Build Your Kingdom Here – Rend Collective

Tom and I are always open to suggestions of music – instrumental or vocal, hymns or anthems – that could be incorporated into our services at St Margaret’s. Sometimes, the suggestions are not seasonally appropriate, so they have to wait until later in the year. Sometimes they aren’t suitable for our singers and instruments. Sometimes the suggestions simply aren’t theologically or liturgically sound, so we just can’t use them. Sometimes though, they’re just right … More Build Your Kingdom Here – Rend Collective

Wind and Fire

The Holy Spirit came upon the apostles like the rush of a violent wind, with tongues of fire dancing on their heads; people from all nations heard the apostles speaking in their own language, and some 3,000 responded by being baptized into Christ. Wow! What a sight to see! … More Wind and Fire

Breaking out

Have you ever noticed a change in someone and wondered what had happened? The person who recently had been quiet and preoccupied suddenly seems much happier and without a care in the world. Perhaps they had been worried about a diagnosis and been given the all-clear or had passed the exam they were really worrying about, or had fallen in love. Once you found out the reason, it all made sense … More Breaking out

John 20:19-31 – The Locked Room

Can you imagine being so scared, so frightened, you lock yourself away and hide, no hope, no faith, absolutely terrified for your life? This is how the disciples felt in our gospel story today. God’s story which is our story. Yes the stories we read each day each week in the gospels are our stories. In Holy Week, I hope, like me, you stepped into God’s story as we followed our Stations of the Cross, as we walked that final hour with Jesus on Good Friday. So let us step into today’s story with the disciples, hiding behind locked doors for fear of the authorities … More John 20:19-31 – The Locked Room

As Dew in Aprille – Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

So often I have written that carols are not just for Christmas – and here is another example. “As Dew in Aprille” is from Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols”. During Lent we celebrate both Mothering Sunday and the Annunciation of Mary – when Gabriel visited Mary to ask if she would bear God’s son. This carol is very appropriate for both occasions. The text comes from a middle English lyric poem by an anonymous author … More As Dew in Aprille – Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)