The Household of Cornelius and the Conversion of Peter

Bishop Steven delivers his sermon at the clergy conference 2025diocese of oxford

The Household of Cornelius and the Conversion of Peter In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian cohort as it was called. So begins the third in this sequence of stories of conversion. Again the Holy Spirit is at work beyond and outside the Christian community. Again the Holy Spirit […]

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The importance of education

The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Steven Croft, spoke in the House of Lords today on the role of education in building a flourishing and skilled society. The debate was proposed by the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. --- "My…

Seven reasons to say the Lord’s Prayer each day

Most of us learn the Lord’s Prayer as children. But then we forget what it means. Over the last few weeks, I have found myself teaching the Lord’s Prayer to several different congregations – over 2000 people in all, including many young people.

Artificial Intelligence: the eight key issues

My top eight issues in AI and the deep theological questions they raise...

Mental health and the Churches

“Why are you so full of heaviness O my soul And why are you so disquieted within me?” The psalmist asks the same penetrating, painful and honest question three times in Psalms 42 and 43. The Psalms testify here and elsewhere that anguish…

The Great Identity Crisis

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15.13) Jesus words from John 15 have a special resonance this evening: Remembrance Sunday. They are inscribed on many a war memorial or chapel built…

On the value of prophets and short sighted seers

I visited Greyfriars church in Reading yesterday for the 9.30 and 11.30 am services.  Greyfriars are part way through a sermon series on Micah and the sermon was on passages in Micah 2 and 3. 

Supporting families is much too important to be left to government

THE Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Steven Croft, has welcomed the Manifesto to Strengthen Families. In a speech to the House of Lords on Thursday November 2nd, he said: "My Lords I warmly welcome this report. I like it more each time I…

A Beatitudes Hymn

I attempt at least one new hymn every year as the verse for my Christmas card. I’m under no illusions that they will endure. I love words and enjoy crafting them in different ways. The satisfaction is as much in the writing as in the singing...

The Mission Community of St Frideswide

On Wednesday of last week, I was able to license the Revd. Kate Seagrave as Mission Priest to St Fridewide’s church and parish in Oxford and to a new community in Oxford, the Mission Community of St Frideswide. The community will seek to live out what it means to be a Christ-like Church.