What is The Critical Friend?

“A critical friend can be defined as a trusted person who asks provocative questions, provides data to be examined through another lens, and offers critiques of a person's work as a friend. A critical friend takes the time to fully understand the context of the work presented and the outcomes that the person or group is working toward. The friend is an advocate for the success of that work.”

I spend most days reporting on the church - what it’s doing, how it’s failing, where it’s going, who’s making waves. But I’m also a churchgoing Christian myself who ultimately, when I remove my journalistic impartiality hat, does want the church to thrive and grow.

In this newsletter I aim to offer commentary and analysis on church news in that light, rounding up what seems important to me and explaining why. I’ll include links to what I read recently and found interesting or significant, and also do a smidge of self-promotion of my own articles and podcasts too.

Click the subscribe button below to make sure each edition of The Critical Friend lands in your inbox week to week.

The Critical Friend is currently free to receive, but if you are able to I would really appreciate it if you could sign up to become a paid subscriber for just £5 a month. It really helps me cover the cost of producing the newsletter each week. Paid subscribers get access to the full back catalogue of newsletters, the ability to join me in the comments each week to share your thoughts on the stories we are discussing, and occasional paid-only bonus posts too.