The end of the year is a time when people give away awards for various things, so here are my blog awards for 2010 - not to be taken too seriously!

Best New Blog: Thinking Mission which does what is says on the tin at many levels.  A thoughtful and thought provoking blog which I have enjoyed greatly.

Best Redivivus Blog: Beaker Folk of Husbourne Crawley which makes me laugh, makes me think and confuses some of my friends!

Best Blog by a Spice: Tracing Rainbows which combines everyday life, recipes, craft ideas and good humour.  Also almost as plethoric a blogger as me!

Best Prolific Blogger: Living Wittily quite how Jim finds the time to read so widely and reflect so effectively quite so early and quite so often is beyond my ken!

No trophies, no cheques, no marching bands, no razz-a-matazz just thank you (and all the other bloggers whose stuff I read) for keeping me entertained and making me continue to think.

... the latest BMS Mission Catalyst which focusses on the complicated issue of living in multi-cultural societies and working out how best to relate to local culture especially when it involves the festivals and celebrations of other faiths.  There was a time when 'barge pole' and 'don't touch' would have been all that was said, but here we have an interesting, well thought out 'magazine' with some helpful theology on alternative attitudes to other faiths.

Many years ago one of the set books for my theology training was Anton Wessels Europe: Was it Ever Really Christian? Not the snappiest title or the most fun read ever, but it showed how much accommodation, inculturation and even pretty much syncretism had gone on over the centuries.  It ceertainly influenced my thinking.

I grow ever more impressed with the courageous direction BMS is taking in its publications and speaking, making us actually face and engage with the world as it really is.  And I'm pleased to see how BUGB is also starting to engage more creatively in this complex area, with the e-news sweep alerting us to the festivals our neighbours will be celebrating throughout the year.

(Oh, if you want to know my heresies on this one I'm an inclusivst with a fulfilment theology... and if that means nothing to you then you'd better read Mission Catalyst)