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
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
