Charisma & coercion: Manipulation & power abuse in the Church
March 31, 2020
Under budget and delivered ahead of time? Only in quarantine…
April 3, 2020
In the heady pre-lockdown days of late February, Modern Church was an Associate Sponsor of this year’s Church Times Festival of Faith and Literature at Bloxham. Sub-titled ‘The Power of Love’, the event took place over two days in the gentle surroundings of Bloxham School.
The line-up of over 30 different speakers was impressive: they included our own Martyn Percy who spoke on the ‘Eclipse of God’s love in the life of the Church; Rachel Mann beautifully read her poetry; Rhidian Brook spoke about 20 years of Thought for the Day; Archbishop of York designate Stephen Cottrell on ‘Love: one Step at a time’; Malcolm Guite and Mark Oakley shared poetry and insight; Catherine Fox on ‘Love writing: How to avoid winning the bad sex award’…
Modern Church Modern Church was represented by our Chair of Trustees, Alan Race, and the General Secretary, Jonathan Draper. We had a stand where we distributed free copies of the new Signs of the Times and had lots of conversations about the church and the need for liberal voices. There was even a guest appearance by the Editor of Signs of the Times, Anthony Wollard. Our presence was widely welcomed, and plans are being made to be an associate sponsor of the Church Times Festival of Preaching to be held in Oxford in the autumn of 2021.
