Harvest
Many of us have taken part in harvest festival services during October. It’s no accident that the SEC Faith in Action committee’s topic for this month is ‘The Environment’. For those of us not directly involved in ‘bringing in the sheaves’, the environment offers a huge range of themes for prayer and action at harvest-tide. […]
Teresa of Avila
Teresa of Avila, the 16th century saint, is remembered today. It seems that she combined Mary and Martha in her life and spirituality. She taught and wrote on prayer and contemplation and also founded a reform movement. She is recorded as cleaning and scrubbing each new convent house she opened reminding her sisters that ‘the […]
‘Give to Caesar…
.. that which belongs to Caesar and to God that which belongs to God’. Thus Jesus’ typically cryptic way of handling a trap set for him by the authorities. It has sometimes been used to justify the separation of religion from politics. The press and politicians can be quick to tell bishops to get back […]
Friends for the Road
Some time back, I recommended ‘The Heartbeat of God -Finding the Sacred in the Middle of Everything’ by Katharine Jefferts Schori the presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church in the US. I picked it up again the other day and was moved by the chapter ‘ Called by Name’ which features the story of ‘Blind’ […]
Moving swiftly on?
The constitutional ferment continues. Those who thought a referendum would settle matters once and for all (in whichever direction) find themselves in a very different world. As many others have said, it’s brilliant that so many people – most of us! – got involved and that so many issues got talked about. Personally I have […]
College of Bishops responds to Independence Referendum outcome
http://www.scotland.anglican.org/college-bishops-respond-referendum-outcome/#sthash.6l5w56Nz The College of Bishops has issued the following statement regarding the outcome of the Independence Referendum: Speaking on behalf of the College of Bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Primus, the Most Rev David Chillingworth, says “The people of Scotland have decided that Scotland will continue to be part of the grouping of […]
This week
However ‘it’ all turns out, I have found myself re-engaging with issues and trying to inform myself. I’m not engaged in civic life locally or nationally and so I don’t have much right to moan about how things are run. Some have complained about the lack of information but it depends where you look, what […]
Creative Passions
A bus enthusiast and the custodian of a 13th century church on Salisbury Plain – what do they have in common? Sir Peter Hendry drives a 1962 routemaster one day a year to the abandoned village of Imber. A mad idea that arose from a conversation in a pub, it’s now a charitable service licensed […]
‘Where two or three are gathered…’
Bishop Kevin has often cautioned us against being worried about numbers. David Runcorn points out that ‘Lesslie Newbigin, who worked tirelessly for the missionary effectiveness of the church, observed how little interest the New Testament shows in numerical growth.’ The Gospels, says Runcorn, display a ‘disproportionate delight and compassion for the smallest and least significant.’ […]
More good news
Learned today that the folk at St Peter’s Stornoway have turned to and cleared out and painted The Boathouse. This is a property on the seafront owned by the church, vacated by a tenant and now available for ‘pop-up’ events until future use is determined. The refurbishment was prompted by the opportunity for the hall […]
