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We are not stewards
A long time ago, back in the mists of nearly twenty years ago, I started to think that it was important that there was a liturgical celebration of creation. I thought long and hard about it and decided that instead of celebrating that modern invention the Harvest Festival, we would celebrate Creation instead, rolling a…
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Listening to the Quiet Revival
This Quiet Revival thing is real you know. At least, it feels real around here. For a number of years, I’ve been aware that young adults now seem to have different attitudes to religion to young adults of perhaps 20 years ago. Specifically, young adults of today do not seem as negative towards religion, and…
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Sermon preached on 17 August 2025. (But should it have a content warning?)
I wonder whether you have heard of a place called Edinburgh. It is a place about 50 miles away from here. And it is a wonderful diverse, international city…for at least three weeks a year. Now the East of Scotland and the West of Scotland are different one from another. Amongst other things, religion is…
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“Issues” is no more
Earlier today, the General Synod of the Church of England took a hugely significant step. It removed a document called “Issues in Human Sexuality” from the discernment process for people being assessed for clerical vocations in the Church of England. Oh, I can hear you yawning from here. But it really is important and this…
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Fake Pope Quote Posts
One of the more bizarre developments in social media has been the rise in fake quotes from popes appearing online. One might think that Roman Catholics would be particularly at the forefront of this kind of activity, but that’s not necessarily the case. Anglicans seem to love a good fake pope quote. I’ve seen them…
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In just three days…
Every year I make a promise to people. I say that if they keep the triduum with me at St Mary’s then it will change their life and change their faith. I think that keeping the Triduum helps make sense of all that we do in church for the rest of the year. In just…
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A man had two sons…
Jesus make up the story of the Parable Son for Lent 4 and maybe it isn’t about repentance at all. So what was he on about?
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Divine Dating – the Mysterious Art of Finding A New Cleric
How does God speak? Is it in the words of a CV or by judging the style in which it has been laid out? Would one font convince you to put someone on a shortlist and another make you put the application in the reject pile? Is it through the checking off of tick-boxes on…
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Predictions 2025
Good results for Nigel Farage following the English local elections in May. Terrible results for Conservative Party. No progress towards the marriage of same-sex couples in the Church of England Turbulent year for WordPress, which powers about half of the internet. 2025 will be the hottest year on record. No trade deal for UK with…