Methodist Conference and Same Sex Marriage
When I heard that this year's Methodist Conference wouldn't be able to meet physically and that as a result we wouldn't be able to debate and finally vote on the resolutions we passed last year on ...
Blog
Hope in Lockdown and Beyond
One of the consequences of lockdown during this pandemic is the effect on people’s sense of wellbeing and mental health. For those involved in offering support through helplines, charitable servi...
Be Hot With Anger, But Do Not Boil Away…
The title of this blog is a quote from a piece written by the Bishop of Liverpool for Via Media News, an...
An Engagement in Lockdown
Last month, my partner and I got engaged. The Saturday evening I asked, I think it took us both by surprise. We were just starting to settle into life in lockdown, suddenly spending all our time to...
Dancing and Praying
A reflection for Maundy Thursday, leading to Good Friday: They’re always dancing, those two. No matter the time of day, music or not, surrounded by oth...
Holy Week
“On the night he was betrayed.” Familiar words from most communion services. At the heart of Holy Week, the greatest week of the Church’s life, stands betrayal. Ou...
Avoiding The News
I have a confession to make – I’m avoiding the news. All of last year I was an avid watcher of Newsnight and reader of Guardian online (a cliché I know!). The slightest reference to developmen...
Ash Wednesday
This year was the first time I can remember Shrove Tuesday coinciding with my Birthday – which will now tell you all exactly when I celebrate that auspicious occasion. I love pancakes (lemon juic...
LGBTQ+ History Month
The approximately 172 days of January have passed, and we’ve made it into February. For those of us in the UK, that means it’s LGBTQ+ History Month, which exists to raise the profile of the oft...
Trees that Tempt, Seas with Shameful Secrets
A review, of sorts, of “Out Of The Woods”, by Luke Turner Image: Seaford Sunrise, Luke Dowding “I know a thing or two about compulsion, a misanthropic autopilot suddenly t...
Christmas
The temptation to start this with a pun about the Queen’s Christmas address was almost overwhelming, particularly as I’ve clearly been watching too much of The Crown on Netflix. And for many, n...
Truth is like poetry and most people…. hate poetry
“Truth is like poetry and most people…. hate poetry” Overheard in a Washington bar as quoted in “the Big Short” We are drowning in a world where truth is derided ...
Christians at Pride in Brighton
On August 3rd this year, about 60 of us, clergy and mixed congregations, walked together behind our banner ‘Christians at Pride.’ The banner had particular significance because it had b...
Dear Straight/Cis People
Dear Straight/Cis People, A note on Pride (as we’ve just had Pride in London 2019) Firstly you are welcome, please come and join us. I wanted to make this the first thing...
New Rules
In my humble opinion, Dua Lipa’s “New Rules” was THE pop song of 2017; not only did the summery tones capture the airwaves for the rest of the year, but the video was creatively executed and ...
It’s Annual General Meeting time again
It’s Annual General Meeting time again. Let’s be honest, very few of us would regard an AGM as the highlight of our social calendar, but I’d like to suggest that this annual gathering, this...
All Change, All Change!
When I first came to London in 1996, the bane of my existence was public transport and finding my way around. The Underground was fairly straightforward with maps posted everywhere to guide me, b...
Challenging power and privilege
February is LGBT History month. The theme this year is ‘Peace, Activism & Reconciliation’. In faith, as in politics, there seems to be much that divides us. In a recent conversation w...
Christians at Pride
I remember the first time I went to an LGBTQ Pride. I was still getting used to wearing a clerical collar, and hadn’t ever worn a rainbow before either. ...
The way of victory
When reminded that I had promised to write a blog for OneBodyOneFaith, I panicked and then prayed. I know that’s the wrong order, but I am only a poor sinner, so bear with me. Prayer is a...
