Category: Letters

Read a letter to parishioners from Revd Stephen reflecting on the gospel readings for Sunday 3 July 2022Continue readingLetter to parishioners, 2 July 2022

Saturday, 25 June 2022 Dear Friends in Christ, Last week we heard of the people of the Gerasenes asking Jesus to leave them alone. This week we will hear of a village of the Samaritans refusing to welcome him. Both of these readings from the gospel narrative remind us of the role we are called…Continue readingLetter to parishioners, 25 June 2022

Friday, 17 June 2022 Dear Friends in Christ, Much has happened over the last couple of weeks – events that have kept me from writing my weekly letter to you all. My last letter was written as we were preparing to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, a unique moment in our history. We were also…Continue readingLetter to parishioners, 17 June 2022

Friday, 13 May 2022 Dear Friends in Christ, Our readings this Sunday speak to many issues we encounter in our everyday lives. Many of those issues we dismiss as being ‘political correctness gone mad’. We belittle their importance and we carry on along our own self-serving paths from birth to death. Our readings this Sunday…Continue readingLetter to parishioners, 13 May 2022

Saturday, 7 May 2022 Dear Friends in Christ, I should begin by apologising that I did not send the regular Letter to Parishioners last week. I’m afraid that benefice, deanery and diocesan commitments mounted up in a way that left me no time to write. Thankfully, this week has not been quite so ‘action-packed’! This…Continue readingLetter to parishioners, 7 May 2022

Saturday, 23 April 2022 Dear Friends in Christ, This week the Church will be reflecting upon the post-resurrection story of Jesus appearing to his disciples and then to Thomas, the one whom we remember for his ‘doubt’. As we continue to live through strange and difficult times it is likely that we all feel the…Continue readingLetter to parishioners, 23 April 2022

Saturday, 16 April 2022 Dear Friends in Christ, This week there is just one message for us all to ponder … what does Easter mean to us? As I write we are in the middle of the three day service which begins on Maundy Thursday and does not end until the great Easter Acclamation of…Continue readingLetter to parishioners, 16 April 2022

Saturday, 9 April 2022 Dear Friends in Christ, What is most occupying your mind at the moment? The war in Ukraine and the military and political tensions that are surrounding that horrific violation of all that we hold dear? The national and international fuel crisis that is forcing many into having to make a choice…Continue readingLetter to parishioners, 9 April 2022

Thursday, 31 March 2022 Dear Friends in Christ, On Sunday we enter Passiontide. For many it seems odd that the final days of Jesus’ earthly life should be described in a term we associate with the exact opposite of the injustice and cruelty he endured on Good Friday. We associate the word ‘passion’ with the…Continue readingLetter to parishioners, 31 March 2022

Saturday, 26 March 2022 Dear Friends in Christ, We are now midway through our Lenten journey. We have been fasting, praying, serving and paying special attention to reading our bibles since Ash Wednesday, almost a month ago. Some will have slipped in their Lenten disciplines from time to time, while others will have succeeded in…Continue readingLetter to parishioners, 26 March 2022

Saturday, 19 March 2022 Dear Friends in Christ, It is now two years since I wrote the first of these weekly Letters to Parishioners. That first letter addressed the closure of our churches by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the need to continue supporting our local Food Banks, and the institution of local initiatives…Continue readingLetter to parishioners, 19 March 2022

Saturday, 12 March 2022 Dear Friends in Christ, In recent days several people have asked me the same question: What is the world coming to? The situation in Ukraine has engendered a whole kaleidoscope of emotional responses. Those who experienced the horrors of world war eighty years ago struggle to believe that one man seems…Continue readingLetter to parishioners, 12 March 2022