Dear Friends I hope many of you have been able to take advantage of the relaxation of some COVID19 restrictions. I’m leaving my first visit to the pub till Friday evening after our requiem mass. It was sad to hear news of the death of HRH Prince Philip. I suppose at 99 years of age, the prospect of your death cannot be very far away, however, it seems unlucky that the […]

Dear Friends What a difference a warm day and the ability to meet with friends outside makes to our sense of wellbeing. Walking round the parish it is so good to see people gathering once again and so pleasing to know that our children are again back in school.  It still feels a little strange to be celebrating Holy Week and Easter under present conditions, it is however better than where […]

Dear Friends I thought the first anniversary of our National Lockdown this week was a moment for sober reflection. There will be time in these pages to reflect on the past year, perhaps today all we can do is give thanks for those who have given so freely of their time, energy and talents to support us during this wretched year. Although I volunteered to help the local community, I have […]

Dear Friends On Wednesday we celebrated the feast of St Patrick. I’m grateful to Heather for forwarding me this piece written by Roy Lilley and I include it here. It’s been a difficult few months for all of us and sometimes we can’t always see the wood for the trees. Do spend some time meditating over this piece and when you have finished, give yourself a pat on the back. As Mr […]

Dear Friends One advantage of our present situation is that we cannot attend training events in person, and have to rely on Zoom conferences instead. This has the advantage of not needing to travel, I have to say, that sadly, this new medium doesn’t always make the content of these training sessions any more exciting! I have just attended a diocesan training seminar on the Government’s new marriage legislation, which is due to […]

Dear Friends I’m not sure who said that unlocking would be significantly more problematic than locking down – whoever they were, they were correct. Like you I am grateful and heartened that we have embarked on a gradual unlocking, please keep schools, teachers, governors, parents and children in your prayers as they prepare to return to school on Monday.  How we unlock as a church, what we unlock first and what our unlocked future might look like are live and […]

Dear Friends First an apology for those who attempted to join our worship on Thursday morning on Facebook. I have no idea what happened, my computer seemed to have had other ideas. Being on my own, with the computer at one end of the choir and me at the high altar, it’s impossible to control the situation, I had no way of knowing if what was being filmed was being broadcast. I think it just highlights […]

Dear Friends Lent is upon us once more and I am reminded of the sentence used by the priest as ash is placed on our foreheads. “Remember that dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return” It is such a powerful reminder of our mortality and of our place. These past twelve months have for some felt like a continual Lent . I have to admit I have found the last two months – post […]

Dear Friends This week our new cameras were installed in church. We hope they will provide more flexibility and contribute to a more professional presentation. One advantage is that the cameras are attached to the parish sound system, so not only will the picture be of better quality, we hope the sound will be too. We also hope our new cameras will provide us with opportunities to do more online, including concerts and […]

Dear Friends At last there seems to be some good news, in what has been a relentless few months of bad news. Not only have over 9 million people been vaccinated but it looks like the vaccine reduces the possibility of transmission – alleluia. It’s far too soon to remove our present restrictions, but it really does look like there is light at the end of the tunnel. Thank God […]