Lent Quiet Morning
All are welcome to this Lent Quiet Morning led by Revd Jane and Richard Frost. Comprising two short talks and time for silent reflection. Please book a place by contacting Richard.
Creature comforts
Last summer, Daisy the Vicarage Dog was very poorly. This normally lively (to put it mildly) now eight year-old Cocker Spaniel was barely able to move at times and had lost both her appetite and her bark. After many appointments with the vets, specialist interventions and different medications, she was Read more…
The cost of living
There’s been a falling out – but I never was good at keeping friends. The visitor is outstaying their welcome. Not that they were welcome in the first place, but you know what I mean (if you don’t, you may like to read the previous post). The situation isn’t any Read more…
Equipped to serve
One of the consistent messages of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations has been about the Queen’s service and stability. Thrust into the responsibilities of monarchy aged just 25, she has been, it seems to me, equipped to serve in a way that no other Queen or King has been. She has Read more…
The iron wall
‘Henri said that for Vincent, and anyone trying to reach compassionate solidarity, it was also “like breaking through an iron wall. This was excruciatingly difficult, but also exhilaratingly beautiful when one succeeded.”’ My companion on retreat at Sheldon this week has been Carol Barry’s beautiful book Learning from Henri Nouwen Read more…
The way of peace
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…
Plan B
Malvern. Nestling in the foot of the hills that bear its name, the town has been a place of holiday and sanctuary on many occasions. And this time was no different. As we drove up the M5, the Malvern Hills waved at us from between the passing trees, giving greetings Read more…
A Good Innings
The first hour lasted for ages. It was cold. The seating was not exactly comfortable. The people around me talked while those taking part enacted their ritual and well-practiced actions. There were things going on which would seem strange to uninitiated. No, not church… it was good to be at county Read more…
Exploring our Faith
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…
‘Don’t you know who I am?’
‘I thought you’d have opened up by now,’ the voice said as I unlocked the church door for a Quiet Morning. ‘I’m going to the office.’ ‘The office isn’t open to the public at the moment,’ I explained. ‘Well, I’m not the public. Don’t you know who I am?’ To Read more…