Eleven years ago today I became a Deacon. It was a wonderful day. I remember having to buy a suit.
Once a deacon, always a deacon and it is still a ministry that I feel called to daily.
Here is what the ordinal says:
The Church is the People of God, the Body of Christ and the
dwelling of […]

Just back in from an evening in the synod hall with 20 members of the congregation. This was prompted by my being told a while ago that it would be good for people to have a chance to get to know me. I’m not sure what that means. After all, I’m such an easy person […]

We were singing quite a lot of music either written or influenced by Vaughan Williams yesterday, and so we sang Bunyan’s hymn with some gusto.
Indeed, one was belting it out from the altar table thus:
Hobgoblin nor foul fiend
Can daunt her spirit,
She knows she at the end
Shall life inherit.
Then fancies fly away,
She’ll fear not what men […]

The Mystery Worshipper from the Ship of Fools has been.
Read it all.
I think it is a fair reflection of what we hope to be. What do you think?

A new and interesting development locally is a monthly inter-faith coffee morning. A few of us from different faith traditions go and have coffee together in a local cafe. No agenda. Very relaxed. It is a meeting which includes RC, Presbyterian and Episcopal Christians, the local Immam and someone from a Tibetan Buddhist centre. We […]

To the RSAMD tonight for the decapitation of nuns. An odd way to spend the evening, but it was clear that they all had it coming to them in the end.
It is a great piece and was extremely well staged. Amongst other good singing, Soeur Constance stood out from the crowd.
The first third was marred […]

Just back from St Silas Church. I’d been at the the Gibson St Gala. It is a great little street festival - much more fun, I think than the big parade which took place on Byers Rd last week. St Silas have a fantastic position for this one and were making the most of it […]

And in local news, it is a busy weekend. Here at St Mary’s tomorrow morning we have the second of our festival Sundays. In the morning we welcome the Egidionchor of Nürnberg. I heard them rehearsing yesterday and they sounded fantastic. The music tomorrow is a bit calmer and more thoughtful than last week’s Haydn […]

Is there no limit to how far St Mary’s will go in promoting weddings?
(That statement was merely rhetorical, I think we already know that the answer to that question is no).
This week it was the turn of the choir, which made an appearance on Fr Brian D’Arcy’s Sunday Half-Hour which took weddings as its theme.
Quick […]

A number of years ago, I lived in London for a bit, working as a lay person in the University of London in the East End. They were much happier years than ever I expected them to be, notwithstanding the fact that I was exploring my vocation at the time, a process which was horrid.
In […]