James Woodward | James Woodward

How Do We Access the Spiritual?

Posted on 18 July 201623 December 2016 by James Woodward

How Do We Access The Spiritual Edited by Jonathan Pye, Peter Sedgwick and Andrew Todd, Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2015; 280 pages; £19.99 I review this book (the second week of July 2016) when two particular conversations were at the forefront of my mind. The first was the smooth transition between Cameron and May into 10 […]

Longing for a deeper Church ?

Posted on 16 July 2016 by James Woodward

Andrew Walker, Notes From A Wayward Son: A Miscellany, ed. by Andrew D. Kinsey (Cascade, 2015), 322pp. no price marked. ISBN 978 – 1– 62564 – 161 – 8. This is an intriguing, stimulating and rewarding book that offers a space within which Andrew Walkers rather original and distinctive voice can be heard. Some will […]

How do we access the spiritual?

Posted on 15 July 2016 by James Woodward

Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2015; 280 pages; £19.99 ISBN 9781849054973 I review this book (the second week of July 2016) when two particular conversations were at the forefront of my mind. The first was the smooth transition between Cameron and May into 10 Downing Street and the office of Prime Minister. What followed was much speculation […]

Improving our understanding of Dementia ?

Posted on 10 July 2016 by James Woodward

I am gathering together a small collection of books all published by Jessica Kingsley who is certainly one of the most innovative and ground-breaking publishers working in this field. Their list covering a range of books on dementia is well worth examining. ( www.jkp.com ) These first two books handle at first hand the […]

Spiritual Accompaniment

Posted on 10 July 2016 by James Woodward

Spiritual Accompaniment and Counselling: Journeying with psyche and soul Edited by Peter Masden Gubi Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2015 paperback 192 pages £16.99 Here at Sarum College ( www.sarum.ac.uk ) our two year certificate in spiritual direction is very popular to a wide variety of individuals who wish to build upon, reflect and improve their practice. In a world […]

Performing Pastoral Care

Posted on 10 July 2016 by James Woodward

Making the case for the relevance of pastoral care today, this book explores the role of pastoral care through the prism of music. Using musical analogies, the author provides a new way of understanding and practising pastoral care, grounded in practical theology. Challenging overemphasis on mission, he shows that pastoral care remains essential to the […]

Facilitating Spiritual Reminiscence for People with dementia

Posted on 19 June 2016 by James Woodward

A Learning Guide by Elizabeth MacKinlay and Corrine Trevitt Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2015 I have recently experienced the hospitalisation of a close relative and, once again, have been surprised by the culture of care in our Hospitals. There is a kind of functionalism that serves to depersonalise an individual, their family and their well-being. This […]

Performing Pastoral Care

Posted on 10 June 201621 December 2016 by James Woodward

Sarum College: A Brief History

Posted on 16 May 2016 by James Woodward

From the early Middle Ages, Salisbury was an important centre for theological training, its great cathedral and Close attracting students and scholars from the whole of Europe. The history of theological study begins with St Osmund and the completion of the first cathedral at Old Sarum in 1092. After Old Sarum was abandoned in favour […]

What kind of leadership??

Posted on 25 April 2016 by James Woodward

Crucible : The Journal of Christian Social Ethics April 2016 Editorial What kind of Leadership? The four articles that follow in this edition of Crucible all take leadership as a starting point to reflect upon the nature of the Church and its exercise of power and authority in changing and complex times. This […]

Sarum Lectures 2016 Renewing Hope – Pray, Serve, Grow.

Posted on 13 April 2016 by James Woodward

The Sarum lectures have a long and distinguished history in the life of the Cathedral Close. They are a partnership between Sarum College and the Cathedral and this year we are looking forward to four lectures from our Diocesan Bishop, the Right Rev Nicholas Holtham. Here is an outline of the lectures. Renewing Hope – […]

Gravity, Context and Choice

Posted on 13 March 2016 by James Woodward

Ministry in an Urban Context. The photograph above is one of the many aerial views of the city of Southampton available via Google images. A large group of our ministry students have just left the College after a weekend exploring the context and challenge of urban ministry. We gathered on Friday and looked at […]

Good Disagreement? Grace and Truth in a Divided Church

Posted on 10 March 201621 December 2016 by James Woodward

Good Disagreement? Grace and Truth in a Divided Church Andrew Atherstone and Andrew Goddard (Editors) Lion Hudson 2015 There is a little bit of the playground and its visceral realities still in all of us. We prefer to get our own way and sometimes go to some lengths to achieve that. We easily dismiss, obstruct, even […]

Ageing – an inner and outer journey

Posted on 1 March 2016 by James Woodward

TO SEE THE FLOWERS Don’t go outside your house to see flowers. My friend, don’t bother with that excursion. Inside your body there are flowers. One flower has a thousand petals. That will do for a place to sit. Sitting there you will have a glimpse of beauty inside the body and out of […]

Learning: enlivening and enlarging?

Posted on 28 February 2016 by James Woodward

Sarum College is now almost empty with our third-year students from our Ministry programme having returned back to their homes and families. I have to say a rather wonderful silence has fallen over the building! This has been a busy and demanding weekend for all of us – but I’m glad of some space to think […]

On Reaching a Certain Age !

Posted on 23 February 2016 by James Woodward

‘Middle age starts much later than previously thought – at the age of 55, research suggests’ – this is the rather helpful advice sent to me by a friend on this my 55th birthday. Born on 23 February 1961 is no arguing any more with the realities of time and age and numbers. For the […]

Jim Birren

Posted on 15 February 2016 by James Woodward

REMEMBERING JIM BIRREN One of the towering figures in gerontology has died : James E. Birren, founding Director of the Andrus Gerontology Center, at the University of Southern California, died at the age of 97. His achievements were extraordinary Foremost among these, is creation of the Andrus Gerontology Center at USC, as well as the Leonard […]

What kind of Ministry? Chaplaincy as Mission

Posted on 11 February 2016 by James Woodward

Chaplaincy Ministry and the Mission of the Church Victoria Slater, SCM Press 2015, 160 pages, pbk, no price marked, ISBN 978 0 334 05315 6 There are three distinctive and attractive characteristics of this book. The first is the authors’ skilful ability to open up her research in an accessible and stimulating way. The […]

Sarum College – an enriching and enlarging place

Posted on 10 February 2016 by James Woodward

I have had somewhat of a break from WordPress and decided on this first day of Lent to reconnect with this medium by way of re-engaging and reflecting on what had been very demanding but stimulating past few months. During the early part of 2015 I engaged in a discernment process which led to my […]

Chaplaincy Ministry and the Mission of the Church

Posted on 10 January 201623 December 2016 by James Woodward

Chaplaincy Ministry and the Mission of the Church Victoria Slater, SCM Press 2015, 160 pages, pbk There are three distinctive and attractive characteristics of this book. The first is the authors’ skilful ability to open up her research in an accessible and stimulating way. The second is the quality of theological reflection based, thirdly, in […]

Author: James Woodward