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Turning Up and Being Counted
I’m currently going through a strange time. I’m away from my congregation on sabbatical. It is a good thing to do and I’m having a great time, meeting fantastic people and learning a thing or two by stopping for a while to breathe. There’s always things that you miss when you are away from the…
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12 Things I’ve Learned About Preaching
At the moment, I’m on sabbatical and am not preaching regularly. However, I recently had the opportunity to preach to a congregation largely made up of apprentice preachers – those who are training for ordained and lay ministries in the church in the future. A number of them have asked me to share some wisdom…
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It was 30 years ago today…
It seems extraordinary to me that it is thirty years since I stood with others in Deans Yard in London outside the meeting of the General Synod of the Church of England waiting for news. It was a long day and one that many had worked towards tirelessly, for many years. It was the day…
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Gender Recognition Act Reform – It’s Time
This week the Scottish Government will be considering a piece of legislation which will affect most people’s lives very little but which has great significance for those seeking legal recognition that their gender is different to that which was assigned to them at birth. People being recognised legally as having a changed gender is nothing…
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The Kalendar for 2022 – 2023 is available free!
For years now, I’ve produced a Kalendar for the Scottish Episcopal Church with all the bible readings set out for the year. In the past I’ve sold it for around £4. For a range of reasons, I’m not going to be selling it this year but am releasing it online so that anyone can download…
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Fact checking Sandi Toksvig
Sandi Toksvig has published an open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury that a lot of people are getting very excited about as it seems to be a slam dunk refutation of the wicked, homophobic Archbishop of Canterbury. The only trouble with the letter is that it is based on a number of claims about…
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The Lambeth Conference: Homophobic by Design
Next week the long delayed Lambeth Conference gets underway. The conference is the gathering of bishops from around the Anglican Communion which used to take place every 10 years. The conference hasn’t taken place for 14 years and was delayed by Covid and also because relationships within the Anglican Communion were so difficult that it…
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I respectfully disagree…
I respectfully disagree with the latest College of Bishops statement on Aberdeen and Orkney and I do so in two respects. Firstly, there is no mention of a mediation process in Canon 53. If the College of Bishops wishes to use Canon 53 section 11 and subsequent sections, then they should follow the procedure laid…
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Don Giovanni – Scottish Opera – ***
It is difficult to know why Scottish Opera have revived Thomas Allan’s production of Don Giovanni, which they first presented in 2013. It wasn’t exciting then and isn’t exciting now. The curtain goes up to reveal a gauze that will remain in place to obscure the first scenes. Clouds can be seen scudding across it…
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Easter Sermon 2022
https://youtu.be/738ChTRb61I?t=2104 Years ago I remember going on holiday. It was my kind of travel – ferries and trains and buses and then a sailing trip with friends who used to take me despite and not because of my sailing abilities. And there was this one morning that I remember. Will always remember. I’d managed to…