March 2011 Blog Posts (21)

One of the most frequent questions we’re asked about Churches Together Connect is how is it different to Facebook or Twitter? And people aren’t necessarily suggesting that they should use those instead. Rather, they are put-off by concerns over whether their personal details and information that they post will be kept private. The increasing commercialisation of Facebook is putting many off the whole idea of using social networks.

First we want to reassure everyone that on…

Preparing to move from Croydon to Bradford at the end of April, I am conscious of the discontinuities that make life interesting. In Rumsfeldian terms, I am moving from a particular set of…

Chris Evans spotted that I had written this morning’s Pause for Thought for his show while on a train to Bradford yesterday. I was up there for meetings and hadn’t had time the day before to do the script. So,…

The Archbishop of Canterbury got another Honorary Doctorate this evening. This time it was from King’s College London and he was given it after he had delivered…

It is a fact of life that decisions made by politicians or any other leaders are analysed by observers as if they were made in isolation from other factors. The moral purity or political expediency of a particular decision is examined as if this decision were made to stand alone and bear…

Pakistani Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti was murdered last week for wanting to humanize Pakistan's forthcoming  drastic blasphemy law.His was a life lived in witness to ecumenical and interfaith tolerance , and against discrimination. At the Pakistani High Commission  in London yesterday friends and colleagues remembered him as a faithful servant of God , a seeker of justice for Pakistan's many minorities, be they ethnic, religious or gender. Himself a Christian, Bhatti defended the…

I know I should have better things to think about, but someone pointed me to this great commercial celebration of the up-coming Royal Wedding and I thought it was worth passing on.

Just proves that the detail…

In June 2010 the Churches Refugee Network Conference watched the moving story on DVD by Tim Langford of YD and his years of separatation from his wife Z and their two little boys.

Y had fallen gravely  ill during his years of waiting for his asylum application in the UK. COnference raised the visa fees and travel costs, and just after Christmas the family was reunited briefly in London  for the first time in seven years. Not without emotional ups and downs of course......people and…

Massive catastrophes such as the earthquake and tsunami in Japan not only remind the world of (a) the fragility of life, (b) the commonality of human lives and (c) the contingency of all life, but also render as insignificant luxuries many of the preoccupations that drive our energies. (They might also provide an attentiveness smokescreen…

Life is a bit full-on this week because of a deluge of speaking engagements and my final working weekend in Croydon. So, there hasn’t been much time for blogging.

The work I have been doing in my study has been accompanied by the most hauntingly beautiful music that helps make sense of some of the contradictions of life, yet also makes me feel guilty for being moved by it.…

BBC Songs of Praise is currently putting together a programme to celebrate school assemblies. They are looking for a church which could host the programme which aims to bring children together to sing.

If you are interested please contact Sarah Lane Cawte, Tel: 020 7529 8145 or email: sarahlanecawte@cte.org.uk

This morning saw me staggering into London only half awake to do Pause for Thought on BBC Radio 2′s Chris Evans Show. Chris and the production team are excellent and never make me feel like an intruder on their territory – which I suppose I am. This morning’s real guest was the wonderful Stephen Merchant – clever, funny, insightful…

February/March News from CT Groups

Hello!  Welcome to a new blog which delivers news about the ecumenical movement at a local level.  

Don't you already produce a Newsletter?

CTBI produces a e-newsletter every month, and we are currently exploring new and different ways in which…

My grandson is almost seven months old. He lives with his mum and dad in Liverpool. On the notice board in my office I have a big photo of him. He’s laughing all over his face… wearing his first Liverpool kit. No wonder he’s happy.

Does dressing him in a Liverpool kit mean that he is being brainwashed or indoctrinated by narrow-minded parents and grandparents? Well, if one line of argument is right, we should probably all be in court for ‘shaping’ the little…

Dear CTConnecter

Apologies if you have been receiving inappropriate messages from CTConnect - we have had two instances of spammers in two days and our webmaster is working hard to resolve the situation.  All of CTBI's senior staff team keep a close eye on CTConnect, so be reassured that we are keen to maintain CTConnect as a safe and relevant community.

If you have any questions about this or any other issue, please email info@ctbi.org.uk and we will be happy…