Bishop Steven announces his retirement

The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, has announced he will retire next July. After 10 years as diocesan bishop for the Diocese of Oxford, Bishop Steven will lay down his crozier at a service at Christ Church Cathedral on 31 May. Bishop Steven’s retirement means he will also step down from […]

/by

Developing Disciples in the City

Liverpool Cathedral hosts an Urban Lecture each year for clergy working in inner city or outer estate areas.  I was the guest lecturer in June and chose to speak on developing disciples in the city.  The lecture incorporates some recent reading…

A Christian Festival for Sheffield

I spent 3 days last week in Stuttgart in Germany as a guest of the something called the Kirchentag. It's a great gathering of Protestant Christians from all across Germany.  There were 30,000 active participants and over 100,000 visitors to…

Grave Talk

Some of the hardest conversations we will ever have are about death.  How do you begin even to raise the subject with those you love?  How do you talk about your deepest hopes and fears, your dreams for your life, your pain and anxiety, your…
,

Advising Mr Cameron: lessons from an ancient kingdom

The Prime Minister will not be short of advice as he appoints the Cabinet and prepares the Queen’s Speech.  There is a particular bible story about accepting and weighing advice that I would suggest it might be helpful for him to read and…

The Top Ten Proverbs for Twitter and Facebook

People in Britain spend more time online than they do sleeping: 8 hours 41 minutes a day according to an Ofcom survey in 2014.  That’s twice as much time as the average person spends watching television.  The same “average” person…

Christ is Risen!

The Cathedral held a dawn service on Easter Day this year.  I set the alarm for 4.30 in the morning for a 5.30 start. The service began in darkness: readings and prayers from the Old Testament looking back to creation, to the Exodus, to…

Humility

On Thursday of this week, I will be taking part in two profound symbolic actions in the Cathedral which have humility at their very heart. The first is the Royal Maundy.  Her Majesty the Queen will distribute gifts to eighty-nine men and…

The Crossroads Mission

Twenty-one bishops from across the north of England are visiting the Diocese of Sheffield in September for four days of mission together, led by the Archbishop of York.  We’ve called the mission “Crossroads”. As far as I know, it’s…

Who is my neighbour?

Less than two thirds of the population cast their vote in the last General Election in 2010.  Less than half of under 25’s turned out to vote.  People feel detached from politics. Our society needs fresh vision.  We face different threats…