Church History

One of the great legacies of the Reformation, 500 years ago now, was a new view of Christian ministry. More particularly, it was a new vision of the pastoral ministry of the local congregation. When we gather as God’s people, it…

Part of my job involves teaching people to preach. If I’ve learned one thing over the years it’s that you can’t learn to do something until you understand the goal. So I find myself asking the question,…

People from all four corners of the earth love to sing. Some of us are better at it than others, but needing to be good at it doesn’t stop my friend James[1] from singing loudly and off-key! But why do we sing? And why do we sing in church? I want to…

The most important service? Let the word of Christ dwell among you richly, said Paul to the church in Colossae. Christians who gather, he goes on, should teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,…

Someone once asked Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers, “What’s more important, Bible reading or prayer?”Spurgeon replied, “What’s more important, breathing in or breathing out?” Scripture along with prayer are essential…

We often spend part of our time together saying things out loud in a communal way, whether that be creeds, confessions, thanksgivings or psalms. Perhaps this is something that you’ve always done in church, or maybe this is a new and unusual…