Chris Burch had emergency heart surgery (which was successful), but went on to have a major stroke in intensive care, and died on Sunday 6th November 2016 at 8.14pm.
If you need to contact his family, please email Chris’s wife, Roz, on roz@burches.co.uk
For Bridge Builders Ministries, see their website https://www.bbministries.org.uk/get-in-touch/ for other contact information.
For model railway enquiries, including the Braunstone Model Railway Exhibition, contact John Malpas through the Syston MRS by email on systonmodelrailway@gmx.co.uk
Or you might want to contact the vicar of St Peter’s church Braunstone through their website http://www.stpetersbraunstone.org.uk
Chris’ funeral was on Monday 21st November 2016 at Leicester Cathedral. Donations were invited on the day to 4 charities instead of flowers. You can read the Tribute given at Chris’ funeral by John Holmes and the Sermon on Isaiah 61 given at Chris’ funeral by Douglas Holt and the Poem “The train departing…” by Chris – read by Martin Burch at the Committal
What follows is the original homepage and the rest of the website as Chris left it.
Welcome!
I invite you to comment on my stories and essays, adding to what I say and engaging in an ongoing dialogue. There’s a bit about myself and my hopes for this project in About this Website.
The Story of the Ebor Gardens Advice Centre describes a 10-year episode in my ministry in Leeds, when we set up an advice centre and then had to fight to stop it being closed for political reasons. Its later growth led to a creative, sustainable structure that is still working today.
In 2005 I was invited to contribute an article to the Anabaptist Network website, explaining what drew me, a dyed-in-the-wool Anglican, to Anabaptism. The result was An Anglican drawn to Anabaptism, which one day I will revise and update, but would be glad to see any comments in the meanwhile. You may spot one or two repetitions between this and my first article – well, who said this site and its contents were neatly polished and finished??
In 2013 I was invited to do something I’d never done before – give a lecture to a group of MA students in the Social Work course at Leicester University. The result is Tackling Poverty – Foodshare, Community and Spirituality, which (on re-reading it a couple of weeks ago) I realised contains an expression of my values that I hope might be of interest.
The Story of Discovery is another account of a project I was involved in – this time at St Peter’s Braunstone, Leicester – which I believe had some original thinking behind it, and (although far from perfect in its execution) has something to offer the wider church.
I’ve recently joined a small group, convened by the Archdeacon and Social Responsibility Officer of Leicester Diocese, seeking a theology of Loving Service of the World (part of the diocese’s “Shaped by God” vision). We meet over supper at different members’ houses, and talk theology over the hummus and fish… I wrote a short paper for it, “Licensed Economic Inefficiency”, based on two verses in Leviticus and some personal experience.
And a bit of fun, written for the Anabaptist Network newsletter in 2010 – Wallace and Gromit – symbolic Anabaptists?
Possible future articles:
Does God love urban priority areas?
Can the local church thrive if the national superstructure withers away?
Is there such a thing as spirituality in a post-christian culture?