Deep Church

Maybe you’ve resolved to focus on learning and training for ministry in 2009. One resource, might be the MA courses at Kings College London.

- Are you a minister or otherwise involved in Christian ministry?
- Have you considered studying for an MA?
- Would you like to do so in a prestigious university in the centre of London?
- And would you like the option of a modular programme, so that you can choose from
a range of courses?

I couldn’t recommend Kings College more highly (especially as it’s the location for my PhD work). The MA’s they have cover the following areas:

MA in Youth Ministry
MA in Theology, Politics and Faith Based Organisations
MA in Contemporary Ecclesiology
MA in Contemporary Worship
MA in Christian Education
MA in Pastoral Ethics
MA in Bible and Ministry
MA in Mission and Ministry in the Modern Age

If you want to know more, visit the theology and ministry MA site at Kings.

Matthew Paris is one of my favourite political commentators, in print, on TV and radio. He has written this article on why as an atheist, he believes Africa needs God (HT Brian McLaren).

One qoute from the article:

“Those who want Africa to walk tall amid 21st-century global competition must not kid themselves that providing the material means or even the know-how that accompanies what we call development will make the change. A whole belief system must first be supplanted.

And I’m afraid it has to be supplanted by another. Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone and the machete.”

So Christmas is over, I’m packing away the decorations today, and have been reading some friends blogs with their reviews of 2008 and hopes for 2009.

Inspired by those reviews, and having made a photo post about my life in 2008, I thought I’d review my online life, and my aspirations for 2009.

So in no particular order:

1. Story:
Whilst I have felt that my emerging church journey has helped me to a ‘cultural-linguistic’ understanding of my world, a sense that I am immersed in the narratives of my culture and context, and have theological understandings around those, I have really felt the lack of a ‘canonical-linguistic’ narrative to my life.

I wrote some more about this here, with my frustration as to how the church is increasingly being formed around the metaphors and stories of non christian social realities (and my main research interest is the religious narrative of consumerism).

That nagging frustration, has also led me to see, the paucity of my own biblical literacy. Having grown up outside the church, and come to faith aged 17, whilst I now have a good theological training I still have a poor grasp of the story of God’s people in scripture, and the locating of my life, and church life into that story is something I feel a deep desire for.

Or at least the tidal wave of cultural realities and stories, that crash into my Christian formation, make me see how I need a submersion into the story of Scripture, and the story of the faithful church in history.

So towards that I am going to read God’s Epic Adventure, by Winn Griffin, memorise more scripture, and read the bible more as story during 2009.
Continue reading »

Just making a picture review of 2008 to send to friends around the world, using http://280slides.com/.

Let the just rejoice,
for their justifier is born.
Let the sick and infirm rejoice,
For their saviour is born.
Let the captives rejoice,
For their Redeemer is born.
Let slaves rejoice,
for their Master is born.
Let free men rejoice,
For their Liberator is born.
Let All Christians rejoice,
For Jesus Christ is born.
St. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-440)

(have a great Christmas, and I’ll be posting back here next week)