The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
5th October 2025 The family story of how our third child has his name – Michael – is part of our family lore. Charlotte and I were choosing names as you do and it came down to a short list for a boy or a…
Thought for the Week
The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
The ILC World Assembly met last week under the theme ‘Unity in Christ: Confession and Cooperation in a Fragmented World’. It was a gathering of more than 130 people from 55 countries from 61 Lutheran churches – and those were the official folk! There…
The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
21st September 2025 When people ask me about Ascension I describe our comings and goings in the phrase we used at the beginning – “we’re a home for some and a ‘whistle stop’ for others”. We have folk who live in Suffolk or Norfolk permanently…
The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
I am not knowingly using AI but I know Artificial Intelligence is all around me. I have been in meetings or in email conversations where people have used it to get information, produce a document, summarise relevant items and because they know the topics…
The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
I was looking for the sugar in my daughter’s kitchen. Though she doesn’t use much sugar I knew she had some. It’s in the cupboard. Except it wasn’t. I was momentarily stumped as I was sure it was there and having been accused of…
The Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Dr Martin Luther wrote a summary of what he believed so that those who came after him couldn’t claim his words for their own ends (Luther Works Vol. 37 p.360-372). He talked about what he believed and what he wanted to say about his…
The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
This week there has been no Sea Cadets for me (except some admin that I help with) but no time with cadets after the previous week’s camp. They had a good time – and yes water was part of many of the events –…
The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
At my first congregation we had the experience of the Queensland Dept of Health closing the site – we had a church, child care centre, and parsonage there – and then a summary closure in a matter of hours – everything shut (except for…
The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
I oscillate between feeling that after nearly 40 years I think I’m getting the hang of being a pastor through to wondering when will I ever learn how to be a pastor?! I think I’m too arrogant to have too much of an imposter…
The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
I’m not a fan of needles. I know they exist to do a job and that job is invariably in my best interests so I have needles when required. They hurt momentarily in the big scheme of things. This week I gave blood and…