Lost Words Blessing – Jim Molynexy & Kate Howard

I enjoy my visits across the Pennines to visit Rev Debby, and on my summer visit this year, she introduced me to a beautiful picture book called “The Lost Words”. It’s an over-sized picture book by Robert Macfarland and Jackie Morris, and was written as a response to the removal of everyday nature words from … More Lost Words Blessing – Jim Molynexy & Kate Howard

Letter to the Parish

This month’s letter to the parish comes from Rev Helen: Well, it’s September, the sort of unofficial end of the summer. Soon the autumn will start, the leaves will change colour and fall and the winter will draw in. It’s back to school/college/university for many, enjoying that last holiday with the last bits of summer … More Letter to the Parish

La Mer – Charles Trenet (1913-2001), trans. Janet Raynor

For me, “La Mer” is a love song to the sea, shore and sky, which is why Tom and I decided to offer it during a service for Creationtide in September 2024. On the appointed day, I had to be elsewhere for family reasons, so our recording of this song is only available in the recorded version of the service that went out on Sunday 15 September … More La Mer – Charles Trenet (1913-2001), trans. Janet Raynor

Thou Visitest the Earth

This article was first published in the September 2021 issue of our parish magazine.
About a year ago, in the autumn of 2020 we had endured a full national lockdown, a summer of somewhat eased restrictions, and were entering a time of less-than-clear tiered restrictions. If memory serves, that meant that worshippers could attend services in person, but had to remain seated throughout, keep a mask on at all times, and absolutely no singing whatsoever … More Thou Visitest the Earth

Harvest 2024

I’ll be honest harvest is a festival that I have always struggled with especially as a child. I think it is very much a case of the festival has, at times, gotten behind what’s really happening in the world … More Harvest 2024

Because it’s there

I need mountains. I realised this first when, as a student, I lived in Cambridge. When I went out for a walk the land was completely flat and featureless, the paths straight. I remember a similar feeling later visiting my brother in Ontario, and finding the roads in the agricultural area where he lived all went either north-south or east-west, on a grid like the streets in New York. There were no hills to get in the way. It made navigation easy, but it was so boring … More Because it’s there