• Who we are

    Right, here is a little verbatim to get you thinking.

    The scene is a concert given by a famous jazz musician a few weeks ago in an American cathedral. I’ve been nudged to the front to sit with the bigwigs. As we sit waiting for the music, I hear this conversation going on somewhere behind me.

    Person 1: Wow, isn’t this space amazing. I never knew it was so beautiful.

    Person 2: I know, I’ve never been in here before either.

    Person 1: What is it anyway? What kind of church?

    Person 2: It is the Episcopals

    Person 1: Well, it is really special, the building and all. Which ones are the Episcopals again? Are they the ones that have divorce?

    Person 2: Yes, they do. And women priests. They’ve got one here!

    Person 1: Really? Wow! All this, and divorce and women priests. Maybe I should give them a try…

    Now, how does that exchange make you feel? Does it lift the soul or not?  Can you flesh out your feelings with some further thoughts?

2 responses to “Cedric’s Sermon – 22 January”

  1. Rosemary Hannah Avatar
    Rosemary Hannah

    Laughed a lot – thought it was bang on.

    I will say it again, though – in my experience no church ever grows unless it is offering a really good quality of worship and has an involved and welcoming congregation.

    Similarly, any church which cannot offer these is a disaster waiting to happen.

    But every shrinking church is not a church without these things, though too many are.

    Learning to look out, to ask ‘How can we serve others by offering what they truly need?’ is a good place to start. Asking: ‘What if God wanting here?’ is indispensable.

  2. Rosie Bates Avatar
    Rosie Bates

    Thank you so much Canon Cedric. Must admit to a touch of the spiritual glums last Sunday re the history of my personal stance in the Diocese of Oxford. Now you have me laughing all the way to the ‘bank of grace’ and the hope that lies within us.

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