At the end of September Sir John Rutter featured in the news as he celebrated his 80th birthday. As a highly acclaimed composer of choral music over more than 60 years it was right that his special birthday should be celebrated. In East Anglia we can be justly proud of his strong links to Cambridgeshire, as…
Wesley hymns are not as popular as they used to be, but we tend to sing the favourites that have been absorbed into general use, and it is quite usual to have one at a funeral. As I grew up in a Methodist family and church I was used to some of the lesser known…
This year marks 75 years since CS Lewis’ famous children’s book, “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” was published. Sadlers Wells have put on a ballet to commemorate this anniversary and I was fortunate to be able to go with my daughter and 12-year-old grandson. In preparation I borrowed the book from a friend…
As a child I was a great admirer of the Royal family and used to enjoy cutting out pictures of royal occasions from newspapers and pasting them into scrapbooks. In 1961 the Duke of Kent, cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, married Katherine Worsley in York Minster and their wedding photo was duly added to my scrapbook. Their decision…
Eye Can Write by Jonathan BryanPublished by Blink Publishing, 2019 A few weeks ago a good friend said to me ” Sadly Jonathan Bryan has died”. I had not heard of him but she sent me a copy of his book as a gift. I have since bought 4 copies to give to others. Some of…
In 2002 I moved to Littleport in the Fens when my late husband was stationed there as minister for 4 churches. Employment in the Fens is largely centred on agriculture with many farmers and farm workers in the churches and others working in businesses and industry linked to farming. So, life in the churches and…
Plant 3 rows of peas:Peace of mind.Peace of heart.Peace of soul. Plant 4 rows of squash:Squash gossip.Squash indifference.Squash grumbling.Squash selfishness. Plant 4 rows of lettuce:Lettuce be faithful.Lettuce be kind.Lettuce be obedient.Lettuce really love one another: No garden without turnips:Turnip for meetings.Turnip for service.Turnip to help one another: We must have thyme:Thyme for God,Thyme for study,Thyme…
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A while ago I wrote on a thought for the day about the importance of open-air preaching in Wesley’s time. Last Sunday I had the opportunity to join in the open-air service on Orford Quay, organised by Stephen Cayley from Orford Methodist chapel annually. I had never been before but am pleased I made it…
I have recently been sorting and clearing out some of my many books. My late husband was an incorrigible collector of books but he never got rid of any. Do any of you know someone like that?! During this process I have discovered some treasures and I hope to share some with you over the…