I have been a Methodist minister for 20 years, and before that I worked as a church community worker. I am currently based in an inner city part of Leeds, the largest city in Yorkshire, which is in the north of England. I live in a multi-ethnic, multi-faith community where I look after two churches and two community projects. My wife also works in the local community, and we have three children who are now young adults.
Why do you blog?
The blog started out as a weekly sermon page on our local Methodist circuit website, (a circuit being seven local churches for which I have overall responsibility). After a while I realized that it would be easier to make this a sermon blog, and it also gets far more exposure than the website did.
What has been your best blogging experience?
The best thing about blogging is that the software automatically creates an archive for you. There wasn't room on the website for an archive and it would have been extremely difficult to keep archiving the posts. Blogging means I can refer journalists to the blog when they ring me, which they do quite a lot because one of the projects I look after was caught up indirectly in the 7/7 suicide bombing in London. Even so, I was very surprised when someone told me they had printed out the whole archive – presumably to help them get to sleep at night.
What would be your main advice to a novice blogger?
It's not as difficult as you might think, so long as you go to the right service provider – someone who makes it easy to create and maintain a blog that looks good and is easy to navigate around.
If you only had time to read three blogs a day, what would they be?
I only have time to read three or four blogs a week! I start by going to sites like Locusts and Honey, Wesley Daily and TheConnexion.net which put me in touch with some of the best Methodist writing on the web. I also visit Textweek to catch up on the best lectionary blogs. Occasionally I visit CommentisFree, the Guardian newspaper's blog. It isn't very good, but I like the idea that you can answer back!
Who are your spiritual heroes?
I find the pubic ministry of Martin Luther King very inspiring. The theology of Jurgen Moltmann has been an inspiration too. But in the end, my heroes are those unsung people, whom we meet along the way, who just seem wise and good to be with, but who will never make the history books.
What are you reading at the moment?
I'm reading 'They Came from SW19' by Nigel Williams. I wish I hadn't started it. Its supposed to be hilarious, but I don't get the joke. I would like to read some of Professor Richard Sennet's ideas about the way institutions work. I heard him talking on BBC Radio, and everything he said was so true – especially about the way our government and local authorities work.
What is your favorite hymn and why?
'Brother, Sister, Let me serve you, let me be as Christ to you.' I think it sums up the Christian message and I also find it very moving. If you want an old hymn, it would have to be 'One there is above all others well deserves the name of friend.' It sums up perfectly my understanding of the cross. I also like 'Born in song! God's people have always been singing'.
Can you name a major moral, political, or intellectual issue on which you've ever changed your mind?
I no longer believe that capitalism is completely wrong, only that it needs to be carefully controlled. But then I never believed that socialism was completely right, either. It needs to be carefully controlled, as well. I think I believe in 'welfare capitalism' now.
What philosophical thesis do you think is most important to combat?
Probably post-modernism, at least in its popular expression where people say to themselves, 'I can't make a difference, so why should I try?' After that, capitalism without the 'welfare' bolted on.
If you could effect one major change in the governing of your country, what would it be?
This is going to sound very boring, but I would introduce proportional representation to the upper chamber of our Parliament, which is unelected at the moment, and give it the power to hold up all legislation for at least one year, and to delay for at least two years any legislation not previously published in the governing party's manifesto.
If you could effect one major policy change in the Methodist Church, what would it be?
I would get rid of the idea that ministers need to be ordained for life and encourage Christians to move in and out of ordained ministry if that seems right. I think some people have only so much to give, but what they have to give is valuable and why not encourage them to give it while they are young? Our current model is that people who don't want to be a minister for forty years move into it as a second career.
What would be your most important piece of advice about life?
Is it too obvious to say that we should to try to be obedient to the way of Jesus Christ, and to allow ourselves be empowered by his spirit? If that is too obvious, I would say – try to make the best of each day as it comes. I think the importance of this becomes more obvious to us as we grow older and realize how quickly time goes by. I would also say, 'You can make a difference even if it's only a small one.'
What, if anything, do you worry about?
Global warming.
If you were to relive your life to this point, is there anything that you'd do differently?
None of the big things. Obviously, I would like never to have got cross with people who don't deserve it.
Where would you most like to live (other than where you do now)?
If the Alps or the Rockies were in England, I would like to live there. As it is, they're a bit far away.
What do you like doing in your spare time?
There are too many things to list, from making pizzas through to reading French.
What is your most treasured possession?
Probably the Bible given to my grandfather when he was commissioned as a local preacher.
What talent would you most like to have?
A proficiency at learning foreign languages.
If you could have any three guests, past or present, to dinner, who would they be?
Where to start? The Bible makes clear that Jesus Christ was always a very interesting dinner guest. Oliver Cromwell or Machiavelli might be interesting to talk to, and both Mary Magdalen and Cleopatra caused quite a stir in their time.
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