Skip to main content

Posts

Ebenezer Baptist Church in Bury (now, Bury Baptist Church)

Ebenezer Baptist Church in Bury goes back to the year 1845. Its first permanent building was completed in 1853 on Knowsley Street (on the site of the present Art Picture House opposite the travel interchange). There may have been another Baptist church building on Spring Street completed in 1852.  Later, sometime between 1853 and 1860, the pastor of Ebenezer would baptise as a believer Franklin Howorth, former minister of Bank Street Unitarian Chapel in Bury. By the time he was baptised as a believer, Howorth had already resigned the ministry at Bank Street and started the "Free Christian Church" which met at "the Commercial Buildings" and would later meet in a purpose-built building on Rochdale New Road from 1860 to 1971.  Another Baptist church in Bury was Chesham Baptist Chapel, which began in 1881.  In 1871, James Webb was pastor of Ebenezer (and Joseph Harvey pastor at the Spring Street Baptist chapel), and in 1883, Rev. W. L. Mayo. In 1898, Ebenezer church mov...
Post a Comment
Read more
Recent posts

Advent texts

It's that time of year again. I am planning preaching texts for the Advent season.  This year, my idea for the first three Sundays in Advent is to have preaching on each of the three main parts of the Old Testament, namely the Law, the Prophets and the Writings.  Here are some texts from the five books of Moses (Torah) that are relevant to Advent/Christmas Genesis 49 - Jacob blessing his sons, and singling out his fourth son, Judah, as the one from whom the "sceptre will not depart" Numbers 24 - Balaam prophetically "sees" the Star that will defeat Moab.  Deuteronomy 18 - Moses predicts "another prophet like me Arguably, most of the favourite Advent/Christmas texts/passages are taken from the Latter Prophets, such as Isaiah and Micah. One example not always included in the list of advent texts would be Isaiah 11 .  In terms of the "Writings", in the Hebrew division of the Old Testament this includes 11 books/scrolls (corresponds to 13 books in Chr...
Post a Comment
Read more

History of the Persian church (beginnings to Arab hegemony)

On the day of Pentecost, among the many nations present were "Parthians and Medes and Elamites and dwellers in Mesopotamia." Eusebius traced missionary work in what was Parthia to the Apostle Thomas. Another arguably less reliably tradition is that of Addai of Edessa.  There is hard evidence of Christians in what was by then the Sasanian Empire around 233, namely the Domus Ecclesiae (house-converted-into-a-church) at Dura Europos . In second half of the third century, there was a bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon by the name of " Papa/Pappa ". During this Sasanid period (dating from 224), the Church spread throughout the Persian Empire. The churches used the Syriac language.  A representative of the church in the Sasanian Empire was present at the 325 Council of Nicea, and was called " John of Persia ". There was a 40-year persecution lasting 339 to 379 under Shapur II (309–79). One contemporary Christian whose writings record these events was the theologian ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jewish synagogue services on the Sabbath/Shabbat, including Scriptural readings

I have only ever visited synagogues outside of service times. I have never been able to attend a "live" synagogue service. So all I know about the synagogue service comes from excursions, and speaking to Jews who have told me second hand. The Jewish sabbath begins on sundown on Friday and runs until sundown on Saturday. The main weekly service, Shacharit Shabbat, is held on Saturday morning, for example at 9.30am. The synagogue services begins with opening prayers: the morning blessings, and various verses from the psalms and other books of the Tanakh (Old Testament). The latter is known as "P’sukei D’Zimra". Then comes the reciting of the "Shema" - "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God, the Lord alone."  This is followed by blessings, and the Amidah prayer ("18 blessings").  The central moment during the service is the reading of the Torah portion for the day. The cycle of Torah readings runs from September to September, and fo...
Post a Comment
Read more

What was the school of Antioch?

It was at Antioch that those scattered in the persecution after the murder of Stephen "spoke to Greeks also" and many believed. It was an Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.   By the 300s, Antioch was established as a major centre for the Christian faith. When, at the Council of Nicea in 325, particular cities and bishops were identified as having a "place of honour" with wider jurisdiction over other bishoprics (canon 6 of the Council of Nicea), the top four were Rome, Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem (later, Constantinople was identified as second).  In the early centuries, the classes for new converts (catechetical schools) morphed into centres for Christian thought, sometimes compared to modern-day universities. There were catechetical schools at Alexandria, and at Antioch.  The school of Antioch has become associated with a plain interpretation of Scripture and also with the teachings of Nestorius, condemned at the 431 council of Ephesus....
Post a Comment
Read more

ESV translation and word order

The church where I currently serve as pastor uses the ESV translation of the Bible. This translation has many merits, but over the time I have been at the church again and again I have noticed how "clunky" it is.  The ESV translation of the Bible is not a new translation of the Bible, but rather a revision of an existing translation, namely the RSV. The existing word order of the RSV appears to have been retained, meaning that when you read it, the translation sounds rather stilted.  Here is an example (Mark 5:35): Original RSV: "While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said..." Current ESV: "While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said..." (in this case the ESV has used the RSV version unchanged) ESV rearranged based on word order in 2025 English: "While he was still speaking, some people came from the ruler's house who said..." In 2025 English, it is unnatural to order the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Leo the Great (+ 461)

Leo was born in Tuscany perhaps in 391.  By the late 430s, he was consecrated as deacon. As deacon, he had responsibilities for managing the money and property of the church, and for caring for the poor. Leo was well known in the wider church to the extent that in 431 John Cassian dedicated his letter on the Nestorian controversy to Leo.  In 440, shortly before becoming bishop of Rome, Leo was sent to Gaul by the Emperor on a diplomatic mission. This demonstrates his skill in mediation, and also the new secular role of the church at this time of the decline of the Roman Empire.  That same year, in 440, on the death of the previous bishop of Rome, Sixtus III, Leo was elected to take his place. Prosper of Aquitane served as his secretary.  Leo fought against the Pelagian heresy, and dealt with the issue of clergy ordained without a clear abjuration of that false teaching.  In 443, he also conducted examinations into the community of Manicheans which had been ...
Post a Comment
Read more