Kester Brewin

Had a good time at my first visit to New Wine yesterday. I’d been asked to go and speak about the book, which I duly did, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Speaking at Greenbelt you’re pretty much already in a place where people are critiquing the forms and structures of faith, so it was very interesting [...]

Two pieces followed one-another on the radio this morning: MPs voted last night to remove the clause that required IVF clinics to consider the need for a child to have a father and a mother – essentially opening the way for women to have the treatment without any father-figure being present in the prospective child’s [...]

Your one-time minister saying some outrageous things about 9/11, or being married to a man who had his cigar smoked in the Oval Office? I don’t get it – surely Bill should be the persona non grata on the campaign trail? Technorati: Clinton | Obama

"One of the things that makes Mrs Clinton so psychologically fascinating is her tendency to portray everthing in terms of conflict and confrontation. And one of the characteristics that makes her so interesting politically is that she is a much better candidate when things are going badly than when they are going well." From BBC [...]

Kings College have a new MA which they wondered if I’d be happy to flag up, which I am. It’s in ‘Politics, Theology and Faith-Based Organisations’, and you can read more about it in the doc attached below.

A recent government report has proposed that teenagers should make an oath of allegiance to ‘Queen and Country’, in order to give them a ‘sense of belonging.’ I’m aware that something similar exists in the US education system, though the only reason I’m aware of it is by it’s bitter-sweet use in movies to suggest [...]

Wired reported a couple of days ago on the conclusions of Google co-founder Larry Page’s working group on improving life on earth, and the list of ‘14 Grand Engineering Challenges of the 21st Century‘. They included things like making solar energy affordable, reverse-engineering the brain and providing energy from fusion. Energy, quality of life, quantity [...]

As the Archbishop heads for Synod this afternoon to defend himself and, according to some exaggerated reports, save his job, I’ve been mulling over exactly why he has been under such pressure for his comments on Sharia Law. Even the shallowest examination of him as a man would reveal a hugely intelligent thinker and 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

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, [...]