By: Digby Wilkinson on June 8, 2019
Martyn Percy is possibly one of the most interesting ministry leaders I have met. I have every reason to doubt that he will remember me, but I did spend a day with him while I was Dean of Wellington Cathedral of St Paul. Being the Dean of a cathedral is one thing, while being the…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on June 7, 2019
XIII. MODERATION We believe that the moderation of the believer should be known of all men, that his experience and daily walk should never lead him into extremes, fanaticism, unseemly manifestations, back- biting, murmurings, but that his sober, thoughtful, balanced, mellow, forgiving, and zealous Christian experience should be one of steadfast uprightness, equilibrium, humility, self-sacrifice…
By: Sean Dean on June 6, 2019
There is a practice in the US and the UK of asking politicians if they know the price of a gallon of milk. This is a test to see how in touch they are with the tasks of life that the average person has to endure. It can be a massive blunder if a politician…
By: Harry Edwards on June 6, 2019
It took me a while to think of what I was going to write this time. I’m embarrassed to admit that I had not heard, much less know about Martyn Percy when I have been an ardent admirer of the University of Oxford and the stellar alumni and faculty it produces, some of whom have…
By: Andrea Lathrop on June 6, 2019
I appreciated this book choice and listening in to other theologians and scholars discuss Dr. Martyn Percy’s work. There was much to glean from it and I came away from it with a greater appreciation for the history and importance of God’s work in and through the Anglican Communion. I am especially indebted for the…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on June 6, 2019
The reviewer considers Percy’s published writings both prodigious in volume as well as impressive due to the thorough manner in which he engages with other disciplines. The reviewer observes that the span of Percy’s scholarship and its depth probably have not been fully appreciated in the United Kingdom. The essays in this book began as…
By: Jenn Burnett on June 6, 2019
There are a few people in this world I’ve been blessed to know who offer security and belonging by their very presence. My friends Harry and Glo are two of those people. Just sitting near them becomes an encounter with our gentle God who affirms our belonging in the world. Emma Percy’s work What Clergy…
By: Mario Hood on June 6, 2019
In the book Reasonable Radical? Reading the writings of Martyn Percy, editors Ian Markham and Joshua Daniel present a collection of writings that introduce the reader to Martyn Percy as well as essays from Percy himself. The first half of the book is ‘substantial, critical introduction’ to Martyn Percy’s thought; the second half consists of…
By: Rev Jacob Bolton on June 6, 2019
Discerning the best avenue a congregation may take while living out their creation care witness is one that takes vision and refinement. Certain congregations have a thirst for justice ministries and through advocacy, letter writing, and other campaigns their ecclesial energies may be steered into generating tangible change in our beautiful yet broken world. Other…
By: John Muhanji on June 2, 2019
The reading this week has touched mainly on the reality of our day to day life of the mother raising her children and the Clergy’s role in the church and community. I remember when we were growing our first born girl, my wife was prudent to follow what nurses guided her at the hospital where…
By: Tammy Dunahoo on June 2, 2019
The Rev Canon Dr. Emma Percy has studied history in Cambridge, theology in Durham, and serves as Chaplain and Welfare Dean at Trinity College, University of Oxford. Yet, in her book What Clergy Do: Especially When it Looks Like Nothing, it is quite clear that her best training to become a priest in the Church…
By: Wallace Kamau on June 1, 2019
To visit members of my church, I have to go over open sewer and jump over piles of garbage and the alleys are very narrow to get to the houses, not to mention the risk of being cut by the sharp edges of the rusty tin that they use to make the houses. As I…
By: Harry Fritzenschaft on May 31, 2019
Emma Percy draws on her Ph.D. work and experience as a priest to describe how Church of England parish priests might function – using the model and language of motherhood. The reviewer found the female perspective a fresh alternative to the plethora of male perspective dominated writings. Despite the title, the reviewer felt the allegory…
By: Mary Mims on May 31, 2019
Something must be lost in the translation. In the book, What Clergy Do: Especially When it Looks Like Nothing, by Emma Percy, she describes “Good Enough Mothering” and uses it as a metaphor for “Good Enough Parish Priests” (Percy 2014, 38). Being good enough is not a compliment, and in today’s culture of leadership excellence,…
By: Digby Wilkinson on May 31, 2019
Having just emerged from the aftermath of the suicide of an 18 year old girl from our church, it was a little odd reading a book titled, What Clergy Do. Especially when it looks like nothing.[1] In truth, I almost couldn’t be bothered reading it. My daughter is 18 too, so it was too close…
By: Sean Dean on May 31, 2019
The first time I watched the movie Jurassic Park I really disliked the character of Dr. Ian Malcolm (played by Jeff Goldblum). He was cocky and a little too suave for his own good and worse yet he was not the order loving Dr. Alan Grant. Dr. Malcolm’s area of study is Chaos Theory, which…
By: Rhonda Davis on May 31, 2019
It is finished. I made it. Another school year has come to an end in the Davis house. Since both my husband and I work in higher education while we parent 3 sons, May is full of triumphs and failures. I attend commencements, board meetings, banquets, pinning ceremonies, commissioning, award ceremonies, field days, sports banquets,…
By: Karen Rouggly on May 30, 2019
My grandpa is dying. Last night, we got home from visiting him while he is still doing well enough to interact with us. My family originates from Reading, Michigan and while I love living in California, there is something nostalgic about visiting the old homestead. Because we were there over Memorial Day, we went to…
By: Andrea Lathrop on May 30, 2019
If I had a dollar for every time I have had the conversation “what does our ministry staff even do all day?”…I would have at least $65. Ok, that is not as much as I thought when I first started that sentence, but you get the point. Very few of these conversations have been with congregants;…
By: Harry Edwards on May 30, 2019
Reading Emma Percy’s book What Clergy Do: Especially When It Looks Like Nothing turned out to be an enjoyable and fun experience. When I first scanned the pages, (a practice I do before I actually sit down to read any book) I thought “would the cultural and denominational distance between me and the author prevent…
