30, The Ridgeway It’s five years now since Archbishop Justin Welby declared what the press decided to call the ‘war on Wonga’. You probably remember – Wonga were in the habit of advertising short-term unsecured loans with their 2 little old people saying in their cartoony way that this was the solution to all their problems. Ironic that they were … Read More
30, The Ridgeway Dear friends, All this sweltering heat we are having reminds me of the places in the world where I have been, where such temperatures are normal. Usually hot weather is associated with holidays – or pilgrimages – and for sure we have had Israeli and Jordanian and Egyptian temperatures these last few weeks haven’t we?!. So having … Read More
30, The Ridgeway, As the NHS celebrates its 70th birthday, most of us have no conception of what life without penicillin, surgery and medicine would be like. Clearly it would be painful and short, especially at the end. Similarly, even only a few centuries ago people could not have conceived of our world of hospitals, surgery and chemotherapy. A hospital … Read More
30, The Ridgeway, Suddenly summer is upon us, after what can only be described as a bumpy ride in! Which means we can turn our attention to the summer of 2020 – only 2 years away. Casting our minds back 8 years, we went with 50 others to Oberammergau, the Bavarian town where the famous Passion Play is enacted every … Read More
APCM Vicar’s report – 29/4/18 Dear Friends, This time last year I had left for the United States on my study leave, and I managed to be a very long way away from the APCM! You managed admirably without me, and indeed, assisted by Jackie and Mo, the whole three months of my absence was looked after very well indeed. … Read More
30, The Ridgeway It’s not every year that the magazine is published on Easter Day. And certainly not every year that the first Sunday of April is not only Easter Day but April 1st, All Fools’ Day! In fact that hasn’t happened since 1327*. That was the year Elizabeth de Burgh died. She was the wife – Queen – of … Read More
30 The Ridgeway, Dear Friends, This year we began Lent on St Valentine’s Day, and will end it on April Fools’ Day, and we have not had a year like this since 1945! It means we began the season with a secular focus on love and will end it on foolishness. Both of these lie at the heart of our … Read More
30 The Ridgeway, Dear Friends, This year, Ash Wednesday falls on St Valentine’s Day in the middle of Half Term, and Easter Day is April Fool’s Day. I didn’t vote for either of those! The dating of Easter (and thereby of everything that relates to it, in Lent, and afterwards at Ascension and Pentecost), hinges on the phases of the … Read More
30 The Ridgeway, Dear Friends, Happy New Year! And Happy Christmas! Christmas is not over yet… Whether you have taken your decorations down or not, we continue to bask in the glow from the Christmas Crib throughout January, until we turn towards Lent after Candlemas. That said, we have had an excellent Christmas weekend at St Mary Magdalene’s, as we … Read More
30 The Ridgeway, Dear Friends, Apparently, on Christmas Day the average Briton consumes 7000 calories, and over the Christmas period gains about 8 pounds in weight. This means that the average Briton gains the weight of a baby over the Christmas period. Over Christmas, we can consume, and gain, the mass of Jesus. At this time of year we colloquially … Read More
30 The Ridgeway, On Tuesday 10th October all the clergy in London were summoned by the Bishops to a ‘Clergy Summit’ at Church House in Westminster. Because London is the biggest diocese, with about 6oo clergy, this grand use of the word ‘summit’, seems to be appropriate, although we weren’t actually trying to foster peace on earth and bring goodwill … Read More
Dear friends, When we hear that around 50% of the population say they do not believe in God, we should not dismiss it as lies, or mere statistics. But perspective is useful. Can you think of any other belief, activity, philosophy, or pastime that more than 50% of the population engage in? Football: 502,000 people (half million) hold season tickets … Read More
Dear friends, You may well have heard by now that the Rev’d Barry Oakley, sometime Vicar of All Saints’ Edmonton, and a great supporter, member and retired assistant priest to this parish, died on Saturday 12th August. We send our love to Margaret and Jenny and Chris, and remember Barry with gratitude and great affection. The Prayer and Care group … Read More
30, The Ridgeway The weekend after Easter, I went to Hull. Not the most auspicious place to start, I hear you say, but I did get to preach in the largest parish church in England. And I got to travel on Hull Trains, fifteen pounds each way. That’s the same as the usual fare to Highbury and Islington, I think. … Read More
Dear friends, So many of you have asked about our recent holiday in the North of Cyprus I thought it would be a good idea to share some of our experience with you here. Little did we realise when our daughter Miranda married a young Turkish Cypriot man, that we would be incorporated, not only into his family, but also … Read More
My Dear Friends, I’d like to share with you all, if I may, my Easter 2017 – ‘Resurrection’ moment; but before I proceed I should say that I do have the person’s permission whom this involves, to tell this true story … One day during Lent I was walking up Windmill Hill when a middle aged man in his forties, … Read More
30, The Ridgeway, Dear Friends, Last year, in 2016, we looked back on what had been a rather sad 2015, in which we lost some dear friends from our fellowship. This year too, and remembering that we are considering the calendar year 2016, we look back in sorrow at the passing of Les Fish and Ron Carr, and we continue … Read More
30, The Ridgeway, You have probably noticed that the penalties for using a mobile phone while driving have recently been increased to a £200 fine and 6 penalty points on the driving licence, doubling the earlier punishment. There has also been a radio campaign. After explaining the new law, the speaker declares how tempting it is to use one’s phone … Read More
30, The Ridgeway, Do you have a great wardrobe? Most people have a cupboard in their bedroom, with a rail and perhaps some chests of drawers too. But to a medieval king a wardrobe meant something slightly different, as it was a room close to the chamber in which they slept, in which their valuables (which included their fine robes … Read More
30, The Ridgeway, For the first time in quite a while, Lent does not start in February. So we have a ‘green’ month – liturgical green at least, and a good period of time to draw breath between the Christmas season and the coming penitential season. ‘Lent’ actually means ‘Spring’, and this coming year it really will be high Spring … Read More
