Sneaking a peek over God’s shoulder to see what He is up to: thoughts on future church
Sneaking a peek over God’s shoulder to see what He is up to: thoughts on future church
Here’s a prayer of praise for this Sunday’s lectionary readings (C of E). I’m leading worship on Saturday for a Pioneering Parishes taster day with the Diocese of Bristol and this piece of writing arrived: Praise to you, Jesus of…
I often feel defeated by New Year greetings. Most years bring a mix of delights, surprises, challenges, losses and change. This year – wondering how to respond to greetings of ‘Happy New Year’! – I wrote this: May you this…
On my clown course we learnt to ‘cast the net’. This is an act of the imagination using a metaphor drawn from fishing. It is a practice used at the start of an interaction with an audience where the clown…
Have you ever wondered why there’s so little laughter in church spaces? On the clown course we laughed a lot. At one point I was standing with a man’s head sticking out from between my knees. I didn’t quite know…
Some of you followed my SAD journey in Advent last year. I found myself on Facebook daily pouring out the pain and discomfort of living Advent and Christmas as a single person. I was surprised by what that diary evoked…
Two of these people look fully alive: one looks foolish. Funnily enough, the foolish one is neither of the clowns! I queued (possibly even queue-jumped some small people) in my eagerness for this photo, having fallen in love with Les…
I realised this morning it’s twenty years since the astonishing Other we often call God met me in an unexpected place (in a stranger’s home in St Albans), and told me I was going to be a priest in the…
Magnificent. Not a word most of us would identify with but I’ve heard it twice over the Christmas season in different contexts. Firstly a Church of England bishop thanked his diocesan staff for their work throughout the year in a…
Last New Year’s Eve my friends were staying. My closest friend married 20 years ago and the three of us have journeyed together since. Our friendship has been enriching and challenging, joyous and stressful, with all the potential imbalances of…
I was walking through Yeovil to spend Boxing Day afternoon with friends. This poem caught my eye in the window of an empty shop. Yeovil is a small rundown town once the home of glove-making – covered the hands of…