It has been a worrying week! At one point, we were concerned that we might be required to close the church doors once again to comply with tightening restrictions. We give thanks that this has not turned out to be the case. We are able, in fact, to continue as we are. Our building and our practices are compliant with current Government rules and national church guidelines.
Category Archives: Weekly Letter
The Time of our Lives
The discovery that it is September again has challenged my sense of time. The year to date has been so odd that the rhythm of the weeks and months, the passing of the seasons, doesn’t seem to have worked in quite the same way as I generally experience. The pandemic crisis began as winter was giving way to spring. Now, the crisis is far from over and we are already at the threshold of autumn. Throughout this period, many of the normal markers that divide up the time of our lives have been absent. Each day has been very similar to the last and to the next.
Starting Afresh
I used to enjoy this time of year. Like the blank sheets of paper in the brand new notebooks bought for the return to school, it seemed full of possibility, a chance to start afresh.
A Few of My Favourite Hymns
Many things have been hard about the interruption to our normal pattern of Christian worship over the last few months, but probably the one that I hear most frequently mentioned is not being able to sing together.
Perseverance in Prayer
There are different kinds of tiredness. Being away on holiday I was able to rediscover the wonderful kind of tiredness that one experiences after a day of walking in the countryside with no responsibilities and few decisions other than which ale to choose to accompany one’s lunch. This is a very different sort of thing from the emotional weariness of long periods under stress, when heavy responsibilities and impossible decisions weigh on the mind even at rest.
Reflections on the Lockdown – Part 4
Over the last few weeks I have been using this column to explore some ‘lessons of the lockdown’. I began by reflecting on the painful privilege of prayer. A fortnight ago I shared some thoughts about the importance of places and things in our spiritual lives. Last week, my observations centred on the way in which crisis brings out both the best and the worst in human nature, and on the need for the love of God in Christ to overcome our fear. In this fourth and final reflection, which accompanies the sermon in this weekend’s e-Church my theme is the need to keep Christ at the centre.
Reflections on the Lockdown – Part 3
This week I offer the third in a series of reflections on the lessons of the lockdown. I began a fortnight ago by writing about the painful privilege of prayer. Last week I explored the role of places and objects in our spiritual lives. And this week I want to share a few observations about the way that being in crisis brings out both the best and worst in human beings.
Reflections on the Lockdown – Part 2
Last week I began a series of reflections on the lockdown by exploring what I feel I have learned about the painful privilege of prayer. This week, I continue the series with some thoughts about the importance of places and objects in our spiritual lives.
Reflections on the Lockdown
This week, and for the next three weeks, I want to use this column to offer some reflections on the lockdown. It seems to be a good moment to take stock. We’re back in the church building for public worship, but also learning fast that things are unlikely to return quickly, if ever, to the way they once were. It’s the holiday season with many, myself included, taking some time away from their normal responsibilities. Time, then, for a pause to ask ourselves what we have learned.
Prayerful Planning for God’s Future
General Eisenhower, I’m reliably informed, used to say that ‘plans are worthless, but planning is everything’. I’ve learned how true that is in recent days and weeks. In order to re-open the church for public worship I have had to produced countless pages of planning material. Some of you will have read (some of) it! But these ‘plans’ are, if not entirely worthless, not really the point. The point is the process which I and others have been through in working out all the many precautions that need to be taken and details that need to be adjusted in order to make public worship as safe as it possibly can be. It’s the fact that we’ve been through the process that enables us to respond to the inevitable surprises that pop up.