Church Blog

3 May 2017 Archbishops’ Pastoral Letter to the Parishes and Chaplaincies of the Church of England, for the General Election. The season of Easter invites us to celebrate and to renew our love of God and our love of neighbour, our trust and hope in God and in each other. In the midst of a frantic and sometimes fraught election campaign, our first obligation as Christians is to pray for those standing for office, and to continue to pray for those who are elected. We recognise the enormous responsibilities and the vast complexity of the issues that our political leaders face. We are constantly reminded of the personal costs and burdens carried by those in political life and by their families. Our second obligation as [...]

My concern this month is not with elections or Europe but whom they affect, us. In May Rev James Hair, Diocesan Mental Health Advisor, led twenty of us in Hambledon in a morning of Dementia training and awareness. For the last few years we have been developing as a Dementia Friendly Church. One of the first quotations he wrote on his board was this. “For a Christian it does not matter whether one has lost one's mind or not, what really matters is whether one is loved by God".  The second was this "We are not what we remember. We are remembered." John Swindon. In response to the first I have always been sure that we are all loved by God. That surety is given [...]

R.S. Thomas's poem "The Kingdom" gives a very lovely image of the possibilities of a world where Christ is in charge. It’s a long way off but inside it There are quite different things going on: Festivals at which the poor man Is king and the consumptive is Healed; mirrors in which the blind look At themselves and love looks at them Back; and industry is for mending The bent bones and the minds fractured By life. The Archbishops have encouraged us all to mark the time between Ascension Day and Whitsun this year by having a week in which we focus on praying for God’s kingdom. It seems to me to be a good thing to do, not only because it is what Jesus [...]

A friend posted an article from the Guardian on Facebook last week, so I take it to be in the public domain. It was by Giles Fraser following a break in, in his church, in which a man had broken in to the church at night, to pray. After describing the situation Giles Fraser went on to say: “Years ago, when I had the keys to St Paul’s Cathedral, I would frequently sit in there on my own at night. And I do the same now in my bombed-out 1960s community church. Of course you can do it elsewhere, but these are places set aside for it. Here the silence creeps into me, a bit like the cold. Not the silence of empty nothingness but [...]

I am writing this before we know the results of the American election and it has brought to mind a discussion I attended on leadership and social change. In the talk, three types of leadership were identified: heroic, managerial and social change leadership. Heroic leaders are what all political leaders and pundits seem to like. It is often characterised by a charismatic leader, who is clear, directive, sets personal goals and goes towards them. The achievements of the first one hundred days in office are identified with this type of leadership as are the betrayal of close followers and personal rather than a people centred agenda. It also proves fairly ineffectual in delivering long term social change. Heroic leadership is rare but that is often [...]

I am writing this on the Sunday after the referendum and am acutely aware of the huge changes that this has set in motion. In part, I believe the result clearly shows a disconnection between the politicians and the electorate and some of the media and ordinary people. In part I also think that it shows how London centric a lot of attitudes we take for granted have become. These are all matters that I am sure will be addressed. More importantly, from my point of view is how we go about our daily lives and what attitudes we hold. I am not fearful for our or our children’s future because I know that our society has been built on sound Christian principles, some inherited [...]