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Sermon preached on 12 October 2014
20141012 kelvin holdsworth – gnashing of teeth.movie from Kelvin Holdsworth on Vimeo. ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy…
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Same-sex Marriage Date for Scotland – 31 December 2014
Exciting news this morning – we have a date for the first same-sex marriages in Scotland. The date is within this year – just. The first day on which most couples will be able to get married will be 31 December 2014, the day known in Scotland as Hogmanay. There’s going to be some parties…
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Come out and carry on
Today has been designated as National Coming Out Day. There’s been so much going on recently in the media and social media about gay bishops in the Church of England. This seems to me to say it in a more elegant way than all the letters to the press, editorials, blog posts and twitter posts…
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How twitter and facebook can save your blog rather than kill it
One of the things that anyone keeping a blog must be aware of at the moment is that things are not the same as they were. At one time you simply had to put up something even vaguely interesting and people all over the world would read and comment. Blogging was like the Wild West…
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Dinner at the Trades House
Out last night to a lovely dinner with the Trades House of Glasgow. Glasgow is one of those cities where the Medieval Guilds of the city still exist. The various trades in the city formed themselves in to Incorportated Crafts which were ways of regulating (and monopolising) trade as the city grew. Nowadays they…
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The Special Synod on Family Life
Something significant is going on in the Vatican this week. A series of conversations has started about how the Roman Catholic Church deals with issues that arise in family life. It is hugely significant because such conversations simply don’t happen very often. Another interesting thing is that it started off with a questionnaire that was…
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Why outing [some] bishops must remain an option
Last weekend, an extraordinary letter was published in the Sunday Telegraph. It came from 300 Christians, mostly Anglicans who were offering support to their bishops should any of them decide to come out. It was described by some as a love letter to gay bishops. I had the chance to sign the letter and, though…
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Can you backdate a marriage?
How interesting to learn about the new rules that will govern couples in England and Wales who have been in a Civil Partnership who wish to change (upgrade?) their relationship status to a marriage. It seems that they are going to be able to do so easily and will receive a “backdated” marriage certificate which…
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Sermon preached on 28 September – Who do you think you are?
Who do you think you are? In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. “Hello, can you help me, this is ICM and we are conducting a telephone poll in connection with the recent referendum would you be willing to answer some questions.” And I said yes –…
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You can’t bomb people into being nice Westerners
In a way, watching the debate yesterday in the House of Commons on whether the UK should join in with Air Strikes against the so called Islamic State felt different to me from the last times we’ve had similar debates. This time I felt I was open to persuasion. As the debate began, I hadn’t…