Stewardship letter 2020 Dear friends, Two years have gone by and it is time to write to you again about Stewardship. It is, of course, the continued commitment of time, talents and money that you all give so freely and generously that allows us to survive and I thank you all for that. We live, as the Chinese curse has … Read More
Palm Sunday 2020 In order to slow down the infection rate, churches are closed and clergy told to stay away. The last time this happened was in 1208 when King John refused to accept Pope Innocent’s Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton. So the pope put England under an ‘interdict’ which endured between March 1208 and May 1213, thereby preventing the … Read More
Notices: Holy Week is not cancelled – far from it! On our church website you will find: A liturgy, also recorded, of the blessing of the Psalms. Palms will be outside the Vicarage for collection. You can listen to the podcast of that blessing again while holding your palm if you like. Do keep it through Holy Wee, you will … Read More
Parish Magazine ~ April 2020 Due to the Coronavirus ‘Lockdown’ of March 2020 onwards, th Parish magazine is published mainly online and only a few copies printed for archival purposes. The Vicar has been writing by email to members of the congregation, and the content appears here. Coronavirus Task Force Dear friends, This is a time of anxiety and uncertainty, … Read More
The PCC are meeting online this week. Good luck folks! In Holy Week there will be a special ‘At home’ treat – a dramatic reading of extracts of Dorothy L Sayers’ Passion and Easter dramas. These will be available online from next weekend, with a daily download to listen to from Holy Wednesday. I will also provide some ‘At Home … Read More
Weekly readings and Collects for Lent 5 Collect Most merciful God, who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ delivered and saved the world: grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross we may triumph in the power of his victory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with … Read More
Vicar’s Blog ~ March 29th 2020 ASK – Passiontide Dear friends, This weekend it is Passion Sunday – the Fifth Sunday of Lent, which falls between the respite of Mothering Sunday and the beginning of the agonies and ecstasies of Holy Week. There is little respite for us, hunkered in our bunkers. I do hope and pray that everyone is … Read More
Lent Five May I speak in the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. We don’t know why Lazarus falls ill and ultimately dies. Medical knowledge was limited and the drugs we rely on were simply not created yet. We simply know that when the news came to Jesus that his friend was very ill, it … Read More
Vicar’s Blog ~ March 24 2020 March 24 2020 My dear friends, We are united in spirit and connected in prayer. Sadly the church is closed and we are stuck at home, for better or worse. Weddings are cancelled, and the thought of funerals unbearable. Spare a big prayer for David Cater, who sings with our choir frequently, whose dear wife Diane died … Read More
Parish notices: We will endeavour to have the church open from time to time. All formal acts of public worship are suspended. The APCM is postponed and will be held in many months’ time. The PCC and Churchwardens remain in post. There will be a virtual PCC meeting next weekend, members will be informed how we shall do this. Keep … Read More
Readings and Collect for Mothering Sunday Collect God of compassion, whose Son Jesus Christ, the child of Mary, shared the life of a home in Nazareth, and on the cross drew the whole human family to himself: strengthen us in our daily living that in joy and in sorrow we may know the power of your presence to bind together … Read More
Mothering Sunday 2020 Dear friends, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. When I was … Read More
Vicar’s Blog ~ 18 March 2020 ‘Distance yourselves and stay close to God…’ Dear friends, Distance yourselves and stay close to God… It was not my plan to write daily, but then plans are not quite where we are at at the moment! I’ve been writing this on and off all day, and things change from one hour to the … Read More
The ASK Force – Do not be afraid to ASK! My dear friends, Warm greetings of care and prayer, In this evolving situation, and in response to some responses and suggestions, I am hereby creating the ASK FORCE: Action Supplication Kindness Basically we are asking and inviting folk to volunteer to be asked to do things for others who might … Read More
Vicar’s Blog ~ Coronavirus Special 16 March 2020 Dear beloved friends, This is a time of anxiety and uncertainty, we all know. I am writing, firstly to assure you of support and prayer and love. Some people are self-isolating, or are simply a bit worried, or indeed are not worried! In any event and wherever you stand in the field … Read More
Choral Evensong Lent 3 2020: The Virus of Sin Joshua 1.1–9; Ephesians 6.10–20 As always in times such as this, there is humour. A rewrite of a Simon and Garfunkel Song; a photo of a Securicor man stashing toilet roll in the back of a secure van. These things have been circulating on the internet, as well as a short … Read More
Angels at Mamre, Trinity by Rublev Lent 2 2020 ~ The God of Abraham Praise Genesis 12.1–4a; Romans 4.1–5,13–17; John 3.1–17 On the wall behind me, in the inset by the window are two figures, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. We often forget that they are there, because we think of our artworks as portraying the angels on one side … Read More
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
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
Recently I changed my car, and it has one of those clever systems such that when the car stops at traffic lights, the engine cuts out, saving fuel and creating no emissions. It’s a small thing, but if lots of vehicles do it then it will make some small difference to environmental pollution no doubt. Perhaps you know how these … Read More
