A new life begins

On the whole things have been a bit quiet on this blog for a while now - largely due to the huge changes that Liz and I have been through over the last few months: Leaving our house and friends in Bristol, Liz leaving her job and starting to look for a new one in London, me leaving South Wales Baptist College and starting at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church in London.

But we're here, were in, and I'm already at the end of week 1. The books are unpacked and my study is up and running, Sunday's sermon is in the bag, and I've even worked out where the toilets are.

I can see why people say that moving house and job is one of the more stressful things in life, even when you're as sure as you can be that it's the 'right' thing to do.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing some old friends next weekend here in London for the Baptist Assembly - it's not too late to book to come, but our house is now officially full for the weekend, so you'll need to find your own accommodation!

p.s. in the photo above, my study is the two small windows in the tower to the left of the rose window.

Thanks to Andy Goodliff for drawing my attention to a review by John Briggs of the Baptist Hermeneutics volume.

Andy writes:

John Briggs has reviewed The 'Plainly Revealed' Word of God? Baptist Hermeneutics in Theory and Practice edited by Helen Dare and Simon Woodman in the Journal for Theological Studies (April 2012). He ends his review by saying

'But lest it be thought that the essays here presented represent just a celebration of distinctively Baptist perspectives, John Colwell emphasizes the purpose of the exercise must be ‘with the goal of enriching the whole rather than further entrenching the past’, that is, the search is to make a contribution to the catholic rather than to defend a particular confession. At the end of the day fine words are not enough and so one of the external observers questions whether there is a mismatch between Baptist ideals and much Baptist practice, noting that ‘the disjunction between the radical ideals of the Baptist churches and their concrete realisation on the ground’ lead him to conclude that Baptists are too often ‘a people of unfulfilled promise’, a criticism which he turns into a challenge that Baptists serious about their identity should read this book and act upon it.'