Today is Pentecost;  in Judaism; Shauvot, the Festival of Weeks, is celebrated fifty days after Pesach, Passover. Never afraid of being accused of synchretism the early Christians were not even aware of the possibility of initiating a new religion, they were simply part of a movement of reform, a handful of Jewish radicals and their … Continue reading Whitsun Service

I took as my reading today a little snippet from the Gospel of Mark, As some will remember I read the whole gospel here on Good Friday. About twenty souls dropped in and out between noon and three, and of those perhaps a half dozen  stayed with us for the whole event. Vanessa played our … Continue reading Trees Walking – organic metaphors from root to blossom

Easter is a celebration of renewal and new life. But it can be much more than a seasonal year marker. Easter is a celebration of hope and re-birth but it can be more than are statement of truisms - no matter how worthy. Today we celebrate Resurrection. We do so in the awareness that we … Continue reading Easter Uprising

Today is Palm Sunday. Easter is generally characterised by our celebration in springtime of renewal and new life. I want to consider the heart-felt radicalism implied in Jesus arrival and entry into Jerusalem. The energising sense of joy and optimism that it brings to mind may also remind us of the optimism of all those … Continue reading Palm Sunday – The folly of God and the intelligence of the victim

Today is International Women’s Day. All major strategists agree that in order to make a significant response to the danger posed by global injustice it is imperative to include women fully in the structures of power. When I worked as a volunteer I learned that major agencies involved with world development aim to focus aid … Continue reading International Womens Day – the Divine Feminine ll

An aphorism frequently attributed to the Catholic writer GK Chesterton says that those who do not believe in God will believe in anything. Actually he never said this -  he was a brilliant novelist and a far more nuanced thinker than this quote would lead us to believe. Many people who reject a traditional view … Continue reading The Divine Feminine – a sermon on St Davids Day

“Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbours worthy.” Thomas Merton The word Lent derives … Continue reading Loving Lent

This sermon was made up more or less on the spot on Sunday morning Feb 15th:   Thinking about the subject of today's service I was reminded of something Harold Pinter said; the most emotive four letter word in the English language is  ‘home’; The ancients created temples in which to house their gods. We … Continue reading Home – an improvised sermon

Its Saint Bridget’s Day today, and Candle mass so its a combined holy-day for reasons which I hope we’ll see are quite interesting. Candlemas is a very high church festival; Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate it - but nonconformist reform traditions not so much. It relates to the presentation of Jesus in the … Continue reading Candlemas – and the ultra living element

After the service last week we hosted a meeting in the Priestley hall -  which I thought it might be worth saying a little about; it had been my intention that the speaker from the Palestine Animals League could address the service and just speak in this spot usually reserved for my sermon, unfortunately there … Continue reading This Moment’s Pulse