What is metanoia
Like any good sports match, it can often be a game of two halves. This week's passage also comes in two halves, and we may need to consider each part...
We all go silent
OK, it's the second week of Lent, that time of journeying with Jesus, as he is on the way to Jerusalem, to suffer, or with passion (its meaning is not...
Did this happen
As it is this year, this Sunday's lesson is the one just before Lent. We supposedly do this so that we are strengthened before we journey with the passion of...
Who all befriend the poor
In the weekly readings from the Bible, suggested by certain denominations of the Church, known as the Lectionary, we seem to have skipped a fair few passages from last week....
What about us
I have read a number of posts on social media recently which state that whatever that person believes means that they will go to Heaven; of course, if you don't...
One Body
I am beginning to feel a bit discombobulated. Not because I am called Bob, but because of all that is happening around the world at this time. It seems that...
9th January
I feel a tadge guilty writing about a fire, when a real widespread damaging, life threatening fire is spreading across LA. I have even heard that some US Christian communities...
Don’t let the light go out
All I got for Christmas was…some lickelix. Now, if you are unaware, this is like clotted cream to you. I can smell it a mile away, cresting on top of...
How to bring Joy
In our third Advent Sunday reading, we are taken to Luke 3:7-18, following on from the Peace of last week. Whereas we started to hear of John the Baptist (JtB)...
Cost of moving
I was listening to Americast, the BBC podcast which tries to explore what may be happening in America. They were saying that the increase in tariffs will, as has been...
Water, Wifi and Fire
With Storm Bert rapidly approaching our shores, we noticed that the roof had started to let in water, yet again today. It wasn’t much, given the news around the world,...
Do we see what they did there
No, it's not a sleight of hand, it's not magic, just a way of making us think of something else when they explain it. I could be telling you about...
Hospice or Renewal #Discussion
Spoiler alert = there is no easy answer to this one. I recently looked at the church congregation around me, and did the 'grey vote'. Have you ever done this?...
err, what happened
Awaking early, I stumbled to the kitchen, to grab a coffee and check up on the overnight election results. There was an expectation of good news, that joy would overcome...
No power
It’s our first time living in the country. Storm Ashley was fast approaching, and the indoor leak we had thought had been resolved, well, wasn’t. Buckets and towels to the...
James V
In our short time looking at this book of James, we might have rediscovered a desire to examine not just the words on the page, but the deeper context of...
Is this ‘The Way’
Imagine a child sitting with Jesus. OK, ignoring the Disney-character image of 'blonde-haired blue-eyed' Jesus, just focus upon that image of the child sitting with Jesus. And then the disciples...
James 3
The author starts this Chapter with no introduction, no gentle description of the problem that is at large, no reason for writing. As we said earlier, this is not so...
James II
So, we move to look at the second Chapter of James, albeit of course that Chapters did not exist until 1560, in an English translation of the Geneva Bible. Last...
James in a month – Chapter 1
I'd like to focus, for just a month, on the book of James, or rather Jakob - the original name. It is buried deep within our New Testament, but only...
Legacy
When you started to learn to ride a bike, it was hard work pushing those legs to turn the wheels, to gain some speed. After a while, with longer legs,...
Relevancy of the Church today
As a royal psalm, Psalm 85 celebrates and explores the relationship between God and David, God’s covenant with David. It talks about the crowning of David and his sons, the high expectations...
Regrets
Have we ever said something we might later regret? When we promise a child that we can get that ice cream upon our return? I recall our children hearing "I'll...
Where do we find ourselves
It was on a run this morning when I noticed, amidst the farm animals in the fields and the two hares scurrying around, the village where I now live. It...
Salt for the chips, not for the slugs
Have you ever been to a job interview? They are nervy occasions, one’s where you step forward with trepidation: will they see my potential, will I be able to say...
Ebb and Flow
Photo by Alexey Marchenko on Unsplash We are standing in those waters when the tide is turning. For so long the waters have flowed in just one direction, causing the sands beneath our...
A step further
As you step off the world, you enter an ever changing landscape of different vistas, all operating in slower time. Firstly, it is the noise. The birds chirping as they...
Sibling Rivalry
Where are we on our journey through Genesis? Recall that Genesis is part of the Jewish Torah, the Law. The Torah forms part of the Tanakh, which pulls together the...
A New Start
There was such relief when a baby is born; I fear more so from Mum's than Dad's. But what follows is never really one anyone could prepare for. Yes, we...
The beginning of the beginnings
The great sprint champion, Usain Bolt, purportedly said that you go off on the B of the bang. And so, we look, during Bible Month, at the book of Genesis....
Externalise
I think it sounds a bit like something a Dalek might say. I recently spoke about the welcome I receive at a community which I try to get to each...
There was this visitor
In the Gospel of John, purportedly written by the community that John started, up in the Qumran desert area, we read of their take of what Jesus said nearing his...
Be a good sheep
“But why? Why does Jesus the good shepherd lay down his life? To tell us that we are, in fact, enough. Jesus, especially in John's gospel, doesn't die in order...
Where they are
I hate to start with the word politics. It means ‘affairs of the people of the city’. No, I don’t mean those sort of affairs, but how everything relates to...
Something bigger than us
In our six-week look at the 12 Steps programme used by those in the Anonymous groups, we have covered the first step "We admit we are powerless over life challenges...
The river flows onwards
As I ran over one of the bridges to track north-side to then cross south again at what's known colloquially as Squinty or the Clyde Arch (seen right), I noticed...
Counter Cultural
If John was a hairy chap, purportedly eating an odd diet of locusts and honey, can we also be counter-cultural this year as we prepare for Christmas? Where are we?...
Which one sounds like the God you may know?
We are looking at two passages this week: both relate to the same scene but are vastly different. Both speak of the Kingdom of God, but one represents God as...
How much are they worth?
Have you ever been to a cafe and winced then looking at cost of the items on the menu? How can they charge that much for a sandwich? You could...
Should the Church follow Anonymous?
Have you heard of the various Anonymous support groups that are across the world, facilitating the needs of alcoholics, narcotics, gamblers and overeaters? They have frameworks that support those who...
Flipping Conflict
There will be no further mention of the humble isosceles, nor its colleague, the scalene triangle. Neither will its proper relative, the right angled triangle. But triangles are used in...
Evacuation Plan
In recent weeks we have seen plans for evacuating Greek islands and Maui in Hawaii. It makes obvious sense to have a plan, albeit some might question the implementation of...
Church is archaic
Often we may have heard a biblical passage and thought, what relevance has this for me? Especially today. In fact, the relevance of church is questioned by many in society....
Walk the walk as well as talk the talk
We often hear of disasters on the radio or see them on the TV or on our social media devices. We hear of them nigh on instantly these days. We...
Privatised faith isn’t publicly owned
Death of TV I recall hearing a clip from a TV programme about the future of television. "Linear television will die" said the commentator. What did they mean ‘ linear...
Stand up for me against world opinion
Do you enjoy politics? You might have seen or heard Prime Minister’s Questions, or how to not answer any questions but give your particular relevant soundbite, and so on. It...
Truth Be Told
This passage is about Matthew or Levi the tax collector. Jesus has not been slack and has now amassed his disciples. But this is not a club but a community...
Doubt
“This is Trinity Sunday, but society doesn’t care really. This is Trinity Sunday, but it doesn’t pay the bills. "But, this is Trinity Sunday," is states on the Plan. Even...
Pentecost : Who is in?
We have people meeting in one place, it’s Pentecost, 50 days after Passover. It’s a house (Acts 2:2) – too early for a church perhaps. Would they have said synagogue...
When death is merely a comma
As I sat at a bedside of someone in their last days, we were listening to some classical music. I sat bathed in the music that she so loved. I...
On a road to nowhere
It's Easter Day - well, it is in our story today. You'd have thought we would have moved on a week or so. Last week, we were recapping how the...
A two-way swing bridge
This is so different to the Easter message of last week. We celebrate Easter with eggs, daffodils, cheers and songs of praise, and don't forget those wonderful Marmite flavoured Hot...
Beyond the Cremation?
Sanctuary There is one way which we can decide 'how to go'. Yes, there is burial - both in a coffin or natural; there is aquamation or terramation - neither...
What did we see?
Today's story relates to a blind beggar, or does it? Yes, they are a principal character but possibly we are drawn to them for another reason, a deeper reasoning. What...
Why do that?
Chester - Greenway Often, especially around the start of the New Year, we may set ourselves a target of getting fit. This might involve going to the gym or taking...
A life size Cow
Not this large though... When people celebrate the life of a loved one, we may wish for a visible sign. We heard today of a motorbike laying next to the...
Light the world
Do you recall when you used a piece of glass to focus a beam of light onto a creature make a rainbow on the ground? It seemed to amazing that...
hcruhC
Can Church really be turned completely around? What might it really look like, as our perspective may be biased with 20+ years of attending our own Church. In that time...
Organ Renewed
As they always say: a church organ never dies, and on that note... Well, perhaps they don't say that very often, but it can be very difficult to scrap a...
Death Cafe 10 Jan 23
When you attend a meeting there is normally an agenda, something to look to agree upon. Today, everyone brought their own personal agenda, they sought to find understanding, perhaps a...
Where do we start?
Regeneration of the Doctor There are a lot of smaller churches. Once they stood out as pinnacles of the community. People would attend at least for those hatches, matches, and...
Is Jesus anti-growth?
At the end of Chapter 18 we have Jesus approaching Jericho and he saw a blind man begging on the side of the road. The man shouts out to Jesus...
Back to the Future
Time Circuits from DeLorean used in the first and second films Back to the future? Did you ever watch the movie? A boy in the Midwest of the USA and...
So what about death?
This week we launch the Death Café. It sounds a bit strange launching a café in October, let alone one that focusses upon Death. One person said that the advertising...
You’ll get over this
Why not listen to this classic track https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FgDles4xq8 from Boney M. This passage of Psalm 137 probably originates from the period 587-539 BCE. Their captors are pleading for them to...
Who will they sit with
The new leader of the Conservative party has been chosen, we have a new Prime Minister. They have met with Queen Elizabeth and now with King Charles. The Royal Family...
Harvest Festival in 2022
The Harvest Festival, where we traditionally celebrate the crops of the season. So what do we do with Harvest Festival in 2022? The local farmers will have been amongst the...
Who wants membership today?
In today's society membership is possibly frowned upon. Joining means responsibility, possibly cost - so why bother? The desire to subscribe to Amazon and Disney may be increasing but is...
Purl in the Field – Summer Edition
Our eighth edition of Purl in the Field from the Strathclyde #Methodist Circuit. Here we engage with those who may be housebound but in the medium of knitting, crochet and...
Slave : good or bad?
In Luke's description of how to prepare for the future he pointedly states that the disciples are slaves. (Luke 12:36) Is that how we think of ourselves? is being a...
Crazy Covenant
Java Justice It all started so many years ago. From using a 4 foot tall inflatable coffee mug and a tray of real doughnuts to persuade merely highlight to the...
Convocation
Do you find meetings, especially large ones, life draining or life affirming? What is it? The action of calling people together for a large formal assembly, yes that’s what a...
Carrying huge loads
It’s been a bit slow going as we move through the story after Easter. Last week we were only with the disciples immediately after resurrection and then a week afterwards....
Silencing Us
In recent years we may have noticed the use of letters to reinforce identity of some kind. In America we had the use of Q to denote evidence that there...
Being Enough
Barbara Brown Taylor An array of quilted embroidery Often we can feel that we are not enough. Paul writes in one of his letters to the Corinthians "We are hard...
On Receive
We scroll through our social media feeds, taking in information, the latest cat meme, and possibly checking the news or sports updates. We are on Receive. But let's think: You...
Do you know a hairy man?
Do you know a hairy man? No, they aren't missing as such, just could we recognise them if you saw a 'hairy man'? This week, there is a theme linking...
Listen to what?
What's the phrase: "we have two ears and one mouth, so let's use them in that order?". Wow, that's hard. Listen to what? Where are we? God in the midst...
The smelly Shepherds?
Shepherds always get a prominent role in the Nativity Plays. They get to clutch those wooly sheep, and they are always clean. They wear tea towels on their head, with...
Blue Angels
Why have a time reflecting upon Blue Angels when we are all gearing up for a wonderful #partytime? Well, for some, Christmas is a time when anniversaries appear on our...
Advent Sunday
Advent First Sunday This, 1 Thessalonians 3: 9-13, is probably the first New Testament letter to have been written. I considered 'letters of the alphabet' previously in Advent. Paul is...
TDOR 2021
This year we have worked collaboratively with the University of Glasgow, as well as the Iona Community, members of the Woodlands Methodist Church, included a special message of hope from...
Fine robes
This week, having just left Bartimaeus a few weeks ago, who is following everyone from Jericho to Jerusalem, we, too, are looking with fresh insight. What fresh perspective are we...
Too much inconvenience!
No this isn't another yarn or an attempt to needle you into contemplating something different. We have been talking about today's "Question of the Fortnight" and whether it is all...
Are we close or there yet?
I recall asking that question in the car: "Are we there yet?" and being perplexed at my parents frustration in answering my plea. As a parent, I now know of...
Camels or Elephants?
So after packing your bags for a long journey, the doorbell or the phone rings : can I sell you insurance, or have you had a car accident? Do you...
Creation101
When we read of the creation in Genesis what are our thoughts? Is it factually correct or a metaphorical story? This week's Bible Study has allowed us to explore this...
I could have licked the plate!
A few of us have been able to celebrate with either a birthday, wedding or an anniversary recently. It's often strange as the quality of the food increases, the portions...
Freedom Day
It is said that: "Introversion is a personality trait characterized by a focus on internal feelings rather than on external sources of stimulation. Introverts and extroverts are often viewed in terms...
Anyone for sausage?
The Strathclyde Knit & Knatter group have met again - and what might they talk about? Complicated programming? In this past few weeks of heat gardening has been the most...
What a community!
Within Scripture there's a community which is described in Acts 2 which is something we might want to emulate. They don't go to a church or a synagogue primarily as...
Can we look forward to more one-to-one contact?
Popped into Asda today to find people giving every one a wide berth but sharing stories as they inspected the hand sanitiser shelves, devoid of any container other than some...
When is a Third Place a winner?
Where do we go to relax, to be free to say what we want to? Where could we all go to, to gather, to feel 'at home', to allow relationships...
Administration…Liquidation…what’s next for the church?
If administration is the process for a company to escape insolvency, and if that were to fail, liquidation is the ending of a company, the selling off of any assets...
Do we need a building anymore?
I have been struck recently by the tension facing the church today: does it focus upon buildings or the people? Financially, our buildings have become a significant issue for us...
What retail outlets could offer to church
How do you think we could reimagine church? In the past I have looked at the Apple flagship stores, wondered at their retail strategies and reflected how they could be...
Where to go? Walk on by?
I'm on holiday. The weather is fair, the people wonderful and the language very confusing. I have learnt the word pansement this year, as it has been useful to help...
Going on Holiday?
As we possibly consider a ‘staycation’ or ‘vacation’ this Summer, I wonder how we see ourselves. The English are often known for grasping the finest intricacies of the foreign language,...
Easter 2019 : In or Out of the Church?
As we approach Palm Sunday, I start to feel that the journey through Lent is nearing its completion. We can see the end: I wonder if the disciples did? When...
Ashing to Go?
The day after Shrove Tuesday (a la Pancake day) is Ash Wednesday. It seems that this is either noted in ecclesial circles with an Ash Wednesday Service including the Ashes...
Fasting: from what?
For some, as we approach the period of Lent, people can decide to fast, to abstain from food and/or drink – but why?
I want Lent .. to affect not only the next 40 days
but also the next 40 years
Rachel Held-Evans
In my younger days (!) I have given up chocolate, sweets and/or alcohol. But now I look back and wonder to what benefit, and to whom? Therefore, in our second meeting of the Faith group, 
where we … Read the remainder
Where do we fit?
For some people they have lived in the valley all their life, for others they have moved every few years. When I left education it was expected that we should...
Faith frozen
When you mention the word church, what do you notice? I wonder whether people have a specific view, a certain perspective born from many year's of understanding. This 'wisdom' may...
Todmorden Faith : Same Sex Marriage
Welcome to the first meeting of the monthly 'Faith' group where we look to establish a way to become an even stronger community in Todmorden, willing to engage constructively with...
TDOR2018
It has been a week or so since the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR). It was a surreal moment – not really because it was bizarre but due to the beauty and serenity of the service.
We drew the words used for the service from Susan Gilchrist’s wonderful post on the Corrymeela website . We used the 2017 version but we adapted it to help with the expected congregation. We had spoken with some people from the LGBTQIA community: some … Read the remainder
Spies
If you were a spy, what information might you be looking to gain, to bring back? Who would you be delivering that information to? How might you gain that information?...
Remembrance 2018
On 4th May 1999 an aircraft took off from the capital and started to climb. It slowly circled the limits of the city, eventually reaching the upper twenty thousands of...
Redefining Church for today?
I read this Tweet yesterday : "When did we see you at the border and turn you away?" And Jesus said, "Whatever you did to the thousands of Guatemalan men,...
Bums on seats?
On 28th October 312 Christendom was born. That battle between Constantine 1 and Maxentius saw the former seeing a vision of a cross of light and the words “in this...
How do we all ‘fit’ in a Church Without Walls?
It's been a month now. A month into active ministry, whatever exactly that means, where as a Minister I look to support and facilitate faith in a beautiful town in...
For my friends setting out in ministry
This blog has really engaged me, positively, as I prepare for ministry myself. It contains wise words, from the other side, from within ministry and it speaks back to those...
On a journey
I recall one trek from my youth, where it was a constant slog of 'up and down dale' albeit we were no where near Derbyshire or Yorkshire, we ended up...
Feeding the 5000
Come with me to a quiet place and get some rest I saw so many people coming towards us. Thousands descended the hill, like ants, apparently changing the texture of...
What is Yorkshire saying to us?
We have arrived in a market town in West Yorkshire: Lancashire bounds its western boundary and the River Calder and Rochdale Canal sweep through the town centre. The hills, mainly...
What can change in 2 years?
I have come to the end of my time at The Queen's Foundation in Birmingham. To explain, this is the college where Methodists receive pre-ordination training prior to being sent...