What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Review of Predictions for 2018

    On 1 January I made predictions for the coming year. Time to see how I got on.

    1 – General Election in the second half of the year.

    Well, no we didn’t and the government linger on. Not right

    2 – “…and as the polls close, our exit poll predicts that the Conservative Party is unlikely to be able to form a new government…”

    Well, the government did linger on of a fashion.  N/A

    3 – The next but one leader of the Conservative Party becomes Ruth Davidson MP.

    Too soon to tell. Not right yet.

    4 – The hipsters get bored of vinyl and discover cameras with actual, you know, film.

    In September, I happened upon three or four hipster types from Denmark in the cathedral grounds taking photographs for a fashion shoot in Belgium. They had stopped shooting for a moment…. to reload film canasters.  Right – but likely to become more common yet.

    5 – No date for a new referendum on Scottish Independence.

    No date for a new referendum and no great call for one either. Right.

    6 – No progress for LGBT affirming Anglicans in England.

    Sadly correct. Right

    7 – Progress for LGBT affirming Anglicans elsewhere, particularly Brazil.

    Stunning progress in Brazil – marriage agreed by huge majority on synod floor. (And who else saw that coming!) Right.

    8 – Increasing realisation that sexual abuse is part of church culture. #churchtoo #metoo.

    Yes – meetings happening all over the place trying to work out how to respond. Few coherent policies yet. Right.

    9 – FTSE lower at the end of 2018 than it is at the beginning. (7687)

    As I write this the FTSE is at 6728 – worst year in a decade. Right

    10 – The end of the beard.

    Those with style, manners and culture have seen the error of their ways and shaved. A few young and misguided types cling on. Completely and utterly right.

     

    Not a bad year, I think.

5 responses to “Sermon preached on 8 January 2012”

  1. Mimanifesto – Jaye’s weblog

    […] on Sunday, Fr Chucks celebrated his first Holy Communion and Evensong as a Priest. Provost Kelvin preached a delightfully personal sermon addressed to Chucks in which he drew some parallels between the season of Epiphany and […]

    Reply
  2. DementedBonxie Avatar
    DementedBonxie

    It’s not really so hard to pronounce Chukwuemeka. Divide it into 2 parts: Chukwu / emeka
    You can surely manage ‘chook – woo’
    and ‘ay – may – kah’ (maybe the ‘ay’ should be ‘eh’ ?) Stress on ‘may’ I think.

    Even doing him the honour of saying one or other half of his name would be something! I believe its meaning is ‘God has done something great’ . Chucks seems somewhat undignified by comparison. So we might at least do something decent and make our muscles work a little differently.

    But then, I’m an enthusiast for the idea that the learning to use muscles differently is an important part of a process of getting to appreciate another person & culture.

    All that aside, a fine sermon, thanks.

    Reply
    1. kelvin Avatar
      kelvin

      Thanks DementedBonxie

      I don’t really have trouble with his name – I’ve got used to baptising lots of babies with Igbo names in recent years.

      Chucks is the name that he is happy to go by amongst both Igbo and English speakers.

      We did decide the other night that Bishop Gregor did need to use Chukwuemeka in full at the ordination.

      Reply
  3. Jaye Avatar
    Jaye

    I found both Friday and Sunday very emotional. Occasions like these days affirm my own belief in God. It was wonderful to see Chuks ordained by the Bishop but the huge hug you gave Chuks and your smile as you were doing it said it all for me 🙂 He’s a treasure, and such an amazing addition to our clergy team-truly a God-given gift to us. It just speaks volumes for inclusion, diversity, tolerance, and all those other qualities I feel are so lacking in other denominations ( including the one from which I come).
    I thought your sermon was wonderfully moving and I don’t mind admit to shedding tears as you spoke, and as Fr Chuks gave the blessing at the conclusion of the service, and at Evensong too, but I’m like that over things I really care about in this world.

    I know it’s been a journey requiring patience, application, and negotiation. Thank you Kelvin for your part in making this wonderful thing come to pass.

    Reply
  4. Kimberly Avatar
    Kimberly

    The middle part of the sermon was dedicated, I presume, to Tilly, of blessed memory.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

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

Previous Posts

  • Christmas Message from Bishop Gregor

    It is quite likely that people reading this blog won’t be aware of Bishop Gregor’s Christmas Message – I don’t think it was sent to clergy or congregations and it doesn’t appear on the diocesan website. However, it is quite a good one and so I’m putting it on here. I heard a carol new…

  • Christmas Sermon 2013

    [UPDATE: The Herald newspaper covered this sermon as a front page story here: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/clergyman-calls-for-human-rights-focus-at-2014-games.23039023] Here’s what I said in my Christmas Sermon this year. It has become something of a commonplace that Christmas, at least in the life of the shops and the media starts all too early. Even at the end of September, the…

  • We’re going on a journey

    A couple of years ago, there was a new initiative in St Mary’s – someone suggested that we should have a crib service for children at 4 pm on Christmas Eve. We kind of expected a few children from the young church to show up. In the event there were about 50 people in the…