Month: July 2026

The author of Psalm 19 must have enjoyed looking at the night sky, for (s)he wrote “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge”. Similar ideas existed in Ancient Greece as philosophers reasoned that there was a form of music arising from the harmony of the stars and the planets. The “music of the spheres” has remained a powerful influence on both the popular and artistic imagination ever since. The psalmist realised the music of the heavens was not as we humans understand it; “They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world”. In the 20^th century, radio astronomers were finally able to listen to their music with radio telescopes, including the faint sounds from  the “Big Bang”, the very start of the universe. Radioastronomy is currently  in the news with the proposal of the Government body that helps fund UK science to withdraw its grant to the famous Jodrell Bank radio telescope. A friend of mine who is a radio astronomer remains upbeat; in his view the discipline is vibrant, with UK scientists able to access better international facilities. For the rest of us, it is important that we continue to support basic sciences such as radioastronomy (or indeed my own discipline of molecular pharmacology), if only because they reveal beauty that can inspire and lift us. As a Christian and a scientist, I wonder at the mystery of the God who works through the Big Bang, quantum mechanics and natural selection to create and sustain.

Rev David Poyner

So the World Cup is over but soon the new football season will start! Sport never ends, as soon as one tournament is decided, the preparation begins for the next. And very quickly past achievements fade away and are replaced by the struggle of the new challenge. This of course is not just restricted to sport, past glory quickly goes in most spheres of life. Andre Aggassi, the famous tennis player and serial winner, has said that winning changes nothing. He knew that elation on the tennis court could not give lasting fulfilment. Jesus urged his disciples not to seek transient success in their lives but to seek what he called “treasure that lasts”, the things that do not tarnish or decay. This comes from people leading a right life, based on loving one another and God. This is not a call to abandon all our ambitions or dreams but it means we need to see them in the context of what really matters. Even those who reject the traditional idea of God need to be sure that they are not worshiping an idol instead that leads them down the path of living a false life. That is a sure way of never finding treasure that lasts.

Rev David Poyner

This is adapted from a piece written by Maggie Ritchie, our benefice secretary.

Today, our world is full of scattering: families uprooted by war,  communities displaced by conflict or climate events, people forced to move for work, safety, or survival, social fragmentation that leaves many feeling spiritually scattered. However, God’s mission is not tied to stability. He works through movement, disruption, and change. Sometimes the very places we never expected to be — geographically or emotionally — become the places where  God uses us most.

Today, boundaries are being crossed constantly: migration brings new neighbours from every corner of the world, technology connects us with people we’ve never met, churches welcome worshippers from dozens of nations, communities are becoming beautifully diverse.

In the New Testament the gospel is at its strongest when it crosses borders. It thrives in unfamiliar places. It grows when we welcome those who are different. It shines when we step outside our comfort zones. We are called to embrace difference. To see diversity not as a threat but as a gift. To recognise that God’s Spirit is already moving in cultures, languages, and communities far beyond our own. The Holy Spirit does not reinforce human divisions. He breaks them down. He builds bridges where society builds walls. He draws people  together who would never normally stand side by side.In a world that encourages us to choose sides, we are called to be bridge‑builders. To show that the church is at its best when it is united, diverse yet deeply connected.

Rev David Poyner

Vicars are meant to be people of prayer. I offer to pray for people; it can seem very inadequate but it is often all I can do. The problem is that I am not very good at it. I take some comfort from the poet RS Thomas (who I recently wrote about). Thomas found his prayers were often met by silence but he realised that God was in the silence. His poem “Folk Tale” explores this. I too, just occasionally see the movement of the curtain.

Prayers like gravel
flung at the sky’s
window, hoping to attract
the loved one’s
attention. But without
visible plaits to let
down for the believer
to climb up, to what purpose open
that far casement? I would
have refrained long since
but that peering once
through my locked fingers
I thought that I detected
the movement of a curtain. 

Rev David Poyner

Another week, another holiday… This time it was a couple of days between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales, with a splendid walk on Monday over Wild Boar Fell, using the Settle to Carlisle Railway. I would like to say that I spent the day in prayer and praise, thanking God for the majesty of his creation, but I didn’t. For the most part I wasn’t thinking of anything, beyond where to put my feet and the anticipation of the views from the ridge. That is often the way when I am walking; no great thoughts, just being in the moment. It is a kind of mental emptying; some Christians are suspicious of this, worried about what thoughts might come in to fill the space. I have come to realise that it is an important part of my spiritual discipline. The emptying, the living just in the moment, is a way that I can recharge. I still vividly recall a sermon from over 40 years ago given by the late Rev Pat Brock, my vicar when I was living briefly in London. He was speaking of the process of emptying and letting go and ended his sermon by taking a wine bottle and turning it upside down, to make sure it was really empty. His parting line was “unless we really empty ourselves, we leave no room for God to refill us”.

Rev David Poyner