I have been very aware that the blog part of the website has looked rather dormant since September. That’s largely because 2020 has become, amongst other more important things, the year of the video. So let me flag up various resources over on our YouTube channel.

In the autumn a number of our small fellowship groups have pursued a series called “Theology in the Real World.” It is a series that I have taught for a few years at the South Central Ministry Training Course. For most of our time in services, small groups and indeed on the ministry training course we start with a passage from the Bible, work out what it means and then seek to apply it to our lives. I am convinced that is the right approach normally- it allows God, by his Word, to set the agenda and determine what is important. However, often in life you do need to work the other way round. There is a decision to make (how should I use my money?), a contemporary issue that needs a response (“Black Lives Matter”) or a pastoral dilemma (what about my doubts?)- we start with those and then need to ask what the Bible has to say. That’s largely what Theology in the Real World equips us to do. We conducted a survey in our small groups as to what the big issues in life and culture were and the series of videos is the result with a handful more to be added in the new year. They are a mixture of short talks with discussion questions. Often the challenge in leading a traditional Bible Study is getting on to application- how does this change us? Here the battle has been to engage with Scripture rather than just discussing the issue. But if that can be done my hope is that these videos will be helpful in engaging with some pastoral and contemporary issues.

Sadly it hasn’t been possible to run Stepping Stones, our groups for carers and toddlers in recent months. But it is still possible to hear the stories from the Big Picture Story Bible being read- with energetic actions. It looks far more interesting than my theology in the real world…

There is also our Advent Calendar– a daily five minute reflection on different aspects of the Christmas story. In addition you can find all our services since March- the Living in a Pandemic series sadly feels ongoingly relevant.

My hope is that I will spend less of 2021 peering into a webcam and more time looking at people’s faces. And I will also try to get back to writing more frequently…

In the meantime I hope you are able to find the events of Bethlehem “good news of great joy” even in the strangest of times.