"There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and be healed, to have despaired and have recovered hope." [from: George Eliot, Adam Bede, p. 333] You can find the lectionary readings for this… Continue reading Three in One

You can find the lectionary readings for this reflection here. We heard the reading from Acts 2 and from John, but I also reference the Genesis story. We’ve been leading up to the events of the Day of Pentecost for the last seven weeks, since Easter Sunday, fifty days ago. This reading from Acts today… Continue reading Pentecost – tongues and Babel fish

You can find the lectionary readings for this reflection here. I drew on both the gospel passage and the one from Acts. Both of the stories we heard today explore some aspect of what the values and attitudes of the emerging Christian community of faith are, and how those values guide the way we organise… Continue reading Organising Love

You can find the readings for this week here. I think it is a beautiful coincidence that we have this reading on mother’s day – since Easter is a moveable feast, this doesn’t always happen. And although mother’s day originally began as a celebration of Mary’s yes to the angel and the subsequent conception of… Continue reading Tabitha

https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54208 The readings for Sunday May 1st can be found here, and the following sermon focuses on the passage from Acts. This story is usually known as the Damascus road conversion. It’s not quite true, though. Conversion is about a change of belief system- say from Muslim to Christian, from atheist to Buddhism and so… Continue reading Ananias Acts

Last week I reflected on the metaphors we use to explain and explore and understand Atonement – the everything that God does to bring all of creation into communion with God. There are many metaphors that give us windows into this landscape, and each one offers us a different perspective on the whole – a… Continue reading Shout it! Whisper it! Live it…

Opening Words The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! Call to worship Long and long our God has declared it: All things will be made new! And God’s promises are sure. All the heavens and the earth; All the seas and dry lands; All the stars and moon. All will be made new!… Continue reading Love is stronger than death!

Type = ArtScans RGB : Gamma = 2.000 One of the things I enjoyed most about studying for ordination was the library. I love books and reading and the Hewitson library is well stocked as you would expect for a denomination that puts a high value on having educated ministers of word and sacrament. One… Continue reading Atonement moments

This story is told in all four of the gospel accounts. It’s not always told in the same way, with the same woman or the same objections, and it sits in different places relative to Jesus’ ministry and his journey to Jerusalem and the cross. But it is not often that we have a story… Continue reading Gratitude, grief and lavish love

I have no doubt that this parable is well known to you, along with its companion parables of the lost coin and the lost sheep. The characters in this parable, like the one last week, are open to our interpretation and invite our empathic engagement. When I’ve reflected on this parable in the past, I’ve… Continue reading Prodigal Reflections