About

“We do not simply need to get more of existing theology into the church, but also to get more of the church into theology.”
Gerald Hiestand, ‘A Taxonomy of the Pastor-Theologian’, Expository Times 124 (2013), 267.

There are important issues that can’t be explored adequately in a blog post or 140 characters. They take time.

Many of those issues are also hard to get a handle on. On some issues there is so much written about them it is hard to know where to start. For others there are so few resources it is hard to find them. Either way, they take time.

Hence Primer. We want to encourage you to take time over important issues and we want to save you time getting a handle on them. So, in each issue we take one pressing topic and over the course of 80 pages or so we offer a kind of theological digest; summarising contemporary debate, drawing on at least one classic historical text, and always keeping the realities of ministry in view.

As a publication, Primer shares a lot of DNA with a theological journal, yet the layout encourages interaction and note taking. In contrast to skim-reading articles on the internet (or adding them to your ever-growing “read later” pile), our hope is that you will slow down to engage with Primer; grab a pen and a drink, pull up a chair, read, make notes, ponder, pray.

And then discuss Primer with others. Study it with your elders or church leadership team, your ministers’ fraternal or homegroup leaders. Invite a group of potential leaders in your church to get together and read an article at a time. On this website you’ll find additional resources on this website to help fuel discussions and application.

To make sure you don’t miss future issues and resources subscribe to our quarterly email.

Primer is produced by the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC); a family of Independent churches, working together to reach Britain for Christ. Find out more at fiec.org.uk