25 November 2025 We watched the ‘Big School Assembly Singalong’ on the ‘Songs of Praise’ programme last Sunday. It took place in the Victoria Hall, Bolton and was hosted by Aled Jones. A school choir led the praise accompanied by upright piano and a collection of instruments often heard in school like the glockenspiel and recorder! The BBC had organised a poll of favourite assembly songs. People were invited to pick their favourite five songs from a list of fifty. They included the traditional, ‘The Lord’s my Shepherd’, the seasonal, ‘Autumn Days’ and the contemporary, ‘Cauliflowers fluffy’ by the Christmas impresario, John Rutter. Sydney Carter had two hymns in the top ten. At number 6, it was ‘One more step along the world I go’ and at number 3, it was ‘The Lord of the Dance’. Both are now in our Church Hymnary (2005) but appeared in the perennial favourite, ‘Come and Praise’ produced by the BBC for schools in 1978! In fact, thirteen of the top ten came from this book a...
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24 November 2025 When Pilate dismisses Jesus with his famous jibe, ‘What is truth?’ he fails to wait for the revelation that the truth to which Jesus testifies is not only the eternal sovereignty of God but to himself as the truth. Earlier on in St. John’s Gospel, Jesus says to Thomas, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.’ The truth cannot be ultimately found in words for it resides in the person of Jesus. Words cut and divide. People are quick to argue and defend and create their own truth. This can readily be done with words. Why, we do it ourselves splicing our own experiences, reframing encounters to aggrandise ourselves. When the truth resides in a person, it cannot be manipulated nor abused in this way. Discerning the truth in Jesus is more than aligning certain words and acquiescing to them. It comes from engaging with a person who through the resurrection is alive in our world today. St. Paul not only says that ‘i...
23 November 2025 – Christ, the King In St. John’s Gospel, he is pitted against Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, a feeble man with no backbone save the Imperial authority of Tiberius and all its barbarism and cruelty. Their dialogue about kingship is significant. ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ he asks pitting Jesus against his own people. ‘Are you a king?’ he asks when Jesus talks about his kingdom? Jesus doesn’t answer directly but says, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.’ It’s not clear whether Jesus is admitting to being a king or not. But it is clear what his kingly vocation has been – to testify to the truth. He says, ‘If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.’ His kingdom does not belong to the cut and thrust of political manoeuvres enfolded in violence, warfare, terrorism. His kingship is laid bare by St. Paul in his l...
22 November 2025 A friend made a confession. ‘It must be an age thing but I am now forever making lists of the things needing done…’ In my response, I confessed that I have been making lists at least since adolescence. So I am disinclined to think that list-making is age-related. My present list which is sitting beside me as I write has only one thing on it. This is remarkable. It simply says, ‘Wedding Cars’. I need to think about hiring cars for our younger daughter’s wedding next autumn. I have been advised to do this timeously. But back to list-making…. There are three good reasons to make a list. Firstly, it nurtures self-discipline. It encourages us to reflect on what we need to do and enables us to make a plan to execute the tasks. Secondly, it helps us to remove the tasks from our mind. This is refreshing. It declutters the brain, minimises anxiety and brings a measure of peace. Thirdly, making a list detaches us from the tasks which need to be done and encourage...
21 November 2025 ‘A sower went out to sow ..’ It is a wonderful text. As preachers we need no other for that is all we are called to do – go out and sow. We know the results. Much of it is fruitless for a variety of reasons. Some of it successful but we know not how! When Dr. Pringle was asked to preach in London, John Galt tells us that Pringle exerted himself very much in his preparation. That was all to the good but … when he entered the pulpit his hopes withered and his expectations were frustrated. ‘What an inattentive congregation was yonder!’ he writes to his Ayrshire Session Clerk. ‘Many slumbered and slept and I sowed the words of truth and holiness in vain upon their barren and stoney hearts… I saw them whispering and smiling like the scorners and altogether heedless unto the precious things of my discourse…’ I have seen a fellow worshipper yawn. Another read her I-phone. A third fall asleep but I have yet to endure the whispering and smiling of the scorn...
20 November 2025 Sunday not only marked the feast day of St. Margaret of Scotland but the four hundredth anniversary of Sofonisba Anguissola’s death in 1625. She was born in 1532 in Cremona, the eldest of seven children, all girls except one! Their father was a minor nobleman who provided an all-round education for his family. Sofonisba proved to be very artistic. She is famed for her family portraits not least the celebration of her sisters playing a game of chess and her self-portraits, the final one being accomplished when she was 88 years old. She died aged 93. She travelled to Rome and was introduced to Michelangelo. She showed him a painting she had done of a girl laughing. He challenged her to paint another of a boy weeping. She painted her brother being bitten by a clayfish! The artist was impressed. When the King of Spain was looking to employ a tutor for his wife who was an amateur artist, he employed Sofonisba as her lady-in-waiting prior to becoming court pain...
19 November 2025 In a recent issue of ‘The Tablet’, Clifford Longley wrote about saving democracy. The title of his article was, ‘Could the Pope save Democracy?’ My immediate response was, ‘No, he can’t not least because the Roman Catholic Church is not a democracy but an authoritarian hierarchy!’ The summary of the article reads, ‘The historical relationship of Catholicisim with democracy has been ambivalent. With authoritarian forms of government on the rise, the moment calls for the Church to offer both a vigorous critique and a vigorous defence of democracy.’ How can an institution which does not reflect democratic principles safeguard our national democracies? And how could it be that one person would have it in his power to save democracy when he carries within his office extraordinary powers over what happens in the Church? In the latter part of his ministry, Pope Francis devoted time to embedding the process of synodality within the Church. It was ...