Kester Brewin

As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been really enjoying Roger Deakin’s meditation on trees ‘Wildwood‘. In one passage on ‘The Sacred Groves of Devon’, Deakin goes in search of the ‘Green Man‘ – the woodland spirit of rebirth often seen carved into beams in old churches – in various villages. He notes the [...]

Interesting piece in this week’s Time Out: atheist Tim Arthur talks about the privilege of being asked to be ‘celebrant’ of friends’ marriages. He has done so four times, and wonders if he’s asked because he is a theatre director and has a degree in religious studies: people think he’s like a vicar, and he [...]

I guess sometimes you can’t see the woods for the trees. I recently posted a piece about René Girard’s thoughts on the essentiality of the sacred to human experience – something Dawkins et al ignore in their anti-religion positions – and I also posted something on Facebook and friendship. But it took a beer with [...]

I am reading through a manuscript for a friend which is partly a memoir of his growing up during ‘the troubles’ in Northern Ireland. As I’ve been doing so, I was reminded of a quote by the Irish journalist Jack Holland, who wrote that “the tragedy of Northern Ireland is that it is now a [...]

Ben has an excellent and honest post here outlining his doubts about the ‘missional entrepreneur’ that is in popular parlance. I’ve posted a comment outlining some thoughts on how the role of the artist might help us imagine this in a new way. Technorati: Ben Edson | Mission | Entrepreneur

No this isn’t a lesson in Latin conjugation… but language and its evolving meanings are important. With the release of the book, people have been wondering if this is just ‘another emerging church book’. I’d like to answer that with an emphatic no! Part of the reason for that is, I feel less and less [...]

The Times reports today that "The Vatican has described the Protestant and Orthodox faiths as “not proper Churches” in a document issued with the full authority of the Pope." "The Orthodox church suffers from a wound because it does not recognise the primacy of the Pope. The wound is even more profound in Protestant denominations, [...]

You may not have picked up on this Stateside – unless you’ve been trying to follow coverage of Wimbledon – but it’s been raining here in the UK. A lot. Every day for weeks. There have been floods, and some people have died. In one tragic incident a man got his foot stuck in a [...]

Thanks to Will for the heads up on this article suggesting that Christians in Iraq are being forced to leave their homes as their neighbourhoods are ‘Islamicized’. One wonders what Qur’an these people are reading, as I’m pretty sure the holy book demands that Christians are treated well and allowed freedom to worship. Certainly, Surah [...]

So, after 10 years and a roller-coaster political ride, we say goodbye to Prime Minister Blair, and hello Prime Minister Brown. Personally, I’m optimistic. I think we desperately need some new energy, vision and impetus in British political life, and I think Brown is the right man for the job. What has been interesting though [...]