Author Archives: 1urcher

Archbishop Rowan Williams is, and probably always will be, more patient and tolerant than I ever will be. Tolerance, patience and grace are attributes that he has brought to the See of Canterbury in abundance. Whilst, I have not always … Continue reading →

I am hesitant about actually saying anything in the aftermath of the Synod’s defeat of the Measure on Tuesday afternoon. Many who are more eloquent than I have spoken about their anger, bewilderment and disappointment. And, in some measure I … Continue reading →

A Church exists by mission as a fire exists by oxygen, said someone else, whose name has long since disappeared from my memory banks. The Lee Abbey Team are almost here, and details are attached. Lee Abbey2 Please hold the … Continue reading →

My Dad was too young to fight in WWII. He did his National Service in 1946-49 serving in Palestine. For him Remembrance Sunday always was a poignant time. For me, it is also special. It is probably thus because I … Continue reading →

I said I would try and review certain aspects of ministry in BG since it is now 3 years since I arrived. From 1986-1988, I was a voluntary evangelist with the London City Mission, working firstly in Bermondsey and then … Continue reading →

Sermon for Sunday 14th October: first draft As we have discovered so often in our look at Mark’s story of Jesus, it is written to those on the way and it is an attempt to make sense of what it … Continue reading →

Urban Beauty Loveliness and brokenness define what it means to be urban Jagged lives sit cheek by jowl with places made smooth by the haphazard twists of being human Battered mentors persuade others that dreams are at the end of … Continue reading →

Three years ago, I stood, actually not too nervously, before the Lord Bishop of Birmingham and was collated as the new Vicar of St Michael and All Angels, Bartley Green. Bartley Green is one of the Anglican parishes on the … Continue reading →

  Mission is at heart of the Transforming Church agenda. Mission is done in a number of ways. We are ‘doing mission’ when we welcome people or lead collective worship in schools. We are also doing mission when we offer … Continue reading →