It was a nice surprise to crop up on a list of 'influential' Christians last week, I'm not really sure in what other context I'd rub shoulders with the Queen and Tyson Fury. The main virtue of the list is in showing the spectrum of Christian involvement in politics and society in the UK, as well as highlighting the very real persecution of Christian converts from Islam in the UK.
I'd happily swap with Katharine Welby Roberts, Tania Marlow, or the people behind Mind and Soul. There's only 1 out of the 100 who's making any noise about mental health (unless you count Tim Farron), and that's not enough. And for anyone, like myself or Stephen Croft, who is there because we have something to say about the CofE and church growth, Bob Jackson is the one who should get the credit.
Anyway, thankyou to whoever nominated me, not sure if I've struck the right balance of mild surprise and self-deprecation, or whether I should just give up and go around feeling a bit proud for a few days. Mind you, the commendations clearly haven't been written by anyone in my parish - 'spiritual and discerning perspective on everything'? My family could set you right on that one.... The rest of the list is worth a look, and threw up a few names and ventures I'd never heard of, and which were good to read about.
Showing posts with label lists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lists. Show all posts
Saturday, January 02, 2016
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Top 10 posts of 2015
The most-read posts of 2015 were, in no particular order:
The new year began with a blizzard of new thinking from the CofE. Yes, you read that right...
In Praise of the Green Report which was at the time just about the only positive thing online about the 'Green Report' into CofE leadership training.
'Green Shoots? Archbishops Introduce CofE to Smell of Coffee, on some fairly trenchant words from messrs Welby and Sentamu about the need for serious change in the CofE
CofE discussion papers and forums - an overview of the CofE's 'Reform and Renewal' papers and discussion forums
The Spirituality Spectrum: some helpful research which goes beyond the normal binary believer/nonbeliever pigeonholes
Fresh Expressions of Vicar: guest post from Andy Griffiths on church leadership, using Titus as a model for how we prepare and model leadership.
They Didn't Think it Through: Sunday Trading: My response to the so-called 'consultation' on Sunday trading - at the time of writing the government is still 'analysing your feedback'. Which doesn't explain why they tried to change the law before this analysis had been done. Window dressing, deception, broken election promises, in the pockets of the big retailers, one-sided presentation of the facts, rearrange these phrases into any paragraph of your choice.
Inappropriate Clergy Awards glad I managed to pen something vaguely amusing, though that's usually best left to Archdruid Eileen
London: Lessons for the Church of England: digest of a fascinating talk by Richard Chartes, Bishop of London, on lessons learned in his diocese that have led to the growth of the church in the capital.
When Should My Parish Church Be Demolished? Thought I'd get the Express in to write some of my post titles. Some pretty eye-opening stats on the number of tiny CofE congregations running huge listed buildings, It's easier to identify the problem than to know how to deal with it.
Would it be better if we didn't talk about Jesus? New research showing that when Christians share their faith it's more often off-putting than uplifting. Oddly, I'm in agreement with the Church Times on this - we need to spend more time looking at the findings before we come up with recommendations for action. The answer to the question is, of course, no, but we have to find a better way of talking about Jesus. I'd recommend this for starters.
the main reason for most of these being clicked on more than the rest was a link from Thinking Anglicans, so a big thankyou to the team over there. And fair play to them for linking to a blogger from a different perspective - I don't find it easy to be in disagreement with people, but we need to learn to disagree well, in the church, and in society at large. And for that we need practice....
thankyou for all the comments, shares tweets etc. and bless you for reading
The new year began with a blizzard of new thinking from the CofE. Yes, you read that right...
In Praise of the Green Report which was at the time just about the only positive thing online about the 'Green Report' into CofE leadership training.
'Green Shoots? Archbishops Introduce CofE to Smell of Coffee, on some fairly trenchant words from messrs Welby and Sentamu about the need for serious change in the CofE
CofE discussion papers and forums - an overview of the CofE's 'Reform and Renewal' papers and discussion forums
The Spirituality Spectrum: some helpful research which goes beyond the normal binary believer/nonbeliever pigeonholes
Fresh Expressions of Vicar: guest post from Andy Griffiths on church leadership, using Titus as a model for how we prepare and model leadership.
They Didn't Think it Through: Sunday Trading: My response to the so-called 'consultation' on Sunday trading - at the time of writing the government is still 'analysing your feedback'. Which doesn't explain why they tried to change the law before this analysis had been done. Window dressing, deception, broken election promises, in the pockets of the big retailers, one-sided presentation of the facts, rearrange these phrases into any paragraph of your choice.
Inappropriate Clergy Awards glad I managed to pen something vaguely amusing, though that's usually best left to Archdruid Eileen
London: Lessons for the Church of England: digest of a fascinating talk by Richard Chartes, Bishop of London, on lessons learned in his diocese that have led to the growth of the church in the capital.
When Should My Parish Church Be Demolished? Thought I'd get the Express in to write some of my post titles. Some pretty eye-opening stats on the number of tiny CofE congregations running huge listed buildings, It's easier to identify the problem than to know how to deal with it.
Would it be better if we didn't talk about Jesus? New research showing that when Christians share their faith it's more often off-putting than uplifting. Oddly, I'm in agreement with the Church Times on this - we need to spend more time looking at the findings before we come up with recommendations for action. The answer to the question is, of course, no, but we have to find a better way of talking about Jesus. I'd recommend this for starters.
the main reason for most of these being clicked on more than the rest was a link from Thinking Anglicans, so a big thankyou to the team over there. And fair play to them for linking to a blogger from a different perspective - I don't find it easy to be in disagreement with people, but we need to learn to disagree well, in the church, and in society at large. And for that we need practice....
thankyou for all the comments, shares tweets etc. and bless you for reading
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Top Posts from 2013
Here are the posts that have had the most hits in 2013, total recorded hits according to Bloggers 'interesting' stats reporting are in brackets:
General Synod: Sneaking in a radical growth strategy whilst everyone else is looking at women bishops (1556)
Church Growth in the CofE - Discussion Paper (1275) short paper for local clergy/churches based on a CofE General Synod paper on church growth
Absent Fathers Day (1154) reflections on a Centre for Social Justice report on fatherhood, or rather the lack of it, in vast numbers of families.
The Church of England, the Gospel and the Future: my prayer for General Synod (993) having seen the agenda for the next synod, the prayer is still in the 'wait' queue. It's mostly about sex, again.
Flashmob Wedding (914) Kate Bottley sets an example to vicars everywhere
Church of England Headline Generator (837) can't take any credit for this, simply a one sentence link to the Beaker Folk
2-Faced Facebook (819) is Facebook a force for good or bad? Or, like all the people using it, both?
Minion Praise (816) excellent.
Church of England - Not Levelling Out (805) doing my Morrissey act on some positive reporting of CofE attendance stats earlier in the year.
David Mitchell on Faith, Atheism and Agnosticism (769) video clip
Christians the most persecuted religious body on the planet (741)
Papal Shortlist (728) not entirely serious. Perhaps we should be thankful someone else got the job.
Youth Run riot in Yeovil (725) possibly not what you're expecting from the headline. That's deliberate.
Most commented was Making Parenting Pay, which isn't saying a lot as most of these posts don't get any comments at all!
Most popular posts overall on this blog are from previous years, on the spirituality or otherwise of Coldplays Mylo Xyloto and this one on the future of the CofE (yes, yet another one, it also generated most discussion), looking at how a church based on having 15,000 full-time frontline staff will cope when it only has 5,000.
More and more traffic to the blog has come via Twitter - it's no coincidence that several of these top posts were written around the time of General Synod, and the #synod hashtag generated a lot more interest than usual. Inter-blog traffic is fading, but thankyou to anyone who's blogged or tweeted a link here, especially Cookies Days, Thinking Anglicans and God and Politics. I hope there's been something worth reading!
General Synod: Sneaking in a radical growth strategy whilst everyone else is looking at women bishops (1556)
Church Growth in the CofE - Discussion Paper (1275) short paper for local clergy/churches based on a CofE General Synod paper on church growth
Absent Fathers Day (1154) reflections on a Centre for Social Justice report on fatherhood, or rather the lack of it, in vast numbers of families.
Flashmob Wedding (914) Kate Bottley sets an example to vicars everywhere
Church of England Headline Generator (837) can't take any credit for this, simply a one sentence link to the Beaker Folk
Minion Praise (816) excellent.
Church of England - Not Levelling Out (805) doing my Morrissey act on some positive reporting of CofE attendance stats earlier in the year.
Christians the most persecuted religious body on the planet (741)
Papal Shortlist (728) not entirely serious. Perhaps we should be thankful someone else got the job.
Youth Run riot in Yeovil (725) possibly not what you're expecting from the headline. That's deliberate.
Most commented was Making Parenting Pay, which isn't saying a lot as most of these posts don't get any comments at all!
Most popular posts overall on this blog are from previous years, on the spirituality or otherwise of Coldplays Mylo Xyloto and this one on the future of the CofE (yes, yet another one, it also generated most discussion), looking at how a church based on having 15,000 full-time frontline staff will cope when it only has 5,000.
More and more traffic to the blog has come via Twitter - it's no coincidence that several of these top posts were written around the time of General Synod, and the #synod hashtag generated a lot more interest than usual. Inter-blog traffic is fading, but thankyou to anyone who's blogged or tweeted a link here, especially Cookies Days, Thinking Anglicans and God and Politics. I hope there's been something worth reading!
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
2 useful lists: what the vicar says, and what to say to your vicar
A couple of lovely lists:
Biblical Preaching is offering 50 'preaching tweaks' - small experiments and one-degree shifts in preaching which can make a big difference for anyone aspiring to be an effective preacher. One of the few things I remember clear as day from training college is one lecturer saying she always tried 1 new thing whenever she preached. The 'preaching tweaks' lists reminds me that my preaching is still a work in progress, and there's a lot I can do to improve and stay fresh.
John Martin has posted on the Fulcrum site '10 things a Vicar needs to hear - often'. There's probably a companion piece to be done on 10 things any church member needs to hear often, but it's an excellent list. 'Is everything ok?' 'enjoy your time away' 'how can I help?' are things some of us rarely hear, and I know some clergy who get the message - both spoken and unspoken - that they aren't allowed not to be ok, and that time off is something clergy should always feel guilty about. Andy yes, sometimes we contribute to our own downfall - if you wont accept offers of help, don't be surprised if they dry up.
...and on the topic of lists and vicars, Jeremy Fletchers 'Rules for Reverends', which originally appeared on his blog, (e.g. 103: no, the compilers of the lectionary didn't know what they were doing; 87. Being on the committee of another organisation is a good way of realising that perhaps the PCC isn’t so bad after all. Or recognising that, actually, it is.) is now published with added Dave Walker cartoons.
...and on the topic of lists and vicars, Jeremy Fletchers 'Rules for Reverends', which originally appeared on his blog, (e.g. 103: no, the compilers of the lectionary didn't know what they were doing; 87. Being on the committee of another organisation is a good way of realising that perhaps the PCC isn’t so bad after all. Or recognising that, actually, it is.) is now published with added Dave Walker cartoons.
Friday, July 06, 2012
Ebuzzing top blogs for July (aka June) 2012
Time for that monthly plunge into the mysterious world of the Ebuzzing rankings for religion & faith blogs. I've given up trying to understand how they work, but if nothing else it's a good way of finding other blogs. As has become the tradition (i.e. I've done it a couple of times before), the top 15 is followed by a carefully selected cross section of other blogs. Because it's July, it's the turn of 27, 37 and the rest. Happy browsing.
1 The Freethinker
2 Thinking Anglicans must be some kerfuffle about women bishops going on.
3 eChurch Blog
4. Anglican Mainstream. You know what I'm going to say.
5. BIGBible project
6. iBenedictines
7. God and Politics in the UK
8. Adrian Warnock
9 Krish Kandiah
10 Peter Saunders - Christian Medical Comment surprised, I would have expected this to rise in the month of the BMA conference
11 Apologetics 315 looks like a US site, so not quite sure what it's doing here, but hey...
12 Barthomews Notes on Religion
13 Nick Baines
14 Vicky Beeching
15 The hermeneutic of continuity
and this months specials
17 Peter Ould still exercising the fundamentals of orthodoxy. Rivals 15 for most baffling title.
27 Ismailmail
37 Maggi Dawn
47 Dean Roberts - he seems to make this section every month, cunning chap.
57 Purple Words on a Grey Background nothing to do with Shades of Grey. At least I hope not.
67 The remarkable Steve Tilley
77 New Kid on the Blog
87 The Urban Pastor
97 Transforming Grace
1 The Freethinker
2 Thinking Anglicans must be some kerfuffle about women bishops going on.
3 eChurch Blog
4. Anglican Mainstream. You know what I'm going to say.
5. BIGBible project
6. iBenedictines
7. God and Politics in the UK
8. Adrian Warnock
9 Krish Kandiah
10 Peter Saunders - Christian Medical Comment surprised, I would have expected this to rise in the month of the BMA conference
11 Apologetics 315 looks like a US site, so not quite sure what it's doing here, but hey...
12 Barthomews Notes on Religion
13 Nick Baines
14 Vicky Beeching
15 The hermeneutic of continuity
and this months specials
17 Peter Ould still exercising the fundamentals of orthodoxy. Rivals 15 for most baffling title.
27 Ismailmail
37 Maggi Dawn
47 Dean Roberts - he seems to make this section every month, cunning chap.
57 Purple Words on a Grey Background nothing to do with Shades of Grey. At least I hope not.
67 The remarkable Steve Tilley
77 New Kid on the Blog
87 The Urban Pastor
97 Transforming Grace
Sunday, June 17, 2012
'top' Ebuzzing blogs - the ones that got away
By mistake last week I couldn't tell the difference between 5 and 6, so here are the blogs I mistakenly left off the list from the Ebuzzing top religion/belief blogs from June.
56 Resistance and Renewal well worth a look, doesn't post every day, but good pieces, well set out, very readable.
66 DoDifferent writing about web design theology and mission
76 Theblogofkevin been around a while, and I still haven't got used to the typeface, but 2 fascinating recent posts, one comparing church streams to airline companies, and another on the latest offering from Jay-Z and Kanye West.
86 Postmodern Bible not exactly a frequent poster, and if you're a Methodist you may want to shield your eyes before looking at the stats quoted.
96 Talking Christian very nice, personal blog, good place to go if you want to avoid all the media-induced church politics frenzy and find a normal person trying to be a normal Christian.
and if you're still into lists, TallSkinnyKiwi has a list of the 'Worlds Best Christian Blogs'. Of course, these are just the top blogs in the opinion of the person who authored the list and the people who appear on it (wink), but there'll all good ones and worth a look if you've not come across them already.
56 Resistance and Renewal well worth a look, doesn't post every day, but good pieces, well set out, very readable.
66 DoDifferent writing about web design theology and mission
76 Theblogofkevin been around a while, and I still haven't got used to the typeface, but 2 fascinating recent posts, one comparing church streams to airline companies, and another on the latest offering from Jay-Z and Kanye West.
86 Postmodern Bible not exactly a frequent poster, and if you're a Methodist you may want to shield your eyes before looking at the stats quoted.
96 Talking Christian very nice, personal blog, good place to go if you want to avoid all the media-induced church politics frenzy and find a normal person trying to be a normal Christian.
and if you're still into lists, TallSkinnyKiwi has a list of the 'Worlds Best Christian Blogs'. Of course, these are just the top blogs in the opinion of the person who authored the list and the people who appear on it (wink), but there'll all good ones and worth a look if you've not come across them already.
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
Ebuzzing top blogs, May 2012
I have no idea how accurate these are (see below), but for the record:
1. the Freethinker
2. Thinking Anglicans
3. Krish Kandiah
4. Peter Saunders - Christian Medical Comment
5. eChurch Blog
6. is the news aggregator Anglican Mainstrem, which isn't a blog
7. iBenedictines
8. Islam in Europe
9. the BIGBible Project
10. God and Politics (good to see this in the top 10, great blog)
It being the 5th month, here are some 'randomly' selected others - my main use of Ebuzzing is to discover other blogs -
15. Nick Baines
25 An Exercise in the Fundamentals of Orthodoxy
35 What's in Kelvins Head (Provost of Glasgow Cathedral, very readable)
45 Dyfed Wyn Roberts: theology beyond the fence
55 Looking Deeper (Lucy Mills). Love the poems
65 Rev Ruths Rantings
75 A Reader in Writing (has sections on 'Wildlife', 'Theology' and 'Mothers Union'. I'm just glad if I can tell the difference)
85 Distinct Reflections written by baptist minister Neil Brighton
95 Views News and Pews
Full list here.
For statistical purists, a few riders
- as far as I know, the ranking above depends on links and traffic from other Ebuzzing registered blogs. That cuts out plenty of traffic sources, and it also means if you're not registered, you don't get in the listing.
- Ebuzzing isn't that good at spotting all said links, based on the evidence of my own blog!
- most of my traffic actually comes via Twitter and Facebook, not sure how well this is picked up either.
- Cranmer, the top blog in this category, is in the 'politics' category, and apparently you're not allowed to cover more than one subject. Heresy Corner would be somewhere in here too, if it were allowed.
- but, in the absence of Church Mouse and Rev Lesley, someone has to keep new media lists alive, so....
It's quite US-centric, but the best ranking device for Christian blogs is this one, which combines several different indicators into a single rating.
1. the Freethinker
2. Thinking Anglicans
3. Krish Kandiah
4. Peter Saunders - Christian Medical Comment
5. eChurch Blog
6. is the news aggregator Anglican Mainstrem, which isn't a blog
7. iBenedictines
8. Islam in Europe
9. the BIGBible Project
10. God and Politics (good to see this in the top 10, great blog)
It being the 5th month, here are some 'randomly' selected others - my main use of Ebuzzing is to discover other blogs -
15. Nick Baines
25 An Exercise in the Fundamentals of Orthodoxy
35 What's in Kelvins Head (Provost of Glasgow Cathedral, very readable)
45 Dyfed Wyn Roberts: theology beyond the fence
55 Looking Deeper (Lucy Mills). Love the poems
65 Rev Ruths Rantings
75 A Reader in Writing (has sections on 'Wildlife', 'Theology' and 'Mothers Union'. I'm just glad if I can tell the difference)
85 Distinct Reflections written by baptist minister Neil Brighton
95 Views News and Pews
Full list here.
For statistical purists, a few riders
- as far as I know, the ranking above depends on links and traffic from other Ebuzzing registered blogs. That cuts out plenty of traffic sources, and it also means if you're not registered, you don't get in the listing.
- Ebuzzing isn't that good at spotting all said links, based on the evidence of my own blog!
- most of my traffic actually comes via Twitter and Facebook, not sure how well this is picked up either.
- Cranmer, the top blog in this category, is in the 'politics' category, and apparently you're not allowed to cover more than one subject. Heresy Corner would be somewhere in here too, if it were allowed.
- but, in the absence of Church Mouse and Rev Lesley, someone has to keep new media lists alive, so....
It's quite US-centric, but the best ranking device for Christian blogs is this one, which combines several different indicators into a single rating.
Monday, February 06, 2012
Ebuzzing/Wikio Religion Blogs - February top 10
Ebuzzings 'most influential blogs' list has just been updated for February. Here are the top 10 blogs in the Religion and Belief category.
1. Thinking Anglicans (must be a General Synod coming up)
2. Islam in Europe
3. Krish Kandiah (the Driscoll effect?)
4. Echurch blog (has replaced Church Mouse for me as my most regular read, good source of links, news, opinion from a wide range of topics)
5. Peter Saunders
6. The Freethinker
7. Tall Skinny Kiwi
8. The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley
9. iBenedictines
10. Anglican Mainstream, even though it's not a blog. Andrew Brown has some interesting thoughts.
11. The BigBible project (of course I can count: see 10)
Points of order:
- Church Mouse has sprung back into the top 20 on the basis of just one post.
- you'll find this blog in the top 20 if you can remember what it was called 2 years ago. That seems to be mostly on the strength of Twitter - on average over the last few months there have been 3-4 links from other blogs and around 100 retweets. Makes me wonder where the traffic came from BT (Before Twitter).
and I'm going to link to The Vicars Wife (65) for no particular reason, but just to see if it helps her ranking next month. Actually, we could all do it and see what happens.....
1. Thinking Anglicans (must be a General Synod coming up)
2. Islam in Europe
3. Krish Kandiah (the Driscoll effect?)
4. Echurch blog (has replaced Church Mouse for me as my most regular read, good source of links, news, opinion from a wide range of topics)
5. Peter Saunders
6. The Freethinker
7. Tall Skinny Kiwi
8. The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley
9. iBenedictines
10. Anglican Mainstream, even though it's not a blog. Andrew Brown has some interesting thoughts.
11. The BigBible project (of course I can count: see 10)
Points of order:
- Church Mouse has sprung back into the top 20 on the basis of just one post.
- you'll find this blog in the top 20 if you can remember what it was called 2 years ago. That seems to be mostly on the strength of Twitter - on average over the last few months there have been 3-4 links from other blogs and around 100 retweets. Makes me wonder where the traffic came from BT (Before Twitter).
and I'm going to link to The Vicars Wife (65) for no particular reason, but just to see if it helps her ranking next month. Actually, we could all do it and see what happens.....
Monday, July 05, 2010
Edited 'Highlights'
If you drop in here once every 6 months, this is the post for you! Here are the most popular pages for the first half of 2010
1. That'll Do
2. No Songs Please, We're Blokeish
3. Clergy Bullying 'rife'?
4. Rev
5. The Most Unchristian Marketing in the World, Ever?
6. Trafalgar Square Passion Play
7. '40' by Si Smith (posted ages ago, but always a popular one for Lent)
8. General Synod Headline Generator
9. 'After You Believe' new Tom Wright book.
10. Clegg 'I'm not a man of faith, sometimes I wish I was'
and thankyou to all of you who've pointed people to this site, top referring sites are:
Bishop Alan
Church Mouse
The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley
Clayboy
Dave Walker's Church Times Blog
Banksy Boy
The Vicars Wife (not mine!)
Tim Chesterton
Maggi Dawn
Phil Ritchie
Rev Lesley
plus the odd visitor from Twitter and Facebook... Thanks for dropping by.
1. That'll Do
2. No Songs Please, We're Blokeish
3. Clergy Bullying 'rife'?
4. Rev
5. The Most Unchristian Marketing in the World, Ever?
6. Trafalgar Square Passion Play
7. '40' by Si Smith (posted ages ago, but always a popular one for Lent)
8. General Synod Headline Generator
9. 'After You Believe' new Tom Wright book.
10. Clegg 'I'm not a man of faith, sometimes I wish I was'
and thankyou to all of you who've pointed people to this site, top referring sites are:
Bishop Alan
Church Mouse
The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley
Clayboy
Dave Walker's Church Times Blog
Banksy Boy
The Vicars Wife (not mine!)
Tim Chesterton
Maggi Dawn
Phil Ritchie
Rev Lesley
plus the odd visitor from Twitter and Facebook... Thanks for dropping by.
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Random highlights of 2009
1. The emergence of BBC comedy from the Little Britain era: whilst Armstrong and Miller was hit and miss, Stewart Lee, Outnumbered and (big surprise) Miranda were all funny and watchable. There's even a decent sketch show on CBeebies.
2. Some justice at last for SPCK staff, with the Charity Commissioners stepping in to take over what's left of the bookshop chain. All in all a grim year for the Christian bookshop trade, with STL/Wesley Owen going south at the end of the year, but it was good to see something we've campaigned on finally getting some results.
3. England rediscoving how to play cricket, and that you don't need 'talisman' players (Flintoff, Pietersen) in order to win. The Ashes victory, and last weeks cracker in South Africa are hopefully the beginnings of an era of non-superstar success, where we win as a team. Delighted also to hear that the 2013 Ashes will probably be on free-to-air TV.
4. Discovering Twitter and Spotify, all the more so as the latter is starting to load up some decent back catalogues for the Smiths and Shriekback. Little Boots has been the soundtrack to the year.
5. The final 2 minutes of Ashes to Ashes. Actually most of it was pretty good, but a brilliant way to end the series. Can't wait for series 3.
6. U2's 'Magnificent', one of a couple of stand-out tracks on No Line on the Horizon. I'm hoping that some church worship groups have this on their playlists, and if not, why not?
7. Managing to scrape myself out of hospital just in time to catch Coldplay at Wembley.
8. There's a whole other top 10 of stuff with family and kids which I'll spare you from. My daughter was asked today what new years resolution she'd like me to make. 'Spend more time with us', she said, without pausing for thought. Hard to resist.
9. The whole MP expenses thing, coupled with the banking crisis, has to go down as missed opportunity of the year. There seems to have been no serious moral reformation of either politics or finance, and Copenhagen suggests that we're all too wedded to consumption and 'progress' to live within the means of the planet, and to stop stealing from future generations.
10. Being alive on 31st December 2009. Life is such a gift, and considering where in the world I could have been born, and at what times in history I could have lived, I'm blessed beyond anything I could possibly deserve. What to do with this blessing, 'what to do with the time that has been given to us', is the big question. Hoard or share? Indulge or invest? Buy off my conscience with a bit of charity in the corner, or hand my life back over to God as a daily thankyou?
2. Some justice at last for SPCK staff, with the Charity Commissioners stepping in to take over what's left of the bookshop chain. All in all a grim year for the Christian bookshop trade, with STL/Wesley Owen going south at the end of the year, but it was good to see something we've campaigned on finally getting some results.
3. England rediscoving how to play cricket, and that you don't need 'talisman' players (Flintoff, Pietersen) in order to win. The Ashes victory, and last weeks cracker in South Africa are hopefully the beginnings of an era of non-superstar success, where we win as a team. Delighted also to hear that the 2013 Ashes will probably be on free-to-air TV.
4. Discovering Twitter and Spotify, all the more so as the latter is starting to load up some decent back catalogues for the Smiths and Shriekback. Little Boots has been the soundtrack to the year.
5. The final 2 minutes of Ashes to Ashes. Actually most of it was pretty good, but a brilliant way to end the series. Can't wait for series 3.
6. U2's 'Magnificent', one of a couple of stand-out tracks on No Line on the Horizon. I'm hoping that some church worship groups have this on their playlists, and if not, why not?
7. Managing to scrape myself out of hospital just in time to catch Coldplay at Wembley.
8. There's a whole other top 10 of stuff with family and kids which I'll spare you from. My daughter was asked today what new years resolution she'd like me to make. 'Spend more time with us', she said, without pausing for thought. Hard to resist.
9. The whole MP expenses thing, coupled with the banking crisis, has to go down as missed opportunity of the year. There seems to have been no serious moral reformation of either politics or finance, and Copenhagen suggests that we're all too wedded to consumption and 'progress' to live within the means of the planet, and to stop stealing from future generations.
10. Being alive on 31st December 2009. Life is such a gift, and considering where in the world I could have been born, and at what times in history I could have lived, I'm blessed beyond anything I could possibly deserve. What to do with this blessing, 'what to do with the time that has been given to us', is the big question. Hoard or share? Indulge or invest? Buy off my conscience with a bit of charity in the corner, or hand my life back over to God as a daily thankyou?
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Top 100 Christian Blogs (another one!)
Every day seems to unearth yet another ranking or listing of blogs, either that or I produce one of my own. Here's some of the efforts to list blogs within the religious/Christian webworld, each of which is doing something slightly different.
Top 100 Church Blogs compiled last week by Beyond Relevance (combination of Alexa, RSS subscriptions, Technorati and a couple of other measures). The good news is that a lot of the top blogs are quite sensible/thoughtful. Pretty good starting point.
Blogrank which has a whole load of different subsections, again a composite score based on about 12 different indicators.
Peter Oulds list of Anglican blogs by Alexa ranking.
Church Mouse has a table of Twittering Anglicans
Dave Bish keeps a list of UK Christian blogs by Technorati ranking, updated occasionally (look down the sidebar)
Blogtopsites is one of several with a 'religion' subsection, all manner of weird and wonderful things in there, very international too. Keeps a running log of traffic, zeroed every week.
For something completely different, MandM keep track of the top Christian blogs in New Zealand.
Most of these seem to require an opt-in, either registration or something similar. There's probably hundreds of others, so the great news is that somewhere, probably, your blog is no.1. And if it isn't, then you've always got 'the last shall be first' to fall back on.
Top 100 Church Blogs compiled last week by Beyond Relevance (combination of Alexa, RSS subscriptions, Technorati and a couple of other measures). The good news is that a lot of the top blogs are quite sensible/thoughtful. Pretty good starting point.
Blogrank which has a whole load of different subsections, again a composite score based on about 12 different indicators.
Peter Oulds list of Anglican blogs by Alexa ranking.
Church Mouse has a table of Twittering Anglicans
Dave Bish keeps a list of UK Christian blogs by Technorati ranking, updated occasionally (look down the sidebar)
Blogtopsites is one of several with a 'religion' subsection, all manner of weird and wonderful things in there, very international too. Keeps a running log of traffic, zeroed every week.
For something completely different, MandM keep track of the top Christian blogs in New Zealand.
Most of these seem to require an opt-in, either registration or something similar. There's probably hundreds of others, so the great news is that somewhere, probably, your blog is no.1. And if it isn't, then you've always got 'the last shall be first' to fall back on.
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Wikio top religious blogs: September 09
Here's the latest top blogs in the UK (according to Wikio) which have a significant religious dimension. Numbers are where they stand in the general rankings:
18 Cranmer (not bad considering he didn't blog for over a week in August)
71 Heresy Corner (great post a few days ago on the issue of euthanasia)
98 The hermeneutic of continuity continues to rise.
102 Bartholemews Notes on Religion
124 What Does the Prayer Really Say?
127 Thinking Anglicans
136 Gates of Vienna, which I guess I should include, even though it strikes me as pretty rabid.
143 Anglican Mainstream (what is it about Anglican blogs that they claim these mildly positive adjectives - 'thinking' 'mainstream' etc.?)
170 The Ugley Vicar first showing in the top 200. Thoughtful conservative evangelical blog.
178 St. Aidan to Abbey Manor crikey where did that come from?
183 Catholic and Loving It new one, good title, pretty good content too, very readable. Suddenly Catholic blogs are appearing in the top 200, which is good.
199 Virtue Online which shouldn't even be in the UK rankings, as it's a US blog.
and just outside the top 200
212 Of course I could be wrong
218 SPCK/SSG News Notes and Info
221 John Smeaton, director of SPUC (Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child)
for previous months, follow the wikio rankings tab below. There seem to be more blogs dealing with religious topics in the top 200 than a few months ago, and the new Wikio interface certainly makes it easier to spot new ones. If you're favourites aren't here, then you can add them to the Wikio database.
18 Cranmer (not bad considering he didn't blog for over a week in August)
71 Heresy Corner (great post a few days ago on the issue of euthanasia)
98 The hermeneutic of continuity continues to rise.
102 Bartholemews Notes on Religion
124 What Does the Prayer Really Say?
127 Thinking Anglicans
136 Gates of Vienna, which I guess I should include, even though it strikes me as pretty rabid.
143 Anglican Mainstream (what is it about Anglican blogs that they claim these mildly positive adjectives - 'thinking' 'mainstream' etc.?)
170 The Ugley Vicar first showing in the top 200. Thoughtful conservative evangelical blog.
178 St. Aidan to Abbey Manor crikey where did that come from?
183 Catholic and Loving It new one, good title, pretty good content too, very readable. Suddenly Catholic blogs are appearing in the top 200, which is good.
199 Virtue Online which shouldn't even be in the UK rankings, as it's a US blog.
and just outside the top 200
212 Of course I could be wrong
218 SPCK/SSG News Notes and Info
221 John Smeaton, director of SPUC (Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child)
for previous months, follow the wikio rankings tab below. There seem to be more blogs dealing with religious topics in the top 200 than a few months ago, and the new Wikio interface certainly makes it easier to spot new ones. If you're favourites aren't here, then you can add them to the Wikio database.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
List-tastic
If you're a fan of lists, then here are a few:
Peter Ould has the latest Alexa-based rankings for Anglican blogs. The bloggers at Greenbelt I spoke to seemed to think that Alexa doesn't really work for UK blogs, compared to US ones. But as long as I'm going up in the rankings I won't complain.....
If you like your lists comprehensive, one site attempts a Grand Unified Theory of blogging, compiling a ranking from Alexa, Technorati, Google, site feeds and several other measures. The 'top site' on this basis is Between Two Worlds.
Iain Dale has various lists going on, mostly from Total Politics:
- Nominations for the most influential people on the 'left' and 'right' and Libdem. I'd quite like to see a list for people who gain influence without having to sign up to a political pigeonhole.
- top 75 Libdem blogs
- top 100 Conservative blogs
- top 100 right of centre blogs (why does the right need two lists? that's greedy, but then that's capitalism for you)
- top 100 left blogs announced this morning, congrats to Tom Harris.
- top Green blogs
Wikio top religious blogs will be here once a) the full list gets published for August and b) I can find time to trawl through them.
Church Mouse has an entirely different list, a Green ranking of consumer products. Hooray for Persil, boo for Haribo gums.
Update: top list of the day is 'The 10 worst verses in the Bible', which is pretty much everywhere: here, here , here, here, and here. If that sort of negativity gets you down, then join the Bible group on Facebook, currently 370,000 members and rising, one of the fastest growing pages on FB.
Peter Ould has the latest Alexa-based rankings for Anglican blogs. The bloggers at Greenbelt I spoke to seemed to think that Alexa doesn't really work for UK blogs, compared to US ones. But as long as I'm going up in the rankings I won't complain.....
If you like your lists comprehensive, one site attempts a Grand Unified Theory of blogging, compiling a ranking from Alexa, Technorati, Google, site feeds and several other measures. The 'top site' on this basis is Between Two Worlds.
Iain Dale has various lists going on, mostly from Total Politics:
- Nominations for the most influential people on the 'left' and 'right' and Libdem. I'd quite like to see a list for people who gain influence without having to sign up to a political pigeonhole.
- top 75 Libdem blogs
- top 100 Conservative blogs
- top 100 right of centre blogs (why does the right need two lists? that's greedy, but then that's capitalism for you)
- top 100 left blogs announced this morning, congrats to Tom Harris.
- top Green blogs
Wikio top religious blogs will be here once a) the full list gets published for August and b) I can find time to trawl through them.
Church Mouse has an entirely different list, a Green ranking of consumer products. Hooray for Persil, boo for Haribo gums.
Update: top list of the day is 'The 10 worst verses in the Bible', which is pretty much everywhere: here, here , here, here, and here. If that sort of negativity gets you down, then join the Bible group on Facebook, currently 370,000 members and rising, one of the fastest growing pages on FB.
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