It’s June. After one of the wettest Mays on record, many of us are hoping and praying for a drier, sunnier summer. Many of us are also hoping and praying for the return of some of the freedoms we took for granted until March last year … More What a Wonderful World (Weiss & Thiele, arr. Brymer)
No one likes a wait do they, especially a long one! If your patience level is anything like mine then you’ll know what I mean! My brother was the worst, when we used to go on holiday, sometimes in the early hours and heading down to Cornwall, Devon, Wales, we’d get to the end of our road and the question would come from the back, ‘are we nearly there yet?’, then my dad would turn the air blue. At least we knew though, ok it might be 6 or 7 hours driving but we’d get there. However, what if you don’t know the end time and how do you wait well … More How to wait well
Jesus liked his metaphors didn’t he, we’ve have quite a few of them as we dig down into his teachings. You get the face-to-face ones like the camel and the eye of the needle, but even more so you hear some of Jesus parables. When he compares something to something else or a situation to the Kingdom of Heaven/Kingdom of God (depending which gospel you are reading at the time). We’ve just heard the parable of the Mustard seed which I’m sure is one you have heard before about the tiny mustard seed growing into a large tree … More Starting small and getting very big
What do you mean by Prayers of the People? It’s what we call it the intercessions in the Church of England. We hold ourselves, and the people and situations we care about before God, and pray that he will show his reconciling, healing and transforming love. The term Prayers of the People is used in the USA to remind us that it’s the prayers of the whole of our congregations … More Prayers of the people
A creed is essentially a statement of faith, of what we believe. The Latin word Credo means “I believe and trust”. There are many of these, but the most regularly used in Anglican services are the Apostles’ creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed. Why three? Do we believe different things at different times? … More Credo
We never hear much about the family life of Jesus between his birth and his sudden arrival in the public arena at the age of about thirty. And our images of his mother are always of the Virgin to whom Gabriel gives the promise – and who cradles baby Jesus in her arms after his birth. There are no pictures of Mary as the young mother watching Jesus grow – the looks of anxiety on her face as he makes his first steps in the world – the tensions, joys and sorrows of family life as he grows – and as she herself also grows older … More Who is my family?
Good morning and welcome to our service of holy communion for Sunday 9 June, on which we celebrate Music Sunday. Rev Sue will preside and Rev Steve will preach. We begin with the hymn “Let all the world in every corner sing” … More Music Sunday 2024
Thank you for such a warm welcome. It’s good to be with you as your Vicar, having been a Neighbour for 23 years and an Assistant Curate for 14!
It’s high time I introduced myself. I’m the eldest child of a Church of England priest, Dick Williams, now 93, who hit the headlines in the 1960s for translating the Gospels into Scouse. He then became the UK’s first ever Diocesan Communications Officer. Liverpool is where my roots are – although I was born in Canada, where my father was an Associate Priest in Fredericton, New Brunswick … More Vicar’s June letter to the parish
What are these graphics that have appeared on our weekly service sheets over the past few weeks? It’s a QR code. QR codes are clever bits of technology – a bit like bar codes – that link the real world with the online world … More Give a Little
Think, for a moment, when someone significant in your life was born – maybe your first child or your first brother or sister, your first grandchild or your first niece or nephew.
The day after my first child was born, I remember the moment I presented myself to the hospital maternity ward, and had to press the buzzer for the intercom to ask to be let in.
For the first time in my life, I said, “I’m Nicholas’s father.”
And I knew from that moment on, into eternity, that was who I would now be … More Trinity Sunday Reflection
St Margaret's Church Prestwich 