Apr 30
Today marks 21 years since the nail bomb attack on the packed Admiral Duncan pub in Soho, the heart of London’s LGBT+ community. This followed bomb attacks in Brixton and Brick Lane, targeting black and Asian people. The attacks killed three people and injured 140. Eleven years ago today I was about to give a …
Mar 24
Tens of thousands of Christians lit candles in their homes and prayed on Sunday 22nd March in response to a call to prayer initiated by the Presidents of Churches Together in England (CTE). So many participants shared photos of their candles on social media that CTE reports the hashtag #candleofhope became Twitter’s second most trending hashtag in the UK …
Mar 21
MARCH 21st each year is celebrated as World Poetry Day, to recognise the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) proclaimed March 21st as World Poetry Day in 1999. One of the aims of World Poetry Day is to …
Mar 01
IN 1984, charismatic preacher Billy Graham came to Liverpool at the invitation of local churches as part of a six-date tour called Mission England. This June, his son Franklin intends to come to the city, though the venue has withdrawn the booking, as have all seven of the other UK venues on his planned tour. So what’s going on?
Jan 09
While I don’t usually take part in social media trends, this one seemed worthwhile, as this past ten years has been particularly significant for me.
Dec 24
AT A carol service this month, hosted by the Open Table inclusive Christian community in Liverpool, I read one of the prayers, which I found moving, inspiring and too good not to share. It’s a prayer for Christmas morning produced by enfleshed.com, a website which provides resources ‘that matter most. that addresses honestly, tenderly, and directly, the …
Dec 13
TODAY the YMCAs in the Liverpool City Region gathered for a carol service in the city’s Parish Church, opposite the world famous Liver Building. As the chaplain for YMCA Liverpool and YMCA St Helens, I gave a reflection on the Christmas story and what it means for the people the YMCA supports
Dec 02
AS PART of the tour of Merseyside by Queer Virtue author Liz Edman last month, I took part in a panel discussion called ‘Queer Faith Voices’. Liz uses the term ‘queer’ in the academic sense, as a verb meaning ‘to disturb / disrupt false binaries’. These binaries can relate to gender (male/female) or sexuality (heterosexual/homosexual), …
Nov 19
Next weekend I am privileged to be taking part in a panel discussion called ‘Queer Faith Voices’ as part of a tour by a visiting US priest and political strategist Liz Edman. She is the author of Queer Virtue: What LGBTQ People Know About Life and Love and How It Can Revitalize Christianity (Beacon Press, 2016). This is a guest post by Jen Williams promoting the tour.
Nov 11
As the chaplain at YMCA Liverpool and YMCA St Helens, I am often asked this question by residents.
Rather than get into complicated church jargon with people whose experience of church may be limited or negative, I have found it helpful to share a story that is often told to illustrate the origin of the word ‘chaplain’ and an example of chaplaincy in action.
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