(This is also 'Church: Fractions and Factions Part 2') When we step forward and seek to serve God in some public way (make coffee, arrange flowers,lead prayers, preach, serve on PCC, lay leadership, ordained leadership) what do you might think might be THE most important qualities that you bring with you? Please stop reading and... Continue Reading →
Strengthening the Soul of your Leadership by Ruth Haley Barton – book review
Every now and again I read a book which is just SO good, it’s hard to review because all I want to say is “this book is SO GOOD - get it! Read it! And then read it again”! This book Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership is in that category. So if you are... Continue Reading →
The Stone that Sparkled
A few weeks ago I was able to enjoy a holiday which began with a Sunday off. This particular Sunday was truly a ‘holy day’ which was part of a ‘hol-i-day’. On the Saturday, I driven away from what had been an intense few days. A set of circumstances that had left me aware that... Continue Reading →
Reverse Contagion?
Earlier this week I anointed someone with oil. It's been a very long time since I've done that. Naturally I took appropriate precautions but as the person concerned was already in that fragile space somewhere between life and death, the risk to her of anything transmitted from me was out of all proportion with the risks she already... Continue Reading →
Living Well: why it isn’t as simple as keeping the rules
https://youtu.be/5wkeuUv4_sg And for those of you who prefer reading than listening: How do we live well? Wouldn’t it work if we all just kept to the rules Keeping the rules is one way people believe life can be made to work well. We are all getting used to an ever-changing and hugely complex set of... Continue Reading →
What does it mean to ‘live well’ when we have to live with other people
https://youtu.be/QR19qBCX7Gk and for those who prefer to read rather than watch, here it is: Living well in community This morning as some of our lockdown restrictions begin to lift, many of us are asking ourselves what does it look like to live well in a community. As people begin to make choices and many... Continue Reading →
Farewell my lovely Mum
Today we laid mum to rest in with my Dad, in a beautiful cememtry in Sevenoaks. The sky was blue, the breeze soft and we began by listening to My Cathedral by Jim Reeves, (mum's choice, link to youtube version below). Well, that finished me off, before we'd even started. Today we didn't recall much... Continue Reading →
How can we believe in God at a time like this?
A video version of my answer - for those who prefer to watch... text underneath, if you prefer to read. https://youtu.be/-5OjQahLNRg You may have noticed that we (along with many others) are doing an awful lot of praying, our daily prayers are being posted up on our Facebook page and hopefully will also be on... Continue Reading →
‘Dead’, ‘bitter’ or ‘better’ – Three ways in which we will come through this crisis.
'All things pass' said Teresa of Avila. This too will pass. There are three ways in which we can emerge. We have some measure of control over the first way (but not a lot) but we have a bigger measure of control over the second two possible outcomes and that is why I'm writing this... Continue Reading →
