The Possibility of Difference

Last Friday over seventy people gathered for evensong at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, and then enjoyed drinks and conversation as they queued to be the very first people to buy copies of The Possibility of Difference. Revd Clare Hayns, Chaplain of Christ Church, welcomed everyone and Dave Gatward from Kevin Mayhew Ltd introduced the evening. We chatted about the book, about writing, about how I had come to do the work, the thinking, the soul-searching behind the words on the page. And questions followed - focussing on the Church's response, on how we manage (or fail) to work together, on how we help younger people, and (thanks to a great question from Rt Revd Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford) how we can pray together going forward. Here are a selection of photos, bringing something of the flavour of a wonderful gathering. And of course, the book is available from Kevin Mayhew or your local store.

The Possibility of Difference is published by Kevin Mayhew today. Tonight there is a launch in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, with quite a gathering; I'll post more about that after the event! But as I walked Harry, my Springer Spaniel, this morning, I thought about these words from toward the end of the book: The Bible tells us there was one Victim and now by giving our lives to him, the rest of us get to be more than conquerors.  The possibility of difference is not just about agreeing to disagree on another theological issue, but about ‘hope for a world that tears itself apart – a sign of what can happen with the love and mercy of God through Jesus Christ’....  It’s about the people I love who agree with every word in this book and the people I love who don’t, but we all belong to one another because we all belong to Jesus and his body, the Church.  It’s about us taking seriously Bishop Curry’s words in Windsor on that sunny May afternoon: ‘Love is not self...