On May 29 the RCL features the last of its series of readings from the Book of Revelation, this time from Revelation 22, but with some verses missing. CSBV Research Associate Peter King asks whether it is a good idea
Only the Good News?
Book Review: God and Guns: The Bible against American Gun Culture
Caio Peres reviews “God and Guns: The Bible against American Gun Culture” edited by C. L. Crouch and Christopher B. Hays (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2021) You are different with a gun in your hand; the gun is different
“The things that make for peace”. A reflection for Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday sermon, based on Mal 3:1-5; Luke 19:35-45, by the director of the CSBV, Helen Paynter. I’ve got a problem. Or, rather, I’ve had a problem trying to prepare this sermon. I thought I knew what I wanted to
National Churches & Trans-National God
Research associate Peter King considers the role of the national church in contributing to nationalism, and offers practical solutions for the church to instead reflect a trans-national God. The war makes me more thankful for the Church, which serves no
The Lure of a Happy Ending – Making Space for the Traumatised
The unfinished ending to Mark’s Gospel leaves room for grief and trauma in a way that public worship very often fails to do. In this guest post Dr Sarah Travis invites us to consider how much our worship and preaching makes
Can the message of God as an avenger comfort us?
The Book of Nahum presents both a God of love and a God of vengeance. In this guest post, Professor Dr Klaas Spronk of the Protestant Theological University in Amsterdam raises the question “Can the message of God as an avenger comfort us
Uzzah and the Ark
The Old Testament story of Uzzah, apparently killed by God for steadying the Ark of the Covenant in transit, is one of the set readings in the RCL for this Sunday (Pentecost 7; Proper 10). We have two posts on this
Canadian Residential Schools – one Canadian Christian responds
If someone told me of the discovery of an unmarked mass burial site, containing 215 (or 104 or 751) little bodies disposed of like so much garbage, I would guess that perhaps it was done by the Nazis. Or the
Power from on high …
If there’s one word we all associate with God it’s the word “power”. Week by week, hymns and prayers and liturgies remind us that God is a God of power. One search engine suggests that there are over 20,000 hymns
One Greater than Solomon is Here: a sermon for ascension day
By CSBV director Helen Paynter The writer of the book of Kings gives us a glimpse of what you would have seen if you had been present in Jerusalem on a particular day in 970 BC. You would have heard