Ladies and Gentlemen, please may I introduce you to Tom Elliot aka Tom from Laughing With Tom. I’ll leave him to explain who he is, but I do recommend checking out his website LaughingwithTom.co.uk

The post A Catch Up with Tom. appeared first on The Church Sofa.

Well in the light of this, I’m please to present an open letter from Lorraine, to female clergy in the Church of England

I have spent most of my life very confused about who I am. You see, my natural talents,
giftings you might call them, do not conform to what others believe they should be.

At the age of seven, when one of my classmates answered a question wrongly during an
assembly, the headmaster remarked that “Girls are not very good at maths”, allowing about
200 boys to laugh at her. The remark was puzzling, because I knew maths was my strongest
and favourite subject. Was I not really a girl then? By the age of eleven, that same man had
included me in the handful of pupils he considered gifted enough to have extra lessons in
mental arithmetic techniques, because “they would have fun doing it”! Had I changed? No.
In the intervening time, he had recognised those talents, and sought to nurture them,
despite my being “just a girl”.By the time I left secondary education I had four good A levels
Maths, Further Maths, Physics, and Chemistry – oh, and S level Maths too.

At the age of eighteen, my father told me that he didn’t understand why I was applying for
university, because: it would be a waste as I would get married and stay at home; and, girls
that did degrees couldn’t cope and burnt out. I worshipped the ground my father stood on,
so was dismayed. Did I really have no other future? I had no idea what I wanted to do, but
knew I hadn’t reached my potential yet. Choosing what to study and where was tricky;
there was no-one in my family with experience to advise me, and it was made all the harder
by the nagging doubt that my father might be right. Possibly the most poignant memory I
have of my father is his tears of pride at my Graduation.

At the age of seventeen, careers advisers dismissed engineering as an option, despite my
skill-set, “because it’s dirty, and un-ladylike, dear, and you will find it hard to get a job”, i.e.
nice girls don’t do engineering, and even if they do, no-one will take them seriously. So
what was it to be: Maths or Physics? I liked both. Astronomy/Astrophysics used both, but
the post-grad job market was extremely small and very competitive. Engineering used both,
and appeared to have good job prospects, questions of gender aside. So could I be an
Engineer and female? At the age of twenty-five, having graduated with an upper-second in
Engineering, and having been employed nearly four years at an industry’s research centre
learning my profession, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers saw fit to make me a
Corporate Member, and consequently I became Chartered.

While people were telling me what I could and could not be, to the point that I didn’t know
who I was, I was slowly developing according to my talents – despite what other people
thought, said and did. Sometimes, they changed their minds as a result.What if my natural talents,
“God-given” you might say, had lain in helping people to discover that there is a God who loves them?
What if I were a good listener, and that same God of love had a habit of working through me
to heal their inmost hurts? What if I could explain the Christian faith to people in a language
they could understand? What if I had a knack of keeping people of different viewpoints together,
encouraging them when times got tough, restoring them when they strayed? At the same time that
I was being told I was “just a girl”, that “girls can’t do maths”, that “girls burn out if they
have higher education”, that “women in engineering are only good enough to make the tea and look
pretty on recruitment brochures”, other girls who felt called to the Ministry were being
laughed at “because only men can be ordained”. Those just a few years older than me, if
they pushed (because they had no choice – it was after all who they were), became deaconesses
– to be shunted off with the laity while the Clergy considered what was best for them. In
part, this has been remedied – many now serve the church as priests…

Today I cried for my sisters-in-Christ.

However, it is my strongly held view that the God of Love, who sent his Son to redeem a
fallen world, and who works mightily by His Spirit through the hearts and hands of those
who love Him, will not let today be the end of the story, any more than Good Friday was.
That same God has a habit of changing people from the inside, restoring them to His
likeness, conforming them to His plan – frequently through their own actions to the contrary
(eg. Jonah and Paul)! My sisters, please hold on to who you are in Him; no-one can take
that away from you, even if they deny you the means to express it. Allow Him to continue
to nurture you. Continue to do things His way. The miracle will happen.

In any case, Synod have only said “Not this way”. Who is to say that God does not have
better in store?

But then, what do I know? I’m an Engineer, not a Theologian; and when all’s said and done,
I’m “just a girl”.

Lorraine

What do you think?

The post Who Am I? : An open letter to female clergy in the Church of England appeared first on The Church Sofa.

If God was a DJ, He’d rock

In case you were wondering, this particular conjecture comes from Planet Rock, digital radio station ‘where rock lives’, doorbell playing the intro to “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple.

Being a bit of a rock fan myself, and therefore subjected to the above statement several times a day, I’ve thought about it quite a lot. It’s fair to say that God does like a bit of loud music – just look at the party Nehemiah threw when they’d finished rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem! But would he confine himself just to rock? Or even tolerate rock? It is, after all, often thought of as the root of all musical evil – and plenty of other evils as well.

But is that really fair? Just like anything else it has it’s extremists and bad people. Even churches have those – but at the end of the day, you know it’s not down to us to decide who’s right and who’s wrong. You just have to look at Jesus in the Sermon on the mount – the part about trying to get specks out of other peoples eyes when you’ve got a dirty great plank stuck in your own. It seems to me that most people’s opinion of rock is a bit like that in some ways.

It’s the general idea that all rock stars & fans are long haired black leather wearing miscreants that’s a bit unfair for a start (well, my hair’s getting there, but black leather ??).(Are leather jackets ok? – Editor) And don’t they all bite the heads off chickens or bats or something? You might be surprised to know there are actually Christian rockers out there in the ‘mainstream’ world – Iron Maiden’s drummer is a Christian and of course there’s Alice Cooper, Mr Halloween himself, also describing himself as a Christian. I do have to concede here that I’m really not at all sure about how exactly that fits with the contents of his shows…but let me draw your attention to Romans chapter 2 – a warning against the judgement trap again. Who is perfect, after all? Not me, that’s for sure. Should I ever run into Mr C (unlikely, but you never know!) that is something I’ll be asking him about. As this exciting scenario has yet to take place, we’ll just have to leave that one as something between Alice and God.

Perhaps instead of questioning their sincerity, we should be admiring and praying for these people. Although they’ve changed their outlook on what they do and all it’s trappings, they’re still there, standing up for their new selves, trying to live it out – in the world, if not still of it. Surely that’s just what we’re all supposed to be doing? With the previous reputations of these guys maybe they’re just doing it on a grander scale, and so much more publicly.

So – if God were a DJ, he might rock – just a bit. But do you know what I really think? I reckon He’d be a bit more Radio 2 actually – something for everyone, nothing too ‘out there’ to be included – as long as it came with the right heart.

If you’d like to guest blog for us, we have a a few ideas of subject areas, and how to get in touch on our Church Lounge page.

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Well… Its our second birthday today, and to celebrate we’re going to have a quick look at the… more interesting… search terms that people have used to arrive at The Church Sofa:

1. “church sofa photo blog” - Now… this seems kinda odd. We’ve never had a photoblog… not really… We’ve done something for Christmas… but thats it… Would you like to see us do a photoblog at some point?
2. “why beards are cool” – Because they are!!
3. Now this is an interesting one, we’ve hosted a number of people on the sofa after they’ve done a search for the quote:
   

   “let’s just say this: right now, name for me the one young, good bible teacher that is known across great britain. you don’t have one – that’s the problem.”

   Not sure who said that, but I think it was some little known American preacher…

4. “chat room for “lonely” people u.k.christians” – This search term ha led a few people to us. I hope you’ve found the company you’ve been looking for. Are there any online chat rooms you recommend?
5. “what to do if your computer breaks” – I feel your pain if this happens to you… 
6. “sofa blogs” – We are a sofa. We blog. Sounds fair enough…
7. “what does a homeless person look like” – Interesting question. Maybe we should put an answer together one day…
8. “god please find me a church in exeter uk” – Hopefully our Exeter Church List helps a little..?
9. “cameron sofa” – Dear David Cameron, would you be available to be interviewed by us? If so, please use the contact form – or even jump on Twitter! We’d love to hear from you!
10. “asbo elephants” - pardon? 

Well thats a little trip over the last 12 months. Hope you enjoyed, and didn’t find it to self indulgent.

Thanks for supporting The Church Sofa over the last 2 years, and we hope that you’ll join us on the new journey over the next 12 months!

What would you like to see more of from the church sofa lads?

The post Something… self indulgent… appeared first on The Church Sofa.

Image Available from 12 baskets.

Welcome back to the Church Lounge. A place where The Church Sofa lads hang out, have a drink, and leave you guys to guest blog for us. If you’d like to guest blog for us, please check out our “Write For Us” page.

Opening the new series of guest blog posts, I’d like to introduce Sammy who’s going to share with us how science shares his faith:

Belief in a supreme being (God) and an open, critical, scientific
bearing have long been viewed as diametrically opposed to each other.
History and the times we currently live in is littered with examples
of the clash of science and religious belief. From the death of
Galileo to the hugely popular works of Richard Dawkins, the two have
been ideologically opposed to the other.

I have spent a lot of my life in deep reverence of God And I have also
spent it searching for scientific evidence of many, many things. From
school, when I read Newton’s Principles where he ended with the most
inspiring signoff I have ever encountered, and a quote that still
adorns the largest wall in my lab “To me there has never been a
higher source of earthly honor or distinction than that connected with
advances in science”.

In the years that followed I went to University to study physics and
Newton, Galileo, Pascal and Babbage, each wonderful scientists and
thinkers, and all bound together by their deep sense of Christian
faith.

As I delved further into the mysteries of the universe, I found myself
turning to my faith to help me get through the moments when despite my
best efforts, the answers just wouldn’t come. Nights were spent
slaving away in the lab, a prayer on my lips and a fervent desire to
get to the bottom of the issue. The day’s punctuated with intense
discussions and deliberations with colleagues, many of whom sneered at
my beliefs.

Over the years, my single minded pursuit of God and evidence in
science led to many of my erstwhole doubters to understand that I
searched for proof with the same fervent belief I hold in God. And
that’s because I truly believe that without His will, nothing could
be, and without His permission I couldn’t have bloomed into the
scientist I am today. God wishes for me to search, inquire, be curious
and find answers to our problems.

And then, recently, a discovery in the world of science has led to
exultation. The discovery of the Higgs Boson Particle that is said to
be solely responsible for the creation of the universe, the moment
popular culture calls, ‘The Big Bang’.

While skeptics offer it is proof of there being no God and design, I
beg to differ. God has never been a shape, a particular way or type.
God is a way of life, a purpose of design a way to live. It is up to
us to discover the mysteries He left open for us to learn, not to be
used to negate him. To quote biologist Jeremy Griffith “Here on
Earth, atoms became ordered or integrated to form molecules -> which
in turn integrated to form compounds -> virus-like organisms…[etc
etc]… Overall, what is happening on Earth is that matter is becoming
ordered into larger wholes. So the theme or purpose or meaning of
existence is the ordering or integration…—put simply, selfishness
is divisive or disintegrative while selflessness is integrative…
It’s the glue that holds the world together and what we really mean
by the term ‘love’…Colossians 3:14 perfectly summarises the
integrative significance of love: ‘And over all these virtues put on
love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.’”
(http://www.worldtransformation.com/is-there-a-god).

I may be a scientist, but I have never, and I doubt I ever will, find
discrepancy between God and Science. And nor can most people unless, I
believe they follow an insidious agenda meant soely to undermine
faith, belief and universal truths.

Agree? Disagree?

Anything you’d add to the above?

The post The Church Lounge: How Science Affects My Faith appeared first on The Church Sofa.

We’ve used the latest version of Standard Theme to upgrade some behind the scenes bits and pieces, and clean up the side bar a little.

If you find anything broken, please feel free to let us know either via a comment below / the contact form above.

The post We’ve Had A Few Changes… appeared first on The Church Sofa.

*We say its a competition… we have no prizes or anything so please dont get too excited…

The post Caption Competition Time* 2 appeared first on The Church Sofa.

Can anyone out there suggest a caption which isn’t “fail”?

*We say its a competition… we have no prizes or anything so please dont get too excited…

The post Caption Competition Time* appeared first on The Church Sofa.

We both hope that this will also give us a bit of an insight into what life is like if you are homeless (though we’re not naive enough to think that one night will make it obvious). And we’re hoping that we can raise lots of money to support this great work. Youth homelessness is a bigger problem than ever before and we need more and more people to do something about it.

We’re now asking you to sponsor the Church Sofa Lads to do this, even a few pounds will make all the difference. £60 could provide brand new kit for when a new Exeter YMCA resident moves in; such as a duvet and pillows, cutlery and crockery, oven gloves etc; £75 could provide ongoing support for one young person for one month after they Exeter YMCA accommodation; £180 could provide 6 group sessions a year for 8 young people such as, job clubs, cooking classes, budgeting skills, etc.

All the money raised will go directly to Exeter YMCA’s work in helping homeless young people in Devon. Youth homelessness is on the rise and by taking part in the Sleep Easy you can be part of the solution. Through your support, Exeter YMCA is able to provide over 14,000 nights’ accommodation a year to vulnerable young people. We also provide tailored support, helping our young people to overcome the problems which have blighted their pasts. Finally, we equip our young people to lead positive, happy and fulfilling futures.

The post What are you doing on March 3rd? appeared first on The Church Sofa.

I here by give notice that I am copyrighting the word “Doctrine”. This copyright covers any use of the “Doctrine” in any title of anything anywhere.

If you do decide to carry on using the word “Doctrine”, I would expect to be paid each time you use the said word.

You may or may not receive a cease and desist letter, if this does not happen.

Yours in churchy love.

Team Sofa

—

Have the above explained to you here; I believe this is waiting to be verified… but does anyone remember the Steelroots saga?

Buy Mark Driscolls “Doctrine” book here.

(EDIT – 23rd October: In the Interests of Fair Play – Here’s a response from The Mars Hill)

(EDIT – 25th October: Looks like this tea cup storm has come to an end. A response from Pastor Scott Hagan, Mars Hill Community (Sacramento), and a report from Christian Post)

I say this is a storm in a tea cup… It just seems a shame that the first move seemed to be to call in the expensive lawyers…

The post Dear Everyone. appeared first on The Church Sofa.