Category Archives: General

As we look to develop the Cloudsley room at COTC (as the upstairs end room is now known) as a place for reading, study and prayer I thought it would be good to develop our Library. There are lots of good books at the moment, but on the whole they are cast offs. So insteadContinue reading “Ex Libris COTC”

We are coming to the end of this series, and though there are many amazing figures of recent church history I would love to cover we will just choose some of the key ones. Last night we told the story of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, architect of the Church of England and Martyr forContinue reading “Old Paths – Thomas Cranmer”

More has been written on Martin Luther than any other figure in Church History. He stands between the medieval and modern worlds, and on one of the great faultlines of Christianity, and his thinking defines protestant theology to this day.Lots of good online media on the subject. Melvin Bragg on Radio 4’s ‘In our time’Continue reading “Old Paths – Martin Luther”

Scholar, mystic, politican. You can download the whole of his epic ‘Summa theologica’ here. But perhaps just a taste is all you need – here is his ‘Sacred Doctrine’

Francis of Assisi is well known for his love of nature and his simple peaceful lifestyle, and his founding of the radical Franciscan order of Monks. He is one of the most Christlike figures in History, but the aspect of his life which is more pertinant to our day than any other is his relationshipContinue reading “Francis of Assisi”

I found this excellent ‘game’ today. I say ‘game’ because actually it is a bit traumatic. You have a little family who you need to keep alive, feed and educate. And it is really hard. They kept dying on me. It is sponsored by unicef and if has a very serious point about how hardContinue reading “The cost of life”

Sunday night was quite memorable. It was the next in our ‘Last Sunday’ services and we spent the evening as a meditation on communion.It went something like this: Opening prayer Reflection on Bread including a reading from John 6 Making Bread. We had mixed the dough, but it still needed kneading and shaping. During theContinue reading “The Last Sunday”

Benedict left his comfortable life in the city at a young age to pursue his relationship with God in the wilderness. Three years of solitude profoundly changed him, his understanding of humanity and of himself and of God.Gradually others came to join him in the wilderness and as the community grew he found it necessaryContinue reading “Benedict of Nursia”

Really enjoyed preaching on St Augustine yesterday. I am struck that one of the really important aspects of this series is that we see great figures of the past as they really are, and avoid the natural inclination to put people on a pedestal. Augustine is one of the greats, but he is also veryContinue reading “Old Paths: Augustine”

Tertullian was a theologian and fierce defender of orthodoxy. He articulated an elegant and sophisticated doctrine of the nature of God and coined the term Trinity. His influence on Christian thinking is enormous, but also very significant was his gradual rejection of the Greek philosophical culture which the early church was formed within.You can readContinue reading “Old Paths: Tertullian”

Our new teaching series starts this week. It is called ‘Old paths’ and we will be tracing the course of church history through the lives of those who have gone before us. “Though their culture and language seem alien to us, the same call of Jesus echoes in their ears, and the same spirit worksContinue reading “Old Paths: Justin Martyr”

We start pub theology again tonight, same place, same time. We are going to start back at the beginning of the beatitudes – Jesus opening sermon and his manifesto. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.

In home groups we are studying this book written by Abbot Christopher Jamison from Worth Abbey.It is a beautiful little book full of gentle wisdom and practice about making space for God in the midst of busy modern life. You can buy it for a bargain £4.50 from Amazon

Happy Christmas everyone.

A little reflection on John for the carol service at church tonight. The lights are on the South Bank, the music is ‘The Light’ by The Album Leaf. By Jeremy

It felt like an important momant for us tonight, looking back on our time with the Epistle to the Galatians. The conversation we had about how to take what we have learned and put it to work in our community was good, and I want us to hold those things and continue to pursue them.Continue reading “Reflections on Galatians”

is that you don’t talk about pub theology. Er no, that was fight club. The first rule of pub theology is : Nothing is sacred. Question anything, don’t get offended if someone questions your ideas. The second rule is: Hard on ideas, soft on people. We deal robustly with the subject matter, we deal respectfullyContinue reading “The first rule of pub theology…”

Jeremy’s amazing video response to the sermon last night.

We have been studying the book of Galatians this term at COTC and the major theme which Paul drives home passage by passage is the insidious and damaging error of legalism Gal 3:3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? I thinkContinue reading “Legalism”