Psephizo

In 2018, I sensed God calling me to write a weekly commentary on the gospel lectionary reading for the following Sunday.

Maggie and I are planning to lead another study trip to western Turkey next autumn, from Tuesday 28th September to Thursday 7th October 2027 inclusive visiting Istanbul and the seven cities of Revelation, plus some other key sites of archaeological import…

A lengthy new report argues that the primary reason for decline in the Church of England is the wrong allocation of money and resources.

The term ‘love’ is clearly important in the New Testament in a range of contexts.

The lectionary reading for All Saints in Year A is Rev 7.9–17—an extraordinary vision of the people of God, which begins at the start of the chapter, in the interlude between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals.

The late Richard Hays’ book The Moral Vision of the New Testament was a landmark work that offered a serious, structured approach to the question of how the New Testament should shape Christian ethical thinking.

There has been a growing movement claiming that Christianity calls for a certain kind of masculinity, protesting against a perceived feminisation of the faith.

Mike Starkey writes: It’s early afternoon on Friday 16 October 2026.

In the epistle for Trinity 21 in Year A, 1 Thess 2.1–8, Paul and his co-authors explain their approach to ministry, but do so by appeal to what the Thessalonians knew of them.

Why was a faculty application for a portable baptismal pool in a church in Southwell and Nottingham rejected?

The gospel reading for Trinity 20 in Year A is Matthew 22.15–22, the short exchange between Jesus and his opponents on the question of the Roman ‘poll’ tax.

The situation in the Middle East dominates our news—yet so much comment is woefully ill-informed.

Paul’s opens his earliest letter, 1 Thessalonians (the reading for Trinity 20 in Years A) with a range of remarkable affirmations.

The Green Party has become one of the most extreme in the UK following its annual conference.

The lectionary gospel for Trinity 19 in Year A is Matthew 22.1–14, the parable of the wedding banquet.

When the Church of England changed its practice to allow the ordination of women, there was a period of ‘open reception.’

The epistle for Trinity 19 in Year A is Phil 4.1–9.

The experience and sense of encounter with the Holy Spirit in Christian devotion is often set against the rational task of critical evaluation of the meaning of Scripture.

Andrew Goddard writes: The election process for the new General Synod of the Church of England is now well underway with the voting period having opened just over a week ago on Monday 21st September and closing on Monday 12th (postal) or Tuesday 13th Octo…

The Sunday lectionary reading for Trinity 18 in Year A is the second of three judgement parables against the Jerusalem leaders in Matt 21.33–46: traditionally, the parable of the wicked husbandmen, or the parable of the wicked tenants.

Why are our conversations (!)

Several times in the last week or so, I have received a communication from someone which says ‘I know you are very busy…’ and these have stuck in my mind.

Elections are now taking place for the next quinquennium (five year term) for the General Synod in the Church of England.

As we continue to read through Matthew’s gospel in ordinary time in the lectionary, for Trinity 17 in Year A we vault over the entry into Jerusalem and land in the middle of Jesus’ controversies with the leaders in the city in Matt 21.23–32.

Guy Hordern writes: For more than eighty years, the Church of England has had a formal place in determining what is taught in Religious Education in England.

Can we use humour in preaching?

The lectionary reading for Trinity 16 in Year A is the parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matt 20.1–16.

In the epistle for Trinity 16 in Year A, Philippians 1.21-end, we turn from the practical application at the end of Romans back to Paul’s more usual style, using dense and challenging language which nonetheless communicates an extraordinary passion for li…