David Runcorn Inclusive Evangelicals Counting us in – on doing numbers more honestly
Arwen Folkes Inclusive Evangelicals Swimming in the deep end …
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love How St Michael’s Basingstoke became an HTB plant
Mark Clavier Well-Tempered Whose Nave Is It Anyway?
David Runcorn does not understand statistics and so some of his argument is far from honest. The LLF ‘survey’ was qualitative and self selecting. It was not a representative poll which would give quantitative results. It was not therefore statistically significant. It would be like me doing a poll on Twitter about whether clergy could do statistics. Polling companies work very hard to find statistically significant representative samples. Anyone who knows anything about polling knows this.
The Alliance “claimed to have over 2300 clergy signed up”. However, this group has declined to publish the names. While priests can sign up in a private capacity, if they are signing on behalf of their church communities then everyone should be able to know what is claimed for them. The fact that the signatures were private and provided as individual opinion means they cannot “claim to represent 42% of the Church of England’s average Sunday attendance”. That – to re-jig the old Bishop of Durham’s saying – is just “a conjuring trick with numbers”. The clergy who signed were… Read more »
David’s piece on numbers observes that the epistles never discuss the numerical size of churches and claims the gospels do not present grand and expansive metaphors for the witness of the disciples, but instead refer to them as eg salt, yeast, a single light. Of course the New Testament also includes Acts, chapter 2 of which records that about 3000 people were added to the church following an address by Peter, and concludes ‘the Lord added to their number day by day’. And the gospels do contain phrases such as ‘You are the light of the world. A city set… Read more »
Colin Coward has done very important research. Specifics are so very important. We can talk in general terms about HTB but it is in the specific case of Basingstoke that we can see how chilling and dangerous HTB really is. I am a straight white man but I don’t want to worship in a church in which there are first and second class priests and first and second class human beings. But come the next General Synod, I doubt it I will hear a single voice calling out the moral and spiritual evil of HTB and the Alliance. The very… Read more »
Whose nave is it? It’s sacred consecrated space and should only be used for worship. I also know of a church which has had bawdy events for years and continues to do so. Even on its patronal festival. It continues with these events because they can. No-one can gainsay the will of the incumbent and PCC.