Anglican priest Bill Shergold feared what might happen when he visited Ace Café, a notorious mid-20th century biker headquarters in England. But his fears never materialized. Instead, he received a warm reception and ended up holding biker services at which young riders could dedicate themselves and their motorcycles to God’s service. Indeed, Shergold found that his passions for Christ, bikes, and youth intersected perfectly.
Shergold’s story is among the many examples of Christianity’s intersection with life from the inaugural issue of The Big Picture, a publication of the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology in Cambridge, England (KLC). The issue also includes articles on painting, science, sports, cooking, music, and more. BibleMesh is helping distribute the magazine, published three times annually, as part of a new partnership with KLC focused on applying the Christian worldview to every facet of life.
KLC seeks to do “Christian research at a high level, across the disciplines, oriented to the question: How then should we live?” KLC Director Craig Bartholomew said.
Launched as an independent scholarly think tank in late 2020, KLC sought to fill a gap in European higher education. “In the whole of Britain and in the whole of the Euro, we don’t have a single Christian university or Christian liberal arts college, not one,” said Bartholomew, a widely published evangelical theologian and philosopher.
Yet KLC’s vision for Christian-based research across the academic disciplines struck a chord far beyond Europe. Quickly, the center became a network of believing scholars across the world. Yet the question remained: Could this niche of Christian academics gain broad circulation for its message among the general public?
That’s where BibleMesh came in. With a worldwide network of theology students taking its online courses, BibleMesh had a ready audience for The Big Picture. Beginning this spring, BibleMesh is utilizing its communication channels to let potential readers know the magazine is available free digitally and for print subscription.
“BibleMesh is excited to partner with KLC for the distribution of The Big Picture Magazine,” BibleMesh Institute Academic Director Benjamin Quinn said. “The ministry of BibleMesh began with a desire to help pastors think better about public square issues from a biblical and historical foundation. The ‘all of life’ focus of KLC and The Big Picture Magazine indeed informs and encourages God’s people toward thinking, loving, and acting Christianly in every time and place. We know this will be a blessing to many and we are honored to join KLC in the effort.”
Bartholomew is hopeful the partnership with BibleMesh will help Christians across the globe discover how following Christ relates to their families, their jobs, and even their hobbies.
Christianity “relates to all of life,” he said. “It relates to how we live, to interior décor, to music, to sports, to the ordinary. We want people to recover this huge view of Christ.”
For more information about KLC, visit https://kirbylaingcentre.co.uk/. For more information about BibleMesh, visit https://biblemesh.com/.
David Roach is editor of the BibleMesh blog.