Month: August 2025

“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now, these kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school, they were in a church.”

These are the reported words of the Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Fry, after two children were killed and 13 seriously injured in a mass shooting in a service to mark the first day of the new school year at the Church of the Annunciation in that city. The massacre raises hard questions; the ageless dilemma of why a loving and apparently all-powerful God allows such atrocities and what our response should be to these. It is the latter that is particularly exercising me. So often I find myself with people who have suffered loss, sometimes tragically and all I can say is that I will pray for them. I often feel embarrassed as I say that; it feels so inadequate. However, it is sometimes all I can do in that situation and I am a vicar; if I do not pray, I am nothing. I do not think the Mayor was rejecting thoughts and prayers, but that they need to be accompanied by action. This is particularly pertinent in the USA, with its history of regular gun massacres. There is probably nothing we can do about this particular situation other than to pray and empathise, but that ought to leave some mark on us for the future, to strengthen our resolve to reject evil.

Rev David Poyner

As I drew up to Billingsley Church yesterday, I noticed a motor bike outside. Now the Bishop of Hereford is a biker so my first reaction was panic was that he was doing an unannounced inspection of the church. But on looking closer, the bike didn’t look like his Harley Davison. On entering the churchyard, I saw a man of a certain age (OK, my age), sitting on a bench with a flask and a sandwich; we greeted each other and he asked if it was OK for him to be there. Of course it was. When I had finished in the church, I went back out and we chatted further. He enjoyed going round churches on his bike; he had a booklet produced by a tourism group on Shropshire churches and was using this as a guide. He liked to visit one church on his bike trip. He complimented me on how well kept the church and the churchyard were, what a lovely spot it was for a bench to enjoy the tranquillity. Then he said words I often hear; “I’m not a religious man, but….”. Being in the churchyard, next to the church, was feeding him spiritually. Even though he might not want to use the word “God”, I suspect his experience was similar to my experience when I kneel in prayer before the altar at a church as I prepare for a service. Perhaps he was closer to the Kingdom of Heaven than he might realise.  

Rev David Poyner

Reinhold Niebuhr was an American theologian whose work was deeply influenced by the great political turmoils of the mid-20^th century. He wrote following prayer in response to the Second World War; even though we have just marked the 80^th anniversary of the ending of that war, its words seem as relevant as ever.

Lord, we pray this day mindful of the sorry confusion of our world. Look with mercy upon this generation of your children so steeped in misery of their own contriving, so far strayed from your ways and so blinded by passions.

We pray for the victims of tyranny, that they may resist oppression with courage.

We pray for wicked and cruel people, whose arrogance reveals to us what the sin of our own hearts is like when it has conceived and brought forth its final fruit.

We pray for ourselves who live in peace and quietness, that we may not regard our good fortune as proof of our virtue, or rest content to have our ease at the price of others’ sorrow and tribulation.

We pray for all who have some vision of your will, despite the confusions and betrayals of human sin, that they may humbly and resolutely plan for and fashion the foundations of a just peace, even while they seek to preserve what is fair and just among us against the threat of malignant powers.

Rev David Poyner

This coming Friday will be the 80^th anniversary of VJ Day, the ending of the 2^nd World War. I am sure the celebrations will be on a smaller scale than VE day back in May, when the war in Europe finished. My impression is that VJ Day was never on the same scale as VE Day, unless families had relatives who were involved in the fighting in the Far East; I have heard those who served there referring to themselves as the forgotten army. It was a far-away conflict, with no home front. It also did not have the simple ending of the war in Europe with (generally) lasting peace in the continent, at least until recently. Then there were the two atom bombs, with arguments continuing about whether they were justified. We will mark VJ Day, by giving thanks for the bravery and sacrifices made by Allied troops and remembering all those who were killed or injured. We will also give thanks there has been no conflict on the scale of World War 2 since it ended, but remembering those conflicts which still exist and praying for our current armed forces. For me, it is a duty to remember these events before God; the rest I can only leave to him/her.

Rev David Poyner

Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath is dead; the Black Country mourns… Regular readers of this column will be aware that my musical tastes veer towards Anglican plainsong not heavy metal and I have no idea what Ozzy and Black Sabbath actually sounded like. However, I know many people do admire their music and he and the band were cultural icons. He revelled in the title “Prince of Darkness”; perhaps more than anyone else he epitomised the life of the outrageous rock star with sex and especially drugs. Perhaps his excesses shortened his life. But, at the end, I was struck by one thing. One his coffin, as it was processed through the Birmingham and the Black Country was a cross, made of flowers. The Prince of Darkness, or at least his family, chose the symbol of the King of Heaven to be closest to him at that point. In interviews, Osbourne sometimes said that he believed in God, he was brought up a Christian and I do not think he ever renounced that faith. A fascinating commentary on his faith is at Silence in the Dark: Exploring the Faith of Ozzy Osbourne | by Alan Lechusza | Jul, 2025 | Medium This argues that he had a real faith, strong enough to ask hard questions, strong enough to live with uncertainty and his own failings, to explore answers in the poetry of song. That sounds rather like my faith; perhaps I need to listen to some of his records.

Rev David Poyner