A robot wrote my sermon…
Well not quite. I decided that I’d try out ChatGPT and see if it was any better than me at writing a sermon. I dutifully asked it to write one for my congregation focussing on the sheep hearing the shepherd’s voice. It wasn’t bad, I thought. I added in a couple of one-liners to personalise…
Falling fruit is not enough
Let’s be honest, it’s not unusual to bump up against the patriarchy. It’s not unusual to have to call out unintentional everyday misogyny. It’s exhausting sometimes but for some reason this week’s episode has stuck with me so this is my way of processing it, saying it’s still not ok and issuing one of those…
Angry Crochet
…or Prayer as Protest. Thoughts from our Wednesday Eucharist…The news is full of speech about protest, and violence and racism, and looting. Much of it is inexcusable and frankly incomprehensible to many of us. Whilst the violence and aggression and racism deserve to be named as such and condemned, it can be hard to work…
On the Edge
This year’s offering for our candlelit Christmas Soul Space in Tidmington was inspired by Malcolm Guite’s poetry, as is so often the case. And the weather was good and the skies were clear enough that afterwards, as we shared singing and prosecco in the moonlight, we did some star gazing too. A simply magical way…
Ordinary People – Holocaust Memorial Day 2023
HMD is commemorated on 27th January every year. Using this year’s theme, Ordinary People, Bill tells the story of three men whose lives form part of the story of the holocaust. Bill is studying for an MA in Holocaust Studies, an interest sparked off by a meeting with Zigi Shipper who died this week and…
Where are you?
Tidmington Carol Service entirely by candlelight and ending with bubbles and nibbles is always a joy; it simply oozes Christmas. This year we wondered which bit of the story might be about us (if you’re a Godly Play storyteller you’ll recognise that question). Here’s what I said: Where are you in the Christmas story? As…
A sermon on the death of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth
The nation has been in mourning this week as we face the reality of the death of the Queen (for surely she will always be The Queen for most of us). In common with churches around the land, we held a civic service. It was hard to know what to say when so much has…
Scorching, ashes and the fire lily
In which I talk to myself as others listen in on Ash Wednesday. Our ashes each year are made from burning palm crosses from the previous year. Ash is all that remains after a fire, the caustic, dry remains of what was once living. A reminder of destruction and death. It’s a grim thing to…
The Song of Revolution
It’s taken the celebration of Mary and her song to prompt me into blogging again. I’ve often said if I had a tattoo, it’d be the Magnificat. But for now I’ll settle for putting a few words here instead. Here’s what Honington heard this morning: If we had read that song of Mary in a…
words and the Word
As ever, my thoughts are never completely original – or at the very least are triggered by others. This week’s offering for our online service started a couple of months ago when I was reading Barbara Brown Taylor’s ‘When God is Silent’ which is subtitled ‘Divine language beyond words’. Words are the universal currency of…
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Musings of a Maverick Priest 