iTalker

Here in this piece of art Manna was responding to the mood of the church and the worship of the moment as she put together this painting. The interesting thing is that she painted it with a feather in her hand. And her eye and her heart tuned in to worship. I’ve entitled this painting “Too Close for Comfort” not sure what the artist will think of my presumption in naming the painting. However it speaks to me of the God who comes closer to us than we can imagine. Sometimes it is an uncomfortable feeling like lips being burned with the coal from the alter, or depending on your next meal to arrive with ravens. Yes God can be found in the ordinary but too often the ordinary is too difficult for us to trust or even understand.

Here I am it’s 1.45am in the morning and I’m taking part in the 24 hour prayer vigil here in the church. Already we’ve had a constant stream of people coming to pray. Some people might think it strange that people want to pray yet the truth is that more people pray than ever go [...]

One of the issues that is facing the church today is how we can be more relevant. Too often the church is viewed a a museum rather than a movement. The “Church Without Walls Report “ continues to be an important piece of literature to give the church direction as many of us try to [...]

Well here I am back online again. Yesterday was a busy day. I put in a 19 hour shift, followed by a couple of hours at the prayer vigil before I went to bed this morning at 3.00am . Whose says the life of a parish minister is dull? We had a look at two [...]

Easter is still ringing in my ears I can still hear the words Halle, halle, halle, running through my head and its now Tuesday. What a great service we had ob Sunday why not check it out . It was great to see the church packed and everyone participating. I’m always indebted to the people [...]

Today I met up with Russell McLarty, the Interim minister at Edinburgh’s St Andrew’s and St George’s Church of Scotland. We had arranged a few weeks ago to take the bread and wine,two of the most powerful symbols of the Gospel out into George Street. Many people passed by and ignored the invitation others were [...]

The last few days have been pretty busy. On Thursday last the church was packed to capacity as people from all walks if life attended the funeral of John Constable who was one of our local councillors and also for many a local hero and mentor. He was someone who passionately believed in his political [...]

Today I started to put together a number of articles for the Parish Network. Its the new name we’re giving to our church broadsheet that we distribute around the parish. It go me thinking about some of the things we might plan for Holy Week. Before long I was reflecting on the amazing experience I [...]

There is a great buzz around the church even although the weather is cold and the forecast is more rain this week. I’ve been encouraged hearing about at least half a dozen people of all ages finding a voice to openly profess their faith. In addition Sanctuary First turned out to be a great success [...]

You’ll have noticed that I’ve been making one or two comments on the blog about the 400th Anniversary of the King James version of the Bible. Its actually been quite wonderful to begin to rediscover the shear wonder and magic of the language especially when it is read out loud in church. We’ve been doing [...]