progressive

What kind of God do we believe in - Supernatural or Metaphysical?

What kind of God do we believe in - Supernatural or Metaphysical?

I am deeply conscious that my beliefs are thought to be dangerously out of tune with the Biblical, orthodox, traditional Christian matrix that many still observe. I am also out of tune with some members of my own ‘tribe’, the progressive reformers and transformers. And I am most deeply conscious of the world of 2025 in which the American President is wreaking havoc on global political, financial, trading and relational networks and institutions that have formed the bedrock of my life as a white, Western European 1945-born boy. I am also living in a Christian era riven by disagreements about gender and sexuality, traumatised by the unearthing of abuse, sexual and emotional, and that has yet to confront what Berger was struggling with in 1968 – what kind of God do we believe in?

Revising Christian fundamentals

Revising Christian fundamentals

How the heck do we get to the end of LLF? Something is required that is more than simply defusing the Sexuality Debate and the Anglican Culture War that we are living with. In my spiritual life, it became more and more obvious to me that I had to do the work myself, to work on myself. Resolving the Church of England’s conflicts over sexuality and gender is still going to take a long time because we are not sufficiently investing in ourselves and developing the conceptual, prophetic, visionary, emotional, theological and spiritual resources necessary for our mutual cosmic salvation.

Holy Spirit failure to update Church operating systems

Holy Spirit failure to update Church operating systems

This is a highly personal reflection from a prejudiced position. I’m looking for depth, reflection, contemporary awareness of theology, justice, intelligence, awareness, stillness, contemplation, beauty, goodness, love and wisdom. I have come to the conclusion that the Holy Spirit is failing to update the software and hardware operating systems of faith within the Church of England is supposed to operate and be inspired by.

Turning conservative evangelical dogma and doctrine in today’s C of E upside down

Turning conservative evangelical dogma and doctrine in today’s C of E upside down

Recent comments on the Thinking Anglicans website made very dogmatic assertions about doctrine in the Church of England. There is another, entirely different basis on which faith can be formed, a path that subtly infused my consciousness, creating freedom. Love is the essence. God is love. Love changes everything. St John got it. Jesus got it. The Christian teachers and writers and theologians who inspired and enthused and infused me got it.

Mapping the primary activities of today’s Church of England

Mapping the primary activities of today’s Church of England

I would like to be part of a Church that is evolving spiritually, theologically and culturally, intentionally responding to the movements of our time: the climate crisis, poverty, war, abuse, the transformation of the place of minorities and those against whom prejudice is expressed. I would like a Church that is growing, maturing, overcoming prejudice, committed to radical new Christian inclusion more than it is committed to growth in numbers and income – AND is committing resources to this ambitious Christian vision.

Transformational Christian Life

Transformational Christian Life

Institutional religions and the institutional Church are finding this evolutionary step, the call to listen to everything until it all belongs together and we are part of it, very difficult to imagine, let alone adjust to and integrate in its teaching and practice. Sexuality, gender, inequality, economic injustice, the climate crisis, how people function and malfunction, emotionally, physically and spiritually, the well-being of our planet and environment, globalisation, artificial intelligence and the manipulation of what we take to be reality, dysfunctional political and spiritual leadership, are all requiring us to make sometimes massive adjustments to our lives in faith.