Dear Friends On Saturday Ian and I ventured into town, it was my first foray into the City of London this year. I have to admit I was a little nervous using the tube, on the whole people were very responsible and kept their distance. Being able to walk around and enjoy a pint in the Princess Louise in Holborn, one could be lured into a false sense of security, of course there […]

Dear Friends On Sunday I preached about the importance of living with difference. The gospel was the parable of the wheat and the weeds (tares) Matthew 13 24-30. 36-43. Of course in this parable Jesus is not doing a Monty Don and giving us the latest gardening advice, he is telling his disciples that judgement belongs to God and we need patience.  I suspect a major factor in the rise of […]

Dear Friends Last week the Archbishop of Canterbury announced this year’s recipients of 32 Lambeth Awards for outstanding contributions to the Church and wider society.  It was wonderful to see that the Langton Award for Community Service was given to Mother Jennifer Anne Goodeve for her ‘outstanding leadership skills in transforming a Victorian convent into a modern nursing home and driving forward change for over thirty years.’She is better known […]

Dear Friends A few additional notes for attending church on Sunday :- Sidesperson will be keeping a register of everyone that attends for contact tracing purposes only – if we don’t already have a telephone number for you we will just ask to jot one down. There will not be a collection in the usual sense, but there will be gift aid envelopes available (but no pens so please bring […]

Dear Friends I have to say there were days during our lockdown when I wondered if we would ever open our church doors again. I know that sounds a bit dramatic, but your mind plays funny tricks on you when you are in such strange situations.  Thankfully, my pessimistic thoughts are no longer and the church has been open for private prayer for two weeks. It’s heartening to see so many people […]

Dear Friends I was very glad to hear the Prime Minister announce that our churches will be allowed to open their doors to the public for worship from Sunday 5th July. It’s been a very long and difficult three months. As many people have commented locking down is the easy part, opening up will prove to be much more problematic, this seems to be the case. It seems there are new questions […]

Dear Friends It was a wonderful feeling to be able to open the church doors on Monday for the first time in three months, it was equally wonderful to see people using the space for prayer and solace. Sacred space has always been very important to me. As many of you know I came from a family where the Church and faith were at the very periphery of life, in fact a non-existent component. I […]

Dear Friends So after more than 12 weeks of lock down the doors of St Nicholas church will open once again on Monday morning. Church will be open each day from 10am till 7pm. At last I feel able to say ‘Alleluia. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!’ Let us hope and pray that very soon we will be allowed to gather together to worship, physically.  This has […]

Dear Friends Like you, I’m sure, I rejoiced at the prospect of being allowed to gather together once again, so it was a delight to spend Monday evening in the company of friends having a drink and a BBQ. Let’s hope it is not long before we can all meet together. It’s ironic, now we are allowed to meet outside, the weather has turned colder. I’ve met a number of you over the […]

Dear Friends I hope you are all safe and well?  It seems we are moving towards opening up the church again for private prayer, I do not think we will be allowed to do this in June, which is a disappointment, almost certainly in July. However  I have no idea when we will be allowed to open our doors again for worship. I have to say I long for the […]