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The Twelve Days of Christmas
In recent years, Christmas seems to have got longer. For many people, the holiday lasts a week until 2nd January. This is the case at the university where I worked, although the extended holiday was driven less by the wish to give staff extra holiday than a desire to save heating and lighting costs across the campus.
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Carols
I am in the middle of the round of Christmas carol services. By Christmas Day I will have led 6 services as well as attending another with friends. But this goes with being a vicar. Carols take all forms, ancient and modern, simple and complicated in their message. Some have very little to do with
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Gaudate!
This coming Sunday is traditionally known as Gaudate Sunday, from the Latin reading that was said before the priest celebrated mass. Gaudate is the Latin word meaning rejoice and the reading was from one of St Paul’s letters; “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice”. Two weeks before Christmas, it is not always easy
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Advent
Advent covers the period over the four Sundays before Christmas, so it usually begins at the very end of November; a fact unknown to most makers of Advent Calendars. It is a time of preparation, but not just for Christmas, but also for the Christian belief that Christ Jesus will return to earth to bring
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Flags and Communities
A couple of days ago, I was with a small group of people from neighbouring villages. We were sharing stories of past times, told to us by our parents and grandparents. We were all local; a century ago our grandparents would all have known each other and could well have met in the same way
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Be more Bumblebee
Today has been a frustrating day; tried to do a lot but it feels as though I have done nothing and I am now short of time. The one thing I did do was meet up with Kina, my gaffer as vicar, although I doubt she sees herself like that. We periodically meet to exchange
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Autumn
As I write, the rain is incessant and is forecast to continue all day, so perhaps this is not the best time to write about the wonders of nature. However, we have had some very pleasant autumn days and I have really noticed the colours in the leaves. After the drought in the spring and
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Remembering
When I was at vicar school memories were fresh of the TV comedy series “Rev”, about a hapless vicar trying to run a parish in London. Most people thought this was a comedy; I thought it was a training manual. A decade later, I am still following the instructions I learnt from it. One episode
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1st November; At the End
November is a month for remembering, particularly the dead. It starts with the two Christian festivals of All Saints and All Souls and then moves to Remembrance Sunday. Somewhere in the mix is All Hallow’s Eve, “Halloween”, with alleged links to memories of a pagan past. In our society today we largely try and avoid
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Bishop Marianne Budde on Hope
Some may recognise the name of Marianne Budde; she is the Bishop of Washington who preached at the inauguration of President Trump back in January; her sermon, on Christian values, did not go down well with the president. These are extracts from a blog she wrote in June; I would encourage you to read it
Benefice of Highley with Billingsley, Glazeley and Deuxhill and Chelmarsh
Knowing Jesus and Making Him Known
