a middle way between [...]

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CH305 Ridley Essay: Monks & Martyrs

Question: To what degree did the monk replace the martyr as the church’s hero in the fourth century, and why?
Introduction
The monks developed new forms of Christian life in parallel to community. These developed not in isolation, as though it was a self-constructed campaign, but were the result of community pressure as it faced change in [...]

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Paradigm Shift: Who is at the centre of my ministry?

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Article Review: Eugene Peterson. Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1992. 174-82.
This article (book section) is attempting to argue that a paradigm shift is needed in the vocation of ministry. In building upon the historical paradigm shift that occurred between Ptolemy and Copernicus – understanding the earth as [...]

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The Irresistible Revolution: When ordinary life turns extraordinary

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Shane Claibourne. The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an ordinary radical. Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI. 2006
So I first saw this weird guy in a line up of Christian leaders that look like famous people, my thinking was this guy looks too weird to be leading a church. But hey, what would I know, right? As I [...]

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Church Next: More Present Tense than Future Freedom

Eddie Gibbs & Ian Coffey. Church Next: Quantum Changes in Christian Ministry. Leicester, England. IVP, 2000.
I began this book hoping that I would find some truly productive ways of re-envisioning a church in the 21 century. I was sadly disappointed. This book spends much time walking the reader through the norms and mores, the epistemological [...]

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PE301 Ridley Essay: Sexual Ethics – Consenting to sex in marriage

In her most recent book, Bernetta Arndt explores the issue of sexual consent within  relationships. The book’s controversial thesis has received some media attention.[1] Reading this work, one is left with the distinct impression that Arndt is telling her women readers to ‘just do it’.  And this impression is not wholly misguided: ‘Hang on a [...]

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Three Pastoral Acts: renewing vows before they’re said

Eugene Petersen, Working the Angels: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987, 1-2; 22-25.
I loved this article. Not because I learnt a great deal from it but because it spoke some words of power to my soul. Perhaps that is instructive in itself. I had good cause to stop and dream and [...]

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