• On the List

    front

    I got back to Glasgow last night just as the Pink List was being published by the Independent on Sunday and was thrilled to see my name there again – I’ve been listed for the last couple of years.

    Even better is that I’m not the only cleric on it this year – Jeffrey John and Richard Coles are also there.

    I am, as before, amazed by the company that I keep on the list – this time more diverse and a better gender-balance. The place of LGBT people in the world is changing. Too slowly for me, but it is changing with each passing year.

    There are plenty of people who wish I’d shut up about LGBT issues and that is not limited to those who disagree with me. The Pink List is a rare moment of affirmation and I’m hugely moved, as in previous years, to find myself upon it.

3 responses to “Six Points for Preachers”

  1. Rosemary Hannah Avatar
    Rosemary Hannah

    I think I would add: if it does not matter to you, yourself, then don’t imagine it is likely to matter to anybody else. Find, if you can, the point where your concerns and the concerns of the text cross. Better to say a very little that matters, than a lot which really does not.

    Also: read (to yourself, before you start) the whole passage you are going to speak on and read what comes before and after. You do not have to agree with it. You do have to enter into dialogue with it. Supine agreement of Scripture is not (in my opinion) required. Taking it seriously, is.

  2. […] Dent-de-Lion by admin Posted on November 2, 2012  Six Points for Preachers […]

  3. Melissa Holloway Avatar
    Melissa Holloway

    I’ve noticed how uncomfortable preachers are with the word ‘love’. Discounting the times in is used in a pre-set theological phrase like ‘love of Christ’ as sort of a plug in, I rarely hear it in sermons.

    Its a reason to be Episcopalian – if the preacher avoids love, you can always hear it – or see it- or taste it – in the Eucharist.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.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

Previous Posts

  • Vestry Meeting

    Good vestry meeting tonight. There are always hard decisions and so much that everyone wants to be able to say. We managed to finish within 2 hours, just. People often say funny things in Vestry meetings. The all-time funniest exchange that I ever remember went: Me: So, how many hoovers do we have then. Response:…

  • Tanzania

    There is a press release on the Primates’ Meeting in Tanzania on the Anglican Communion website. It contains this: “This is the first time an Archbishop of York will officially attend a Primates Meeting. Canon Kearon said, “It is the hope that the presence of Dr Sentamu will allow more discussion of church life in…

  • Daily, daily

    Thanks to all who made the singing evening such a success on Thursday. We had to bring in chairs to accommodate the people, who turned up from all local churches imaginable. Two hours of new church music later, a very happy crowd went off into the night. All credit to the local ACTS (Action for…

  • Singing Event

    There is a unique event tonight in St Mary’s Cathedral. It is an ecumenically organised event showcasing some new church music both choral and congregational. Two musicians join us to animate this event, both of whom work locally and on a world stage. John Bell will be working with a scratch choir and aiding the…