• The Questions

    I’ve just done one of those Knowing Me, Knowing You sessions that I do from time to time that allow members of the congregation to get to know me a bit and ask any questions about who I am and where I come from.

    I asked the group for permission to share the questions. Here’s what they asked me.

    • How did you get from the Salvation Army to the Scottish Episcopal Church?
    • Why were you into politics and why did you leave it behind?
    • How has the congregation changed and why?
    • What was your curacy like? Were you really in charge of a cathedral when you were a curate?
    • Is there a God shaped hole in everyone?
    • Do you have a boyfriend?
    • Where in Yorkshire do you come from?
    • Where in Scotland do you come from?
    • Did you come here as Provost?
    • What do you mean when you say you hated your training?
    • What are the good points and the bad points of being Provost of St Mary’s?
    • How do have you used the Maths and Computing skills you got in your first degree?
    • Do you want a new cat?
    • Where are you going next? And when?
    • Do you believe in Predestination?
    • Is there space for more razzmataz at St Mary’s?
    • Salvation Army vs High Church. Is it very different?
    • Prayer? How do you pray?
    • How do Bishops and Provosts get on?
    • What’s a Canon?
    • How do you relax?
    • What did Chaplaincy work teach you?
    • Where would you like to work?
    • Where have you been overseas?
    • What TV do you like?
    • What’s the difference between the role and the person?

    Great questions and as always a really interesting session. I think a lot of congregations would like their rector to do an any questions session from time to time. It is always worthwhile.

    Want the answers?

    I’m repeating it in September.

One response to “Christmas Day Sermon 2015”

  1. Meg Rosenfeld Avatar
    Meg Rosenfeld

    I enjoyed both of these sermons, and laughed heartily over the shark and other livestock. In our family, pigs and mice are beloved totem animals, and so they figure largely (in the case of the mice, not TOO large) into our Christmas décor as well as the cards and small gifts we receive. Since both are “unclean beasts” in the tradition of the Holy Family, I suppose this is heavily ironic; on the other hand, baby Jesus, having created them, may have found them as entrancing as we do. Happy Christmas/Boxing Day to you!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • He is come

    He is come, he is come. Wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Our God is amongst us.

  • How to be single at Christmas

    I find myself wanting to write something about being single at Christmas. After all, I’ve got some experience to draw on. There was a time when I used to find being on my own at Christmas a tricky thing to think about, but these days its one of the times of the year when I…

  • +Richard on the new atheists

    Don’t miss Richard Holloway’s  book review on The Atheist’s Guide to Christmas. Here’s the full link. And here is a highlight: That said, this book is fun, especially if you read it as a prospectus for a complex and varied religious position. The comedians in it – and there are too many of them –…