Church Blog

Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia. As I write this the excitement of Easter has almost evaporated, it was six Sundays ago. However as far as the Churches calendar is concerned we are still in the Easter season. I recently read an article that suggested that 1st April should always be Easter day. The reasoning behind this statement is that God’s actions or sometimes lack of action appears to those who consider themselves wise to be foolish. To consider that God acts foolishly is to reveal a misapprehension of God’s purpose and his relationship with his wonderful creation! As I look out of my window I see the leaves opening on Sam Lake’s trees. As I walk around the village I see [...]

I expect many of us remember that verse from childhood. A hot cross bun was something one only saw once a year, usually on Good Friday. Now one appears to be able to buy a bun with a cross at any time! It used to make me very annoyed! – but no longer! Why? Since Christmas I have been noticing afresh how the layout of the shelves and advertising slogans change within our larger shops – and carry on changing. As soon as Christmas was over large signs proclaiming ‘Sales’ were the order of the day. – then very soon red roses and red balloons proclaimed the advent of St Valentine’s Day; as I write this, the prominent colours are softer – pinks and lemons, [...]

If you accepted at face value what the media says about the Christian Church, it would be easy to reach the conclusion that it is in terminal decline. Yet by the time that you read this, our church building will have been through three occasions in less than three months when it has been officially described as ‘full’. This is the word we use when more than 300 people are in attendance at a service. Not bad for a village of around 1,000 souls! There are many reasons given by those nationally who don’t support the Christian Church: ‘I have better things to do’; ‘It’s just a privileged club’; It’s based on a fairy tale’; ‘It’s embarrassing, divisive and irrelevant in our world’; ‘I’m too [...]

Christmas is a time of giving. It is a celebration of the most wonderful gift to mankind, God’s gift of hope through the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ. The baby Jesus was born over two thousand years ago in squalor, was persecuted by a murderous tyrant, and became a refugee. What a start in life for the Son of God! He made himself hugely vulnerable, and He did this because He loves us more than we can possibly understand. Human love is a funny thing; it cannot survive in a vacuum, so to speak; love that is not returned withers and dies. The incredible thing is that God’s love for us will never die. Jesus survived the most appalling start in life, grew [...]

Towards of the end of this magazine period, I will be taking my final service in Hambledon as Priest- in-Charge. I know it will be an emotional time for us. Heather, Susie and I will miss you all, but that has always been the lot of a parish priest, to belong for a time and then step out the way so new beginnings and new life can happen. We will take with us some wonderful memories and friendships as well as a deep debt of gratitude to God, for placing us here and to you all, for the love we have shared. Hambledon is a true community, which really does work to enable all people to flourish. I have often mentioned in the past, this [...]

I am writing this month’s article on our Patronal Festival St. Peter and St. Paul’s Day. It is, as a cursory reading of the New Testament will reveal, an unlikely pairing. The impetuous, very human Peter, with the intellectual and reasoned Paul. They undoubtedly didn’t really get on and although their personalities and theology complemented each other, I am not sure they saw it that way. One might hope for unity in diversity, but such unity is hard won. I have a postcard of an icon of St. Dominic meeting and embracing St. Francis. It is the same story really. Both the Franciscan and Dominican orders came about at the same time. In the twelfth century city states were growing fast and people becoming estranged [...]