Newark Congregational Church

I’ve just arrived at Launde Abbey where I’m staying until Friday.

I’m not on holiday though. Launde Abbey is a Christian retreat centre and I’m here to do some work.

For a while I’ve been thinking about writing down what it is that I believe and, equally importantly, what I don’t believe. You see there are many things in conventional Christian thought that I am sure many people find off putting. Here are a few:

Treating the Bible literally;

Seeing religion and science as at odds;

Attitudes of some churches towards gay people;

Statements of faith (Creeds) that contain lists of things you must believe before you can join the Christian ‘club’.

My aim over the next few days is to make at least a substantive start on spelling out my thoughts on these and other issues to help people make sense of what I think it means to have a Christian faith in the 21st Century.

Wish me luck. I’ll update this blog with my progress when I’ve made some.

Mark