“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”
These are the iconic words of benediction that sometimes close worship services and are found in the book of Numbers. Some of these words are slightly adjusted to open psalm 67 with the words:
“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us.” … More Psalm 67
What do we think of when we hear the word “community”?
Do we think of our families, our schools, our church or groups that we belong to? Is it a sense of people that we already know or could it be a wider group of people linked in some way that we are yet to meet? … More Community
This morning’s sermon was split, and ‘wrapped around’ the gospel reading, which was John 15:1-15. You can listen to Rev Deborah’s reflection and sermon here … More I Am The Vine
A very long time ago, when I was doing my A levels, there was a notice on the wall of the VIth form common room that said, “Apathy Rules OK”. It dangled from one drawing pin, as no one could be bothered finding another to replace the one that had clearly fallen out … More Enemy of Apathy (John L Bell & Graham Maule)
This interactive sermon was given by Rev Deborah on Sunday 7 May 2017. You can watch it here. Alternatively, the text will follow soon.
After the sermon, some Sunday School Singers sang “The Lord’s My Shepherd” (Psalm 23) – words and music by Stuart Townend … More The Good Shepherd
This article first appeared in the April 2017 issue of our parish magazine.
I was first introduced to “I Am the Great Sun” at a Manchester Chorale rehearsal in Autumn 2016. We were preparing a mainly sacred program of music for a tour to Antwerp, where all our our performances would be in churches. Even though I was concentrating on sight singing complex harmonies and powerful words, it was a truly spine tingling experience … More I Am the Great Sun (Causley/Chydenius)
Rev Deborah preached this sermon on Sunday 30 April.
Cleopas and his friend are leaving Jerusalem. It is late afternoon and the worst of the afternoon’s heat is just beginning to subside. They are talking, nineteen to the dozen all about what has happened. As they leave the city walls behind, they look around themselves furtively, as if they think that they might be followed … More The Road to Emmaus
On Sunday 23 April, Rev Deborah’s sermon served as her report on the past year for our Annual Parochial Church Meeting … More APCM REPORT 2017
This was Rev Deborah’s Easter Day sermon, a dramatic retelling of The Ragman. It involved members of the congregation taking on the role of the individuals mentioned … More The Ragman
St Margaret’s choir was introduced to this for the first time a couple of years ago during Lent in preparation for that year’s Easter Day service. The text is … More “Christo Resurgenti”, by Francois Couperin (1668-1733)
St Margaret's Church Prestwich 