Luke | Disabled and poor people are primary at God's table

It's been more than twenty years since my mother died crippled, lame and blind. So how does a body like hers experience the church? And why is this important?

Read here or listen here.

Cut off from the church? Here's good news for you (and a challenge to the church)

The baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch points to a faith which is radically accepting and inclusive. Read  here or listen here.

Winnowing out only violence, or The move from John to Jesus

Some years back, I saw a woman in a carpark smacking her child. And as she smacked, she yelled, “WE DO NOT HIT IN THIS FAMILY! WE LOVE!” It reminded me of those ostensibly Biblical parenting models, in which cool and collected parents maintain discipline by spanking their naughty children—and then lovingly use the moment as a teaching opportunity. Because the people being hit are children, and because our society doesn’t rate children’s experiences very highly, we adults can miss the contradiction here. Yet if we substitute ‘women’ for ‘children’, perhaps things become clearer: even if it’s ‘just a smack’, there is a mixed message going on, to say the least.

Read here or listen here.

Visions of an Angry Prophet

I recently came across the idea of a life verse: that is, the idea that there is a Bible verse for each of us which encapsulates who we are, and guides our journey of faith. I rolled my eyes. Straightaway, two verses hit me. From Jonah: “It is indeed right for me to be angry, even unto death.” And from Psalm 139: “You knit me in my mother’s womb; I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” 

A reflection given to the BUV, 20 October 2018, and expanded for Sanctuary, 28 October 2018. Read here, or listen here.

Church without Boundaries

Churches and religious organisations regularly exclude people from full participation, but following Jesus means demolishing all boundaries and seeking Christ beyond the walls of the church. Read here, or listen here.

A message for a congregation preparing to commit to the next twelve months, drawing from Mark 7:24-30. Sanctuary, 9 September 2018 (Year B Proper 18, BP18).