As a young child I was taught the important concept that “manners maketh the man” and consequently my parents taught me important words when I was little like, please and thank you, sorry, excuse me and I beg your pardon. I was taught to respect my elders, to hold doors open for people, to not…
We had a lovely open air service during August and I learned that I needed to acquire yet another new skill thanks to the Covid experience, that of identifying members of the congregation, while wearing face masks. The task was particularly difficult that particular day with some of our lady’s who were wearing big hats,…
Sometimes a seemingly innocent telephone call can set a massive challenge for you. One such call landed in my lap on the last Saturday in August, the challenge was that we are taking responsibility for a further four Churches which we are inheriting from a neighbouring Circuit and the plan was to hold a special…
I was delighted to see that Channel 5 were screening a new TV series of what has become a twentieth century classic, penned by Yorkshire vet Alf Wight better know to the world as James Herriot. I thoroughly enjoyed episode one and loved seeing placed that hold dear to my heart. I will be watching…
Some Churches have been dipping a toe in the water over the last few weeks to re-imagine what Church might look like in the coming weeks and over the next few weeks increasing numbers of Churches are opening with a variety of different expressions of what Church might look like. I have spoken to several…
Matti Ensio Nykanen is considered by many to be the greatest male ski jumper of all time, winning five Winter Olympic medals, nine World Championship medals and twenty-two Finnish Championship medals, most notably he won three gold medals in the 1988 Winter Olympics, yet my guess is that only a few of you will know…
They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, I am currently missing my regular fix of visits to the Yorkshire Dales. When my brother and I were little we spent many a happy hour at Bolton Abbey with our parents. In those days my dad drove a motorbike and sidecar and the journey from…
I received a message on Facebook on Saturday from a total stranger. The lady had taken the photograph on the right and asked if the book was mine. As you can see it was a Sunday School prize presented to me in 1964, I would have been five, almost six when this book first came…
Thought for the day – Sunday 2nd August 2020 One of the tasks we are keen to establish in the Ipswich Methodist Circuit is a virtual Church. One of the new skills that the Coronavirus experience has taught us is that the generation, often missing from our traditional Church services are engaging with us through…
Thought of the day – Sunday 26th July 2020 We had a lovely worshipful time together at Elmsett Methodist Church on Sunday 19th July, during which we shared communion, in a way that meant we were able to comply with all Covid guidance. Music was playing in the background as we worshiped and one of…