Father Richard Peers, Dean of Llandaff Cathedral, Church in Wales

Why Oikodomeo? St Paul uses a form of the Greek word oikodomeo twenty times in his letters. (A good essay on the use of the word in the NT can be found here). It means ‘to build up’, literally to build a house, and from that to edify, which is the way Paul uses the word.

In Ephesians Paul writes:

In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Ephesians 2: 21-22

This little passage seems to capture the whole of the importance of the word for Paul. The presence of the Spirit, who does the building, the work on the whole body as a temple of that Spirit, the joining together which is the communion to which we are called, in which we exist, without which Christian faith (and human existence) is meaningless.

I hope and pray that this blog will contribute to the building up of the church and to communion as we face the missional problem of our time.

A major reason for starting a new blog (my old blog Quodcumque is still available) is to organise material better. The subject list on the left should enable you to find things more easily.

Jesus is the centre and heart of my life. I cannot imagine living without him. Knowing him makes things possible that would otherwise be impossible. I want everyone to know Jesus and to share this deep joy.

For me the key to evangelism is the union of heart and mind taught in orthodox theology. Serious understanding of the gospel matched with serious piety. Many people seem to begin with the assumption that prayer and relationship with Jesus is going to be difficult. As if the so called dark night of the soul is something most of us should expect! It is quite the opposite. The New Testament is clear that we are to be given immense spiritual gifts. A few, rare souls are led through the desert. That is not, thank God for most of us, though life itself may present its deserts. Much of this blog will also consider the spiritual life and Spiritual Direction, a ministry which, against my expectation, and wish has been mine for nearly two decades.

After decades of reading on the spiritual life and built on my own experience of prayer I have come to the conclusion that two things are essential to Christian prayer: psalms and eucharist. There will be plenty on those on this blog.

As a teacher I am equally interested in enabling people to have sufficient intellectual understanding of the gospel to sustain their faith. There is much work still needed on that in the church. In both education and the church experience has ruled over knowledge in recent decades. Fortunately that is now passing.

As a former Headteacher, Diocesan Director of Education and CEO of a Multi Academy Trust I believe profoundly in good management in organisations. Many in the church are very suspicious of that. I hope I can do a little to persuade them that the gospel is as present in good management as it is in ‘theology’ or ‘spirituality’.

This is an exciting time to be church. I love our inherited models of church. I have also been involved in and lead new communities and new ways of being church and love those equally passionately. Building a bridge between those expressions of the gospel is essential as we face the task God is giving us.

With love, prayers and blessings, in the fellowship of the Spirit,

Father Richard

The header image is an icon Christ of the Flowers, Christ is holding the Gloriosa Lily. The icon was painted by Yvonne Bell, she is a gifted artist and a wonderful person, you can find and buy Her art work (icons, cards, vestments, banners) at her website.