Many communities have people whose lives encapsulate the values that they hold most dearly. The Greenbelt Festival has had a few and the most recent to visit is Canadian singer-songwriter, Bruce Cockburn. His integrity is what most endears him to the festival’s faithful, both artistically and spiritually. Driven by faith, he knows how to write [...]
Most musicians – or their marketing people – plan their careers and releases with military precision to maximise sales. Slide guitarist and worship leader Bryn Haworth, by contrast, waited years and then released his two current albums – One-Way Ticket and the offshoot Inside Out – at the same time. It was partly pragmatic, partly [...]
You’ll be familiar with books such as ‘How to Train your Dragon’, ‘How to be a Woman’ and ‘How to win friends and influence people’ but the hottest seller on the believers block is ‘How to be a bad Christian’ (and a better human being)’ by the Rev Dave Tomlinson and it has its own [...]
The media is flooded with sport, particularly in this Olympic year; with perhaps the most popular of these reports involving football. But the Beautiful Game is not the only cause for these sportsmen to feature in our papers. Affairs, super-injunctions and extortionate salaries have cast a shadow over football. But is this starting to change? [...]
When I mention to Michael Pritzl of The Violet Burning that I think he dresses like a Goth, he laughs and corrects me – something which he does a few times, with exceeding grace. I mention it because I find it hard to picture exactly how church works for him. On a Saturday night he [...]
By Emma Scrivener If you’d met me seven years ago, here’s what you’d have seen: a ‘successful’ Christian, newly married to a vicar in training. Leader of a thriving children’s ministry. A talented student with a bright future ahead. Someone who seemed to have it all together. But there’s one part you might have missed: [...]
When her daughter said the Bible was boring, Karen Jones set about to create a book to bring to life what the gospel means to women in the 21st century. What she ended up with was The Babe’s Bible – Gorgeous Grace. This month sees the release of the book, which was originally commissioned as [...]
The athletes have spent years training, the builders are finishing off the stadiums and the transport system is gearing up for at least nine million extra visitors to the capital – and now we’ve begun the 100-day countdown. But for most of us, the start of the Torch Relay will truly begin the Olympics. Arriving [...]
Nadim Nassar is the only Syrian-born cleric in the Church of England and co-founder of the charity Awareness Foundation, encouraging diverse society without fear and compromise. Here, Father Nadim speaks of the situation in the country, which has now been unresolved for almost a year. Fighting in Syria has taken place since March 2011, [...]
By Derek Walker One of the most exciting things about looking back on life can be the unexpected turns that the journey takes. Like many clergy, Donald Reeves was extremely reluctant to go into the ministry, and “had no idea that I would end up being a peace-builder in the Balkans”. But his journey has [...]
