Rector’s Reflections

I am writing this in eight days after the terrible earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.  It is now clear that 40,000 people have died and that number is continuing to rise.  Thousands are homeless and a huge amount of help

Recently religious identity data became available from the 2021 Census for England and Wales.  It showed that less people are self-identifying as Christian and more people identify as having no religion.  This has been a strong, continuing pattern since the

Those of us in ministry licensed by the Church of England have to complete safeguarding training every three years.  My three years was up in November, so once again I had to complete the CofE’s “Leadership” safeguarding module.  The training

I am writing this on a beautiful afternoon in mid-October when the temperature is 17oC.  October has been so warm that I have been using electric heaters instead of turning on my central heating.  Actually, I am keen to use

One of the things I have appreciated most about the Queen is her consistency.  Throughout my life she has always been there, a completely reliable and dependable presence.  I don’t ever remember her missing important events.  I suppose she must

When I buy a car, I like to buy one that is almost new and then keep it for many years.  But as the car gets older the repair costs increase.  Then it becomes clear that big bills are in

When I was ordained deacon in 2006 I got involved with the Birmingham Diocese Clergy Golf Society.  I enjoy golf, even if I am not a great player (handicap index 21).  At that time there were about a dozen golfing

This month we are celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.  Her accession to the throne happened with the death of her father, King George VI on 6th February 1952.  70 years later we have an extra long Bank Holiday weekend to

30th April was the deadline for sending in Feedback about the CofE’s Living in Love and Faith course.  The CofE has been encouraging lots of people to take the course (see page 7 of the March Parish Magazine), which is

On 10th March Facebook made temporary changes to its hate speech policy to allow, in certain circumstances, messages such as “death to Russian invaders”.  On 14th March Facebook rolled back some, but not all, of the changes.  It confirmed that