Dear friends, By now you will probably have heard our news, announced on 23rd February, that after 17 years as Vicar of St Mary Magdalene’s, I have accepted the invitation from the Crown to take up the post of Canon Chancellor of Rochester Cathedral. Such a decision and all it entails yields a mixture of emotions for us all, inevitably, … Read More
This year’s Lent Book is by David Walker, Bishop of Manchester, who writes: ‘Again and again, as I have sought to look into both the scriptures and my own life, I have heard in the silence the one who assures me, ever more strongly, ‘You are mine’. My hope and prayer is that you who read it will hear something … Read More
Dear Friends, I hope you had a good Christmas and a happy new year. Thank you for all the cards we received. It was a good Christmas in Church too, attendances at the Christmas services were up, as was the generosity from congregations, and indeed so too was the amount of money we raised for external charities, mostly Crisis at … Read More
Dear friends, What a wonderful production the Drama Group put on of Dorothy L Sayers two plays He that should come and Kings in Judea recently. Described by one member of the audience on the Friday night as ‘nativity plays for adults’ these were great dramas and explored the hidden depths and theological meanings behind the stories of the nativity … Read More
Dear Friends, Epilogue to my sermon from Paul’s 2nd Letter to Timothy 1: 1-14 This I believe, may be my last sermon before I retire, and if I was writing a letter to St Mary Magdalene’s Church, Windmill Hill, in the style of Paul to Timothy. In a paragraph or two it might read something like this: To My Beloved … Read More
When we commemorated the end of the First World War last November we looked back at the parish magazines from 100 years earlier to see what people were saying at the time – particularly what the vicar wrote in the magazine and other parish records. Since then I’ve been very aware that what one writes now is not just for … Read More
We Need One Another! My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I’m sure most of you will have now heard that I will be Retiring at Harvest, on Sunday 13th October 2019 at the 10am Service; followed by lunch in the hall. Retiring, but definitely not leaving! After a holiday, I plan to join everyone back in the pews; and … Read More
Dear Friends, Well what a Patronal weekend we had! A stunning and well-attended Organ Spectacular at which John Rippin, Keith Beniston and Jonathan Marten played wonderfully, including a topically themed improvisation on ‘Blue Moon’ by Keith. After delightful fizz on the lawn, we adjourned to the Hall, where Judy Smith had prepared a bumptious dinner of cold salmon and wicked … Read More
Dear friends, It really began in the spring of 2017 when my nephew brought his fiancé to meet the family at my sister’s home in Berkshire. They told us that they planned to marry in May 2019 in Bali and they would be delighted (made up) if any of the family could be there. This got Malcolm and I thinking. … Read More
Dear Friends, There isn’t much room for me in this month’s packed magazine! I don’t mind – as the American Composer John Cage once said, ‘I have nothing to say and I am saying it’! To be serious, we congratulate and welcome Annaliese Fenwick on her election as new Churchwarden and, for the second time and thank Alison Reeve for … Read More
Dear friends, Happy Easter! You will know that we have been spending time and money on the organ, and while we had hoped it would be ready for Easter Day, it wasn’t quite ready, but it very soon will be. The weekend of 18/19 May will be the time to celebrate its inauguration, and we have a free concert and … Read More
30, The Ridgeway Dear friends, We must congratulate the ladies on the choir, who have now been singing with us for a hundred years! In the Parish magazine of April 1919, our predecessors reported: “An innovation has been introduced into the services at S.Mary’s by the admission of ladies into the choir in place of boys, and we are very … Read More
Dear Friends, It is the time of year again, but this time in a year that only comes around every six years, when we revise and reconstitute the Electoral Roll of the Parish. From what follows, dug up by Joy Heywood from the Parish Archives, you’ll see that this is the centenary of our Electoral Roll, which was introduced here … Read More
Dear Friends, As well as telling us how many days to next Sunday there are, or what date to write at the top of the page, our calendars remind us of which secular, religious or family festival is approaching. As we near someone’s birthday or wedding anniversary, we think of them, perhaps pray for them, at the very least we … Read More
30, The Ridgeway Dear friends, It has been another good Christmas, for which we welcomed congregations of our usual increased numbers for Crib and Carol Services, and had a wonderful orchestral carol concert with readings too. As always, feedback is useful in terms of what we do in future years, although I cannot see us changing our hugely popular and … Read More
Dear Friends, You may have seen Bishop Sarah launching the new app for Advent with Christian publisher SPCK: https://spckpublishing.co.uk/a_good_advent We all know how important it is for us to help our people to pray and reflect during the Advent season. So, on Christ the King this Sunday, why not encourage them to download the app and use this simple form of … Read More
30, The Ridgeway Dear friends, Here are the words of a hymn written by Canon Rosalind Brown, who recently retired from Durham Cathedral: ©Rosalind Brown 20/10/2000 Four years ago we began a period of Remembrance which brought into focus a series of events that encompassed the significant and tragic milestones of the Great War. In 2014 we ‘marked’ the beginning … Read More
30 The Ridgeway Here’s a little conundrum for you: The police are looking for a suspected murderer – they know his name is John, but they do not know what he looks like. But they do know where he lives. They raid the house, and find a poker game in progress, being played by a fire officer, a mechanic, a … Read More
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
