I went back to school last week. It was in my role as Chaplain to those training for ordained and lay ministry through the South West Ministry Training Course (SWMTC). A week-long Lent School in the lovely city of Salisbury. It was a privilege. An honour to draw alongside those Read more…
A few months ago, my daughter passed her driving test. First time. A proud Dad moment. One of the basic rules for any driver is mirror, signal, manoeuvre – or MSM. And yet, if we give the benefit of the doubt on the first, it often seems that many don’t Read more…
It was Oscar Wilde who said ‘Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.’ Far be it from me to call my books ‘art’ but life it seems is paying some resemblance to their titles. There are elements of Life with St Benedict with the sad, impending closure of Read more…
In previous posts, I’ve considered the topics of importance and status, last weekend I was humbled by the response to a Bible study on Acts 6:1-7 which explores these themes. (You may like to read the passage alongside this post.) The book of Acts tells the story of the early Read more…
Just over three years ago I had the privilege of being invited to preach at Portsmouth Cathedral. Among those gathered was Angela Tilby, former BBC religious programmes producer and known for being a somewhat provocative columnist for the Church Times. The Cathedral was marking the launch of a ‘Living Well’ Read more…
The local vicar is on a short sabbatical this month. Well-deserved and well-needed. A very generous gift from the Church of England after she carried our six churches through the pandemic and a year-long wait for a new full-time colleague all at the same time. One of the nice things Read more…
‘Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes, Turn and face the strange’. In my last job I was (and knew I was) very fortunate to work alongside people who were supportive, encouraging and had a default answer of ‘yes’. The last three years have been a stark reminder that not everyone else is like that! Coping Read more…
A reflection for the second week of Advent: Peace If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs… … Do you really understand the situation? With apologies to Rudyard Kipling (and the writer of a greetings card who provided the punchline), it can feel strange to admit Read more…
Sometimes I wonder why I bother going to church. Being a lay minister and married to the vicar has something to do with it, I guess… ‘It’s nothing more than a religious social club,’ as a normally mild-mannered, retired priest put it recently. Like many organisations made up of fallible Read more…
Many years ago, I lived in a flat at the top of the Vicarage of a large church in Bristol. In those five years I saw and experienced first-hand the 24 hour a day demands, intrusions and joys of such a place. From sharing Christmas lunch with the vicar and Read more…