“Give Jesus another hearing”, says Bishop Stuart Bell
Our Bible Week speaker encourages us to expect the unexpected as we gather to study Jesus’ parables next week.
“I’m going to speak on four different parables of Jesus at the Down and Dromore Bible Week, and taking a considerable risk because many people will say, ‘Ah well, we’ve the parables since Sunday school days and we want something deeper and meatier than that'. I don’t think that Jesus would let us get away with such a comment.
“Jesus’ parables have converted lives, transformed cultures, challenged nations, stimulated hearts and have always been relevant.
“Jesus made up lots of stories out of his own head. They were neither fairy stories nor morality tales but stories with an edge - a spiritual edge, a divine edge. Pablo Picasso said that ‘a good picture has to be bristling with razor blades.’ He could have been describing Jesus’ parable stories. They still cut into the soul, slice away our concealments and address the deepest needs of humanity in every generation.
“How could Jesus have known about the culture wars of the twenty first century, about the mental health needs of our children, about the current epidemic of instability and fear? Was he prescient or simply speaking with the insights of the man from heaven? It’s time to give him another hearing.
“Please join me at 7.45pm each evening in St Saviour’s Dollingstown, beginning on Tuesday 27th August and running through to Friday 30th.”
Discover the full Bible Week programme AT THIS LINK.
Bishop Stuart Bell
Stuart has ministered for over fifty years in various parishes in Wales and is currently leading a new congregation called Fellowship 345 in Rhydypennau, Ceredigion. He was consecrated as a Bishop in the Anglican Convocation in Europe in March 2023.
Stuart is married to Prudence, a trained occupational therapist and magistrate and they have three children and three grandchildren. He is the author of ‘Recovering His Reputation’ which recounts his 25–year ministry in St Michael’s Aberystwyth. Stuart enjoys long distance walking, sea fishing and bread making.