Thought for the Week

May 8, 2022

The Fourth Sunday of Easter

I was saddened to read and hear a story of a naval chaplain who had retired having lost his faith. He describes himself now as an atheist and a humanist. A lot of the material in his story was about – and the material was framed in a way that he was ‘chaplaincy reformer’ who […]

May 1, 2022

The Third Sunday of Easter

Whoops! “Oh Padre!” came the quiet comments – intakes of breath from the cadets – as well as smirks from the staff. We had just finished Colours at Sea Cadets and I had been dismissed but was still on deck as were the cadets and my phone rang. Phones are not to ring on Parade. […]

April 24, 2022

The Second Sunday of Easter

I was intrigued to hear that from these past two years with COVID-19 a thing called ‘long grief’ is now being discussed which I discovered was a short hand for prolonged grief disorder. And yes, I was intrigued especially in this season of Easter – the seven weeks of Easter before Pentecost comes around – […]

April 17, 2022

The Resurrection of Our Lord

I heard a podcast* on my travels about what is happening when our mind wanders. I found it fascinating because of the new things I heard. They’re probably not new to anyone who knows about minds and brains but they were new to me. I heard about how we think about ourselves; how we understand […]

April 10, 2022

Palm Sunday

When Egeria travelled in the Levant (381-384) she recorded many things on her travels one of which was a description of the events in Jerusalem in Holy Week. There were many services, gatherings, walking to various places and on Sunday afternoon having gathered at the Mount of Olives for hymns, antiphons, and Bible readings there […]

April 3, 2022

The Fifth Sunday in Lent

“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 82:2-4 ESV) The psalmist, Asaph, is having a few words with […]

March 27, 2022

The Fourth Sunday in Lent

I write this ‘blurb’ having just seen photos of some our grandchildren meeting each other in Australia for the first time. Yes, the English one has just arrived – with her parents 😉 – and will eventually join Charlotte and more family. There’s a particularly lovely photo of two cousins hugging each other – the […]

March 20, 2022

The Third Sunday in Lent

The Churches Together in England Forum 2022 was held this past week. Usually held every three years (unless a pandemic gets in the way) this is a gathering of 51 member churches (the ELCE became a member in 2011), ecumenical county bodies, and 71 Bodies in Association (charities and organisations working in the community and […]

March 13, 2022

The Second Sunday in Lent

One of the pastoral options I set for seminarians to consider in my Pastoral Practice course is the analysis of and the pastoral care that follows when a pastor hears from a grandmother that she has baptised her granddaughter when bathing her using the emergency rite in the hymnal because her daughter (the baby’s mother) […]

March 6, 2022

The First Sunday in Lent

Is it just me or are we just getting hit by one thing after another?” Charlotte and I were chatting. I had recently returned from visiting the police who were dealing with yet another troublesome domestic situation but at the same time they mentioned the invasion of Ukraine and whether Putin was omni-destructive? Local and […]

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