-
Opera Review – The Seven Deadly Sins
Here’s my review of last week’s show, now posted on Opera Britannia’s website. Rating: There cannot be many opera venues where it is possible to buy ear-plugs behind the bar. However, such was Scottish Opera‘s quest for novelty that we found ourselves in a venue more usually known as a rock venue in Glasgow than…
-
He took what? A Chalice?
I’ve just been listening on the Radio to the new revision of the English translation of the Latin Mass of the Roman Catholic Church. It is being introduced this weekend across England and Wales and the service was obviously meant to showcase it. I wouldn’t normally be that interested in the liturgical goings on of…
-
Scottish Government Consultation
Just to note with rejoicing that the Scottish Government has published its initial consultation on changes that are proposed to marriage law and civil partnership law in Scotland. I’m sorry that the consultation makes repeated use of the phrase “same-sex marriage”. What I’m hoping for is opening marriage to same-sex couples. We need there to…
-
To Ardrossan
To Ardrossan on Tuesday evening for the Institution of the new Rector of the North Ayrshire Team ministry the Rev Martin Sofield. It is always exciting to be there when a new ministry starts and Tuesday evening was no exception. All good wishes to Martin as he takes on this new role. I sometimes wish…
-
Who is welcome?
I want to pick up again on a comment that has been left by Helen on a previous post. She said: Is it necessary to explain who you welcome? Should a church not welcome all? If you list welcoming gay people then you would need to list disabled, addicts, people of other ethnic backgrounds……..etc all…
-
Last night at St Paul’s Cathedral
Though I worked in the Diocese of London for a few years before beginning my formal ordination training, I’ve never considered myself a member of the Church of England. Thus, it is always interesting for me to go to worship down there and encounter their little ways. Last evening I was at holy mass in…
-
Podcasts
I’ve been meaning to post a reminder on here for a while about the two podcasts that are available from St Mary’s. There are two of them, one video and one audio and they carry the sermons that are preached week by week at the 1030 service. There was a period earlier this year when…
-
Friendly and Welcoming Churches in Edinburgh
Time for a quick round-up of churches which welcome and affirm gay folk over in Edinburgh. I made a plea for information last week which was forthcoming, so it is only fair to list the results. Old St Paul’s has a statement on the page of its XYmonday group which says it is “inclusive group…
-
Human Rights Petition
There is a growing and unfortunate clamour for a roll-back on human rights commitments. These included some unfortunate comments from the Prime Minister over the weekend to the effect that he thought that human rights legislation had gone too far. Personally I don’t think it has gone nearly far enough. One of the major goals…
-
Gifts and Skills
One of the themes that I'm wanting to pick up on at St Mary's if that of Gifts and Skills. We're hoping to be running some kind of course or retreat or series of workshops in the autumn which focus on the idea of discerning your gifts and skills. The sermon this morning that Akma…