Blog

  • Twenty Years On

    It is funny how anniversaries creep up on you. It is twenty years ago this week since I went to read theology at the University of St Andrews. I can remember Freshers’ Week very clearly all these years later. Inevitably, some of those whom I met in the first few days there, I have lost…

  • The House of Bernarda Alba – Citz

    Above the stage in this play by the National Theatre of Scotland there floats a large, mirrored ceiling. In this update, the action has all been plucked from the Andalusian countryside of Lorca’s original and been thrust kicking and screaming into Glasgow’s East End underworld. How well does this 70 year old Spanish play hold…

  • The Moratoria

    I remember feeling very uneasy when the College of Bishops issued its statement earlier this year in which they told us how they intended to comply with the three moratoria being demanded by the Archbishop of Canterbury. My initial and immediate concern was on realising that two of the bishops now supporting the call not…

  • Having a Quiet Time

    This blog will be relatively quiet over the next couple of weeks. Contact number for the office is 0141-339-6691. Back soon.

  • Sploosh! Sploosh! Sploosh! Sploosh! Sploosh! Sploosh! Sploosh! Sploosh!

    And so it was that I baptised 8 (yes, EIGHT) children this morning during the service. It is hard to think of anything more pleasurable in church than baptising so many lovely children in such an exciting community. I have to admit that I never expected to baptise so many at once. I even managed…

  • Alan Turing

    Just days ago, I added my name to a petition asking the Government to make some kind of apology on behalf of the mathematician Alan Turing. I’m consequently delighted to see that Gordon Brown has issued just such a statement. I remember hearing about Alan Turing when I was a young mathematics student. Brilliant, troubled,…

  • The imagined community of the Anglican Communion

    There is an astonishingly clear essay on the Anglican Communion which has just appeared on a US website. It is well worth reading in full. I think that increasingly, there are good people who are starting to question the presumed goodness of what is at the heart of the dreadful mess of international Anglicanism. About…

  • Half Marathon this weekend

    I believe that there is a half marathon being run in Glasgow tomorrow, the route of which is mostly around a place that is called “The South Side”. If you do come from that place and are planning to come to St Mary’s tomorrow, you might like to allow a little extra time to get…

  • Marriage Equality Video from Ireland

    [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ULdaSrYGLQ&feature=player_profilepage]

  • Sermon on Song of Songs – Preached 30 August 2009

    I want to begin this morning with a little story from a previous phase of my ministry. People sometimes ask me what I did before becoming a priest – I long to be able to say something exotic or exciting or even slightly noble. Something where it sounds as though you gave up a lot…