Setting Sail: Conversations before General Synod
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In one of my parishes, I was fortunate to strike up a friendship with a management consultant. He and his wife came to church quite often. He travelled a lot and so he wasn’t there every Sunday. But I liked him and he liked me and so I asked him if I could have lunch [...]
read moreEating and drinking
The Rev. Canon Tim Elliott, a ministry consultant with Elliott Clarke and Associates, offers these “Notes from the Narthex.” From this vantage point in the church’s lobby he can peer into the church or open the door and look outside, all the while staying safe in the narthex.
My doctor is a small man, and I’m [...]
Why names matter
The Rev. Canon Tim Elliott, a ministry consultant with Elliott Clarke and Associates, offers these “Notes from the Narthex.” From this vantage point in the church’s lobby he can peer into the church or open the door and look outside, all the while staying safe in the narthex.
A church I visited recently has a new [...]
Saying hello
The Rev. Canon Tim Elliott, a ministry consultant with Elliott Clarke and Associates, offers these “Notes from the Narthex.” From this vantage point in the church’s lobby he can peer into the church or open the door and look outside, all the while staying safe in the narthex.
Praying for each other before arriving in a [...]
Busy, busy, busy
The Rev. Canon Tim Elliott, a ministry consultant with Elliott Clarke and Associates, offers these “Notes from the Narthex.” From this vantage point in the church’s lobby he can peer into the church or open the door and look outside, all the while staying safe in the narthex.
Recently I noted a few things that, from [...]
A lot of changes
The Rev. Canon Tim Elliott, a ministry consultant with Elliott Clarke and Associates, offers these “Notes from the Narthex.” From this vantage point in the church’s lobby he can peer into the church or open the door and look outside, all the while staying safe in the narthex.
When I stop and look back, there are [...]
Public theology: some concluding thoughts
While in South Africa, our team of Christian scholars was exposed to a number of examples of public theology—compelling accounts of how the church should be in the world.
read moreOn campus, Christmas is quiet but Lent’s a flurry
When I was just starting campus ministry, a colleague warned me, “Christmas will be disappointing, because all the students go home!” In a parish, Christmas Eve services are packed, though often with people you see only once a year. The college chapel hosts one Christmas Eve service, sparsely attended. The same sense of occasion isn’t [...]
read moreChristmas through new eyes
This is my first Christmas as an ordained priest, and I feel like I’m looking at the season a bit differently this year. I’m more tuned in to both the generosity—and the poverty—that are especially visible at Christmas.
First, the generosity. These words from Charles Dickens ring true for me:
I have always thought of Christmas time…as [...]
Mvume Dandala: a Christian in office
Without question, Mvume Dandala has been one of the most widely respected church leaders in South Africa’s recent past. A presiding bishop of the Methodist Church from 1996 to 2003, and most recently general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches, Mr. Dandala is best known outside the church for mediating an end to the violence that broke out in Johannesburg hostels between African National Congress (ANC) supporters and Inkatha supporters over a decade ago.
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