Gerard Kelly, Beyond 400, Digital Church and Edtown

A regular Friday round-up of  articles which I have found interesting / thought-provoking / challenging / amusing during the week, pointing you in the direction of some stuff you might have otherwise missed.

What happened to Friday Links in April, I hear you cry? The last one was on 30th March and I promised ‘a few more Easter related videos over the next couple of weeks’. Alas, it was not to be – life was too busy and the time has proverbially flown by. Sorry about that.

However, I’m now back with a few articles that have caught my eye.

Church Actually: God’s Brilliant Idea is the book written for this year’s Spring Harvest by Gerard Kelly. I have only read the first chapter so far, but I warm to the theme. I’m likely to return to this subject in a month or so when we cover some of the Spring Harvest material at FBC in June / July. Gerard Kelly lives in missional community in France and leads the Bless Network, and I found another article by him this week: Six words that are defining the modern church. His six words are sustainable, social, choral, conversational, aesthetic and entrepreneurial and he asks what such a church might look like. Helpful and fresh thinking. Give it a read.

It’s May and so we are celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the first Baptist church in this country at Spitalfields in London. In 400 Years on… Jonathan Edwards, the General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, says

The celebration of our beginnings gives us a good opportunity to reflect on the nature of our Baptist life.

You may have been following the conversation over on the Beyond 400 web site about the future of the Baptist family / movement in the UK. Here are some of the ‘voices’ I have found helpful, though all are worth a look:

Steve Holmes: Associating Together

Sian Murray Williams: That’s My Church

Andy Goodliff: What If

Simon Jones: Digging deeper into the past to find the future

Stuart Murray Williams: In Search of our Values

With the Baptist Assembly this weekend, and the ongoing Futures debate, it’s a good time to praying!

And if, after all that, you’re in need of a word of encouragement, try this post by Jon Stannard – Keep Going:

There is much to be critical about, to bemoan…but a word of encouragement is more valuable than you might imagine.

Next, Albert Mohler muses on The Deep Limitations of Digital Church. After noting all the advantages of digital technology, he warns:

Believers need the accountability found only within the local church. We need to hear sermons preached by flesh-and-blood preachers in the real-time experience of Christian worship. We need to confess the faith together through the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We need to confess our sins and declare forgiveness by the blood of Christ together. We need to be deployed for service in Christ’s name together.

Finally this week, if you fancy an alternative to faversham.org as a guide to the town, why not try out Edtown – a unique and comprehensive collation of information on Faversham, administered by my next-door neighbour. I’m sure you’ll find something of interest!

May the fourth be with you.