Dear friends, Advent rushes by. The third candle is lit. Churches are being decorated, and carol services approach. Musicians and singers rehearse, sermons are sharpened. This will be my last note to you of 2022, so I list below all the Christmas and New Year services, for a ready reference. I look forward to seeing many of you at our worship in…
Wooden figures and eagle eyes. Dear friends In her first service at Checkendon, curate in training the Revd Romey Poston reminded us about the challenge of Advent in the midst of the world’s pressures. Her words prompted me to belatedly recover our own Advent calendar from the loft. It is a wooden, brightly painted Columbian affair, bought many years ago from Traidcraft.…
In Christ Alone Dear friends, It has been a year when we have seen the government implode, not once but twice. We are faced with the bill, a figure beyond most of us, and to meet it we will likely as not have to sell our children. Please, don’t think I am being partisan. I am not. I am old enough to…
A strange beauty Dear friends Numbers can do wonderful things, seemingly all by themselves. With attention, however, our minds are able to discern patterns. Order pops out now and then in fields of apparent chaos. Today, for example is 22.11.22. Just an ordinary Tuesday – bright, sunny skies and perhaps showers later. But our labelling pattern, where date numbers are constrained to…
The last jar of marmalade Dear friends It is the time of the year (in our household at least) when the marmalade runs out. By which I mean that the vast stocks created in the jam pan in January have all been consumed. The cupboards have been scoured for the final jars, but now it is all gone. We have to wait…
We will remember them Dear friends, This year has seen the 40th anniversary of the Falklands conflict. The issue at stake back in 1982 was akin to the situation that Ukraine finds itself in today; the right of a people to not be invaded. The Falkland islanders were British, and wished to remain so. Memories of that short and violent conflict include…
For all the Saints Dear friends, Today, 1st November, is All Saints’ Day. It is a chance to remember the giants upon whose shoulders we stand; not just the great apostles and martyrs of old, but those closer to home, from the unknown labourers who built the churches we worship in, to good old Birinus himself, who first brought the gospel to…
A distant echo Dear friends, Times marches on, bearing us this way and that. The buffets and billows assail our little vessels; time and chance may both be cruel or kind. A 38 year old recording surfaced a few weeks ago of the rock band I played in at University; not quite a lost BBC treasure, but nevertheless a blast from the…
Breaking Bridges Dear friends, We live in times of flux. The settlements of yesterday are not working anymore. Partnerships previously taken for granted are under question. The attack on the Kerch Bridge between Russia and the Crimea showed just how pasionately the Ukraine no longer wishes to be regarded as an adjunct of the Russian state. The Brexit decision was a cry…
Breaking the Silence Dear friends, Its good to be back with you all. Thank you for your support for your churches, and your prayers, during my time away. Am I changed? Only by silence. Is there going to be anything new? That depends upon the Holy Spirit, and our response to God’s love. We know that our communities are shaken, and uncertain,…