This is the text of a short talk given to the Altrincham Interfaith Group on 15th September 2022. There is much more to say but this is what I managed to fit into 12 minutes. Words have power. That is undeniable- they can build up, they can inspire, they can tear down and they can … More A Christian view of freedom of speech
There are many analogies used to describe the straight and narrow path. One that really helps me understand the need to keep moving, to keep putting one foot in front of another is to picture it as running up an escalator the wrong way. It requires effort, and if we stop for a moment we … More Spiritual momentum- running the wrong way up an elevator
I was recently speaking to a friend who expressed concern for another of our friends. Her concern was for the disconnect between this person’s beliefs and behaviour. As I think about my membership of the Church over the last thirty or so years I have met many people for whom this description would fit, and … More I can’t dance
Tonight I am going to talk about the challenge or the cost of discipleship. It is an aspect of discipleship that we might gloss over or might be blasé about. This challenge of discipleship is alluded to in The Book of Mormon: And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we … More The Golden Thread of Discipleship
Today, Sikhs around the world are celebrating Diwali or more correctly Bandi Chhor Divas (Day of Liberation). The events celebrated by Sikhs revolve around Guru Hargobind. There are many events in the life of Guru Hargobind that are worthy of remembrance, not least the adoption of the two swords symbolising miri-piri when he became Guru. … More Guru Hargobind (Nanak 6) and the Freedom of Religion and Belief
One of the sayings that I heard a lot when I joined the Church was that as Latter-day Saints we are called ‘to be in the world, but not of the world’. It established an identity for us as disciples of Christ that suggested that we are different, as Peter describes us, we are a … More In the world
In one of the classes I teach at University there is an assessment attached where beginning teachers review a lesson that they have taught. They talk me through the lesson they designed and their planned learning for the students and how effective that was. They also reflect on the unintended learning that has taken place … More Intentional Discipleship
A presentation given at the Learning and Teaching Conference of the University of Chester, 30/6/21. Grateful thanks for Luke Jones and Gordon Baillie for comments on early drafts of this paper. Let me begin this paper with an admission and challenge. I have to admit that I don’t know what your classroom is like and … More Teaching to transform: bell hooks and her influence for our classrooms
Over the last term or so I have been teaching rather a lot about dichotomies. These dichotomies are found throughout education- for example, the Traditional and Progressive approaches to teachings; or maybe the knowledge and skills debate. There are many more in Religious Education that I will explore in greater detail in this post. What … More Dichotomies and Religious Education
We probably all recognise a caricature of RE lessons which revolves around tasks that keep children’s attention but don’t seem to stretch. We have all, perhaps, taught some of those lessons- and one important caveat is that each of learning experiences that we use that might in one lesson be incredibly valuable, but we need … More Challenge in RE
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