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A Safe Church
I cannot remember the last time the BBC led their news with a story featuring the Church of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Unfortunately…. As I followed the news, I realised I knew some of the victims, from 40 years ago when we were students together. I had no idea what they had been…
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Loving our Neighbours
The people of the USA have made their choice and we have had the speeches, both of victory and defeat. President-elect Trump has called for healing, but for me, the most profound speech came from the soon-to-be-outgoing President, Joe Biden. The result was clearly a blow for him; he had already been humiliated in that debate and…
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The Faithful Departed
I write this article on 1st November, All Saints Day when the church remembers what might be called the “heroes” of faith, although some had darker sides to their nature. Tomorrow we have All Souls Day, when the focus becomes broader and we recall all those who have died in faith. I can relate to these…
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The Martyr’s Crown of Gold
November 5th approaches but Bonfire night with the burning of the Guy seems to vanished from popular culture. Some were always uncomfortable with what they imagined lay behind this, the burning alive of individuals, and sadly churches of all denominations once eagerly embraced this practice. There is a fine line between zeal and fanaticism; it has…
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The Holy Minstrel
Last Saturday I was at Chetton village hall for a concert by an Irish duo who go by the name of “Hooded Crow”. The hall was full, the music good, the company even better. This wasn’t a church service, I have no idea how many of the people who came would consider themselves to be Christian…
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Macbeth’s Witches
David Tennant, the former Dr Who actor, is putting on a new performance of Macbeth, in which every member of the audience will have earphones so they listen to even the quietest whispers from the actors. He has spoken of how this will help with the famous scene where Macbeth is confronted by witches who tell…
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A Reason for Hope?
In a few days, we will mark the 1st anniversary of the 7th October attack on Israeli civilians, the taking of the hostages and so to our present situation with over 40,000 killed in Gaza and now a war in Lebanon. A few months ago, I brought to this column the words of the Anglican Archdeacon of Jerusalem, when asked if he…
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Small Acts of Kindness
This week I will be travelling to Cambridge, to conduct the funeral of Ian, my former head of department; a man who I first met 40 years ago when he taught me as an undergraduate. I am doing the service because Ian has been tremendously influential; he was one of the people who showed me how to…
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Our End and Our Beginning
Vicars tend to see a lot of death; it is not too much of an exaggeration to say that we bury people for a living. And if you ply us with enough alcohol, we will usually admit we have only a limited number of funeral sermons; we (hopefully) personalise them, but the theme is usually…
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The Shropshire Historic Churches Trust
This weekend sees the Ride and Stride, the main fund-raising event for the Shropshire Historic Churches Trust, that provides grants for the repair of the old churches and chapels within the county; we get no money for this from the state or the diocese. Some see our old churches as a barrier to mission; we…
Benefice of Highley with Billingsley, Glazeley and Deuxhill and Chelmarsh
Knowing Jesus and Making Him Known
