24 October 2026 The Bishop of Hereford, who has some responsibility for rural ministry across the Church of England, has been writing about the unique possibilities which are to be found there. ‘Far from becoming the forgotten edge, the countryside is becoming an important place of innovation, as well as faithful continuity.’ he said. He made four important points. Firstly, there is a need to change the story which is told about rural churches. It is normally a story about decline – small congregations, ageing buildings, financial pressure etc. But God loves the small and there is much to celebrate in what God is already doing. Secondly, instead of thinking about planting, someone had directed him to think about foraging – looking carefully for what God is already doing and nurturing it. Our ministry and our mission does not begin with us but with God. He is the great initiator and has already begun working amongst us. Thirdly, it is foolish to think that every congregati...
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23 October 2026 I have heard that the Archdiocese of Glasgow has taken steps to close half the churches in its jurisdiction. Whilst there has been a redistribution of the population in some areas of Glasgow, it is also the case that mass attendance has fallen dramatically. Some healthy pruning has been necessary. So also the Kirk. It is also the case that there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of vocations to the priesthood in Poland. This was a country like Ireland where there was always an excess of priests so much so that Polish priests were to be found all over the world. Now they are recruiting from Africa to fill the vacancies. The shortage of priests has become such a concern in Belgium that Bishop Johan Bonny, Bishop of Antwerp, told the Vatican that several married men were studying for the priesthood in his diocese. It has fewer than 70 priests under 70 and nearly two-thirds of them are from abroad. As a result, the Diocese of Antwerp cannot ass...
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22 October 2026 Recently, we saw a performance of Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera, ‘Hansel and Gretel’. It was performed by Scottish Opera under the heading, ‘Opera on Your Doorstep’. The company is taking the opera to 34 locations including the Byre Theatre, the Ryan Centre, Stranraer and Seil Community Hall. There were five singers, three of whom were described as ‘Scottish Opera Emerging Artists’. They were young with agile voices and a welcome enthusiasm for the tale. It is not as cruel as that featured in the Grimms’ fairy story. The mother is spared her wickedness although she does double up as the witch in the opera. Instead of being a wicked step-mother, she is a hardworking mother who has reached the end of her tether with the cost of living crisis! She simply cannot afford to keep the children…. The costumes and the set were done on a shoe-string. Cardboard boxes, which must be useful for travelling around Scotland, were used for kitchen cupboards. But the witch’s...
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21 October 2026 According to St. Luke, the gospel is not only good news – but good news which is worth celebrating. It is as the angels said, ‘good news of great joy’. In his gospel, people respond to Jesus with joy. After a healing miracle, St. Luke writes that ‘all the people rejoiced at the glorious things that were done by him’. And when Jesus came riding into Jerusalem ‘the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God …’ And right at the end of the gospel, the disciples ‘returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God’. This joy is the joy of heaven. For it is Luke who tells us that Jesus said, ‘There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents that over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.’ And this is illustrated by the father who runs to embrace his prodigal son with great joy. ‘Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him! And put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And...
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20 October 2026 What makes Luke’s gospel so attractive is the universality of its message. Salvation is for everyone. This is illuminated in St. Luke’s interest in the relationships which Jesus has with three different groups of people. The first is the Samaritans who were despised by the Jews. A Samaritan village rejects Jesus. His disciples want to destroy it. Jesus rebukes them. Which one of the ten lepers showed gratitude? Wasn’t it the Samaritan. And whoever heard of a ‘good Samaritan’ wasn’t it a contradiction in terms? The second group is the lost. St. Luke records three parables about lost things. The tale about Zacchaeus concludes, ‘The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.’ On the cross, Jesus prays for his executioners and he gives the good thief a promise, ‘Today you will be with me in paradise.’ The third group is women. Some encounters are common to Matthew and Mark but Luke has many more – Mary, the mother of Jesus, Elizabeth, the mother of J...
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19 October 2026 Some may ask, ‘Who was the Luke who wrote this beautiful gospel?’ He was certainly an educated man. His Greek confirms it ‘writing sometimes formal, classical prose, sometime racy narrative style in the vernacular of his own day and sometimes a semitic Bible Greek …’ observes Caird in his commentary. He was a second-generation Christian writing sometime after the resurrection. For he has written two books. His gospel is addressed to Theophilus and his book of Acts picks up where the gospel has left off. ‘In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach …’ And he continues with a history of the early church! In this second volume, the author implies that he was one of St. Paul’s companions. ‘Setting sail therefore, we made a direct voyage … we remained in this city some days … one who heard us was a woman named Lydia …’ But who was this companion who wrote the gospel and accompanied St. Paul on his journeys? There is a...
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18 October 2026 – St. Luke’s Day Some people say that St. Luke was an artist. Perhaps he painted the oldest representation of Jesus in the world. It’s in the Catacombs. Certainly, he paints beautiful word-pictures and his writing has inspired the artists. Christmas would not be the same without him. Nowhere else do we hear that Mary ‘laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn’. And without him, we would not have known that ‘there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them …’ The literature of the world would have been greatly impoverished if St. Luke hadn’t recorded for us the two most famous and most beautifully written short stories in the world – the parable of the Good Samaritan and the parable of the Prodigal Son. Each one nourishes our faith and every time we read them we discover something new about ourselves and our God. Th...