October 3, 2016
One hundred days after the fateful Brexit referendum, Theresa May has announced she will launch the Great Repeal Act by April 1, 2017, thus triggering Article 50 and setting off the two-year process of leaving the European Union. In Scotland over this weekend, I encountered a deeply divided and confused Britain, the Scots being at […]
September 26, 2016
‘Forty’ is usually the biblical number for testing. But for my wife and me, married this past week for forty years, it represents much grace and blessing. Celebrating this weekend at a retreat with YWAM colleagues of retirement age, I was asked how I proposed to Romkje. I had to confess I never did. My […]
September 19, 2016
Cedric and Elina are a young couple with a dream. They want to encourage young European believers together to dream with them about the future of their continent. In a time of growing nationalism, xenophobia and international mistrust, they want to promote broader understanding and reconciliation. As Schuman Associates, they are organising this year’s European […]
September 12, 2016
The first professorial chair in sustainable relationships, announced last week by a Dutch university, aims to inform government policy towards supporting marriages and preventing relationships conflict. In a society where sustainability is seen as an essential goal in almost all areas except marriage and family relationships, the appointment of Prof Dr Esther Kluwer (48) to […]
September 5, 2016
Cathedrals, for centuries soaring above many city horizons, remain powerful statements of transcendent reality in a continent too often written off as post-Christian. Many of us with Protestant-evangelical-pentecostal backgrounds don’t quite know how to relate to these proud symbols of a much-abused, largely by-gone marriage of church and state, the era of a Christendom few […]
August 30, 2016
He was born 1700 years ago this year in Hungary, yet has left an unparalleled legacy across Europe. Five thousand monuments commemorate him in Italy, where he spent much of his childhood as son of a Roman military officer. Fourteen European cathedrals are named after him. Nearly quarter of a million French people have his […]
August 22, 2016
This is the last of four weekly excerpts from the Masterclass text, Europe and the Gospel, by Professor Evert Van de Poll. This special edition can be obtained via Schuman Resources. EVdP: Halfway between the impressive buildings of the European Council and the European Parliament in Brussels, there is a small chapel. It seems a […]
August 15, 2016
The third of four weekly excerpts from the Masterclass text, Europe and the Gospel, by Professor Evert Van de Poll. This special edition can be obtained via Schuman Resources. EVdP: Europe is more Christian than one would have thought when looking at the visible presence of the church community. Even in the pluralist, multicultural society […]
August 8, 2016
The second of four weekly excerpts from the Masterclass text, Europe and the Gospel, by Professor Evert Van de Poll. This special edition can be obtained via Schuman Resources. EVdP: The legacy of Christianity is not altogether glorious. The negative record of Christians is always a hindrance for evangelism, but nowhere is the criticism levelled […]
August 1, 2016
This is the week of the Masterclass in European Studies. Or was. For some strange reason, when European issues are becoming more urgent and serious following the Brexit referendum and ongoing terrorist actions, insufficient registrations came in for us to hold this study week. However, this month we will run four weekly (edited) excerpts from […]
July 25, 2016
Described as ‘terrifying and disturbing’, one of the world’s most unusual clocks never fails to draw perplexed visitors outside Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, as we observed walking through the university town on our recent Celtic Heritage Tour. A fearsome giant locust of apocalyptic proportions rides astride a 24-carat gold-plated disc about 1.5 metres wide. […]
July 19, 2016
It was a nation much divided over Brexit that our band of fellow travellers encountered as we headed south from Edinburgh towards Canterbury last week to round off this year’s Celtic Heritage Tour. While some we met feared the loss of Britain’s unity and tolerance, others exuded bravado and optimism despite an uncertain future. We […]
