His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021 On Wednesday 14th April we had a full church (about 40 people with social distancing!) for our own service locally to pray for Prince Philip
April 2021 – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Day
This year, April starts with the three days of remembering “the hour” of Jesus’s death and resurrection. Jesus marks his Last Supper with his disciples on the evening of Maundy Thursday (1st April). John records, “Jesus, knowing that his hour
March 2021 – 21st February 2021 marks two important events
By the time you read this, two things should have happened on 21st February. The first is that the CofE Housing, Church and Community Commission should have published its final report. This commission was launched by Archbishop Justin Welby in
February 2021 – Ash Wednesday: 17th February 2021
When I started work on this month’s parish magazine, I was horrified to realise that Lent starts on 17th February. But I feel I have been in Lent since March last year! And we never got to celebrate Easter properly,
December 2020 – People on the margins
A distinctive feature of our times is the voice of the marginalised, which is heard in a way that was never possible before. This morning, on the BBC website (in addition to COVID stories!) there were stories about loneliness, anti-Semitism,
November 2020 – Open and Shut
One amazing thing about COVID-19 is its ability to shut things down. For a couple of months all the churches were completely shut, alongside schools, businesses and many other things. More recently many of these things have re-opened, but many
October 2020 – Care for Creation
4th October is the day the church remembers St Francis of Assisi. It also marks the end of the Season of Creation (1st Sept to 4th Oct) during which churches worldwide pray for creation, that it may be well cared
September 2020 – Worship as the Lockdown eases
As the lockdown eased, St Mary’s started public worship again on Sunday 5th July, and St Michael’s on 19th July. We were the first churches in the Deanery to recommence worship. Our rural setting makes things a bit simpler, but
July and August 2020 – Building Racial Harmony
I recently watched a TV programme about worldwide, interfaith relationships, which I came across through my involvement with the Focolare Movement. The relationships are based on the Golden Rule, “Do to others, what you would want them to do to
June 2020 – The Impact of Lockdown on Parish Churches
The lockdown has had lots of negative impacts on the Parish Churches. Public worship has been closed down, the church buildings are locked and all our baptisms and weddings are postponed. Funerals can only happen in the churchyard or at