BAME Anglican

I attended two church services with a friend both were exclusive church groups by definition, one was based around cultural and linguistic exclusivity and another on sexuality. While these churches didn’t intentionally exclude they were nevertheless exclusive through definition. The context these church groups were set up is based in decades of exclusion from mainstream church. In a bid to avoid racism and homophobia these churches have created safe spaces however they are not free from biases. In a church that is made up of one ethnicity I am an anomaly. I am of mixed race and ethnicity, I find it hard to define my ethnicity. Ethnocentrism and nationalism scare me, I know I can very easily become the outsider in any group that defines itself on the basis of these identities. I am also unmarried and childless, this often means fending off questions about my marriage prospects, being introduced to men against my will. Over the years I have found I am seen as less of a per

                                    Jesus calls his first disciples - Woonbo Kim Ki-chang Korean artist  Woonbo Kim Ki-chang / Unbo kim Gi-chang  (1913- 2001) was born in Seoul. Illness during childhood left him deaf and partially mute for the rest of his life. Winning several awards during his life his style reflected modern and traditional artistic themes .  Articles of interest    If Jesus Had Been  Korean : 20 Rare  Paintings  of the Life of Christ ...

I have just finished watching the BBC series Broken, these are a few things that struck me so I am putting them down as they come to be. Spoiler alert. I don’t think I have seen anything so moving about my faith. Broken captures the grit and the everyday struggles of Christians. Moments of self-doubt, fear, guilt and shame are captured with the six episodes of the series. Broken delivers on presenting what the title suggests.   One of the issues I am glad the series addresses is the unlawful shooting of a black teenage boy. Black Lives Matter is often construed as an American issue, seeing the brutality in an area that is recognisable sends home a powerful message that violence against black people is part of the everyday fabric of our society. I am also glad a black Christian woman was presented with dignity onscreen. Most times black Christian women are treated as hysterical, superstitious and spewing politically incorrect nonsense. Helen Oyenusi the b

Kenneth Cragg  ( 8 th March 1913 – 13 th November 2012)  was an Anglican Bishop and scholar. Ordained in 1937, his ministry took him to the Middle East. His writing focused on Christian- Muslim relations. The Arab Christian: A History in the Middle East published in 1991 examines the history of Arab Christians in the region and the tensions produced by that identity in the past and in present times.   “Yet 'Christian' was a descriptive of Arabs centuries before Islam, and there has been a Christian Arabism, an Arab Christianity, throughout the Muslim centuries since Muhammad’s day. The Muslim dominance of Arabness, however, from the beginning brought tension and a tribulation into that Arab Christian existence under which it has labored and survived.” Kenneth Cragg.  Where to find the book.  Cragg, Kenneth. (1991).  The Arab Christian: A History in the Middle East . Westminster John Knox Press.  Google Books    Amazon