Ten questions with: Elaine Macdonald
en staff
Date posted: 8 Jul 2025
Elaine Macdonald is a member of The Bridge Church, Cardiff. Influenced by her experience as a UCCF staff worker in the early 1990s, she is passionate about one-to-one discipleship. She is currently a member of the Evangelical Movement of Wales management board.
1. How did you become a Christian?
By my mid-twenties, I’d arrived at a place of believing in a creator, sustainer God, but had no sense of a personal, redeemer God. My upbringing had given me a clear sense of right and wrong, and I thought that if I lived as good a life as I could, all would be well in the end. I became a high school teacher, and a colleague who had become a good friend invited me to church (there was something different about her, and how she handled life). Someone preached on Psalm 139, God’s Spirit revealed to me who He was, and who I was. I was amazed that such a God would be interested in such a one as me. He became my rescuer, and His right hand holds me fast.
Music leaders: Putting in the hard yards
Tom Brewster
Date posted: 7 Jul 2025
All musicians know that they should. But the truth is, practice is difficult.
As with any worthwhile skill, nothing comes for free. Practice is the price a musician pays for the ability to participate in the musical life. The beginner cannot play Beethoven, and even the skilled pianist must grapple with Scriabin. How then should we, as Christian believers, think of practice? Here are some of my initial thoughts:
everyday theology
Mistakes in the Bible?
Michael Reeves
Date posted: 7 Jul 2025
We can submit to Scripture with confidence because of our Lord. Jesus was consistently clear that what Scripture says, God says.
For example, conversing with the Pharisees, he said: “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” (Matt. 19:4–6)
defending our faith
See where they laid Him?
Chris Sinkinson
Date posted: 6 Jul 2025
Recent archaeological discoveries in Jerusalem are helping to pinpoint the location of the crucifixion of Jesus.
The place of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus is subject to some controversy. The fact is we don’t really know. There are clues in the Gospels – He was executed outside the city walls at a place called “the Skull” (Matt.27:33) and He was buried in an unused borrowed tomb (Matt. 27:57-60) described as a garden (John 19:41). The site of the crucifixion and burial are also described as being close to each other.
When shame closes doors, love opens them
Jason Roach
Date posted: 5 Jul 2025
For years, Eleanor slipped into our church services late and left early. She always sat in the back row, always turned down invitations to coffee and her attendance was sporadic at best. When she did come, she kept her head down, rarely making eye contact - many assumed she was just shy or private.
What none of us knew was that Eleanor was carrying a burden of profound shame. Her flat had gradually become overwhelmed with possessions: piles of magazines, bags of clothes, stacks of boxes - until there were only narrow pathways between mountains of items. The situation had deteriorated to the point where it posed genuine health risks, but her shame kept her locked in silence. She felt that if people saw how she lived, they would judge her and think something was wrong with her.
the ENd word
Perils for our preachers
Lizzy Smallwood
Date posted: 5 Jul 2025
In our trawl through James’ letter looking at our respectable sins, last time we looked in chapter three at how we use our mouths, and we noted it came after his opening gambit.
In James 3:1 he says: “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”
Music-making… is it soul shaping?
Dorna Nash & Naomi Carle
Date posted: 5 Jul 2025
Have you ever thought any of the following about music in church?
“We sing, then we move to the real thing: the preaching.”
everyday evangelism
The shameless audacity – of two men called John!
Gavin Matthews
Date posted: 5 Jul 2025
John always prayed for his unbelieving son – regardless of what people thought. His prayers involved tears, and his voice would tremble as he implored God to intervene. Yet sometimes I could detect something of an unspoken “tut” in the prayer meeting.
For some people such persistence in prayer showed a lack of trust in the Lord, while for others such demonstrations of emotion were unseemly, and certainly slightly awkward for us British!
helping children find faith
How to parent distinctively as a Christian
Ed Drew
Date posted: 4 Jul 2025
Pretty much every parent on the planet wants children who are kind, brave, and able to make wise decisions, so what more is there for Christian parents? Is our parenting only distinctive for placing church over Sunday sport?
In our everyday conversations in the kitchen or the car, remembering that we are a child of God gives us better ways to cope with the tears, the anger, the terrifying questions, and the predictably recurring issues.
earth watch
Attenborough's Ocean asks: What are we doing here?
Paul Kunert
Date posted: 3 Jul 2025
Ocean. David Attenborough’s latest made-for-the-big-screen documentary. Perhaps you’ve seen it. If not, please do – I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Barrow-rolling seal, sun-dappled kelp forest, coral garden reef, phytoplankton and whale, the astonishing beauty of it all. You’ll experience joy, wonder, horror, anger, hope and much else besides, all in the space of 90 minutes. It’s impossible not to be stirred, maybe shaken. Available in cinemas and, by the time you’re reading this, on Disney+.
evangelicals & catholics
Beware the mild view of sin
Leonardo De Chirico
Date posted: 3 Jul 2025
In my conversations with Catholic friends, I have found it useful to reference the five “magnetic points” expounded by British theologian Daniel Strange.
There are five fundamentals that all human beings are looking for and to which they are magnetically drawn. Because of their universal presence in people’s lives, they can be seen in Catholics.
The Trinity: Is God a united family?
Graham Shearer
Date posted: 1 Jul 2025
There is an increasing awareness amongst evangelical Christians that the doctrine of the Trinity is foundational to what it means to be a Christian. One way that can be discerned is in the evangelistic materials produced in recent years. Rather than beginning with an affirmation of God as creator and ruler, as evangelistic tracts of old may have done, many evangelistic resources now begin with the triune nature of the Christian God as a key distinctive of the Christian message.
This is, in the main, a very welcome development. Since we are baptised into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, it is clear that God’s triunity is basic to Christian discipleship and teaching. Yet, precisely because the triune nature of God is foundational, it is important to make sure we are being accurate and faithful in the way we think about it and express it. A mistake made in the foundations can lead to the whole building collapsing in the future.
pastoral care
Is 'don't worry, God's in charge' really enough?
Steve Midgley
Date posted: 28 Jun 2025
“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.” Some phrases trip off the tongue very easily, yet so often fail to deliver the reassurance we intend.
“Don’t worry, God’s in charge” is a closely related Christian alternative. God is, of course, in charge. But how often those words fail to speak to anxious ears.
history
Daniel McPhail: The reluctant pastor of Osgoode
Michael Haykin
Date posted: 28 Jun 2025
It was during the Ottawa Valley revival of 1834–1835, which was narrated in last month’s column, that the Scottish-Canadian, Daniel McPhail, became certain of a call to vocational ministry.
He lacked the funds, however, to pursue formal theological education. Providentially, as he was shopping one day in nearby St Andrews East (now Saint-André-d’Argenteuil), the Presbyterian postmaster of the settlement, Guy Richards, offered to provide the money he needed for schooling as well as for the support of his mother and siblings while he was away from home.
culture watch
Pride month: Is culture telling more of the Beautiful Story?
Rebecca Chapman
Date posted: 27 Jun 2025
June has been Pride month – a global series of gatherings, begun as a march in the 1970s, that celebrate LGBTQ+ rights.
Interestingly, there have been articles this year suggesting that just perhaps we are starting to reach “the end of the rainbow” – some Reform-led councils have taken down Pride flags from their municipal properties. There are reports that Whitehall has banned civil servants from buying Pride lanyards.
Boomerang kids: Blessing or curse?
Tim Wilson
Date posted: 26 Jun 2025
Young men are returning to church. That is the headline which is grabbing all the attention right now. But an equally striking trend is unfolding that is not being considered by Christians. Young adults are also returning to live with their parents.
These are the “boomerang kids”, whose parents sent out but have come back. Their number is growing. A survey by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that 18% of 25- to 34-year-olds still lived with their parents. This was more likely among young men (23%) than young women (15%). With 18- to 24-year-olds this is over half.
engaging with culture today
God cares about sport
Jonny Reid
Date posted: 23 Jun 2025
During a seminar, a pastor interrupted me with a simple question: “What even is the point of sport?” It’s a fair question.
Theologically, sport is often overlooked, yet it’s deeply woven into our society. Over 9 million people actively participate in sport in the UK, and millions more watch. Globally, its influence is vast.
Netflix's Black Mirror: looking at screens versus looking at Christ
Niv Lobo
Date posted: 18 Jun 2025
W.H. Auden, the 20th century poet, once said: "Every man carries with him through life a mirror, as unique and impossible to get rid of as his shadow." It’s a striking metaphor, describing the personal impact of how we see ourselves.
Auden proposes a "parlour game for a wet afternoon — imagining the mirrors of one’s friends." But in the 21st century, we don’t have to imagine.
the pastor's toolkit
How to start a preaching group (no prep required)
Martin Salter
Date posted: 17 Jun 2025
Over the years I’ve been involved in a number of different preaching groups.
The format has often been quite similar. There might be half a dozen of us who get together in a room. One of us will stand up and deliver a recent or upcoming sermon, and then the rest of us will offer feedback. It's a good and helpful thing to do, though not without a few downsides.
