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A reviewer of JRR Tolkien's classic fantasy books once wrote; "The English-speaking world is divided into those who have read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and those who are going to read them." Wouldn't you love to have that said about something you wrote?
Last week I quoted a professor who asked a group of ministers the question; "If we can't run to the church with our sin, where do we run?" Well, this weekend we are making space to bring our sin to the church :) We begin a sermon series on Sunday that I hope will help us to address our brokenness without any sense of shame or judgement and leave us feeling less alone as together we seek healing from God.
"If I can't run to the church with my sin. Where do I run?" This was the question posed by a visiting academic at our synod this week. The context was a discussion with ministers about addiction among clergy. It didn't take long to realise that although we are all sympathetic generally when it comes to the various forms of addiction that plague our world, some addictions have such stigma attached to them that we keep them hidden from everyone for fear of being judged and rejected.
Author and social scientist Adam Grant says that "it's more important to be good ancestors than dutiful descendants. Too many people spend their lives being custodians of the past instead of stewards of the future. We worry about making our parents proud when we should be focused on making our children proud."
If you're using the Lectio365 devotional app, you will know that Friday was the feast day for the 14th century English mystic, Julian of Norwich. Julian lived in permanent seclusion in a small room attached to St Julian's church (from which this anonymous woman of prayer took her name).
Once a month our network of Westville Churches meets, and this month it was WMC's turn to host the gathering. We shared breakfast and then spent some time talking about life together in our respective church communities.
What do you do when you see something in society that is unjust or immoral? I know that too often my response is to shake my head in frustration or disgust, or make a cynical remark, but not to speak up or take any action. It feels like I wouldn't be able to make a difference any way.
In a recent interview, author and Anglican bishop Tom Wright commented that the church does a very good job of preparing for Easter through the season of Lent. We fast (or give things up), we focus on the journey to the cross and we hold special services leading up to Easter.
Can you believe it's been a year since Andile and Ndu started their little coffee shop in our Supper Room? It's been a gift to our community here and as the resident barista, Andile has become part of the WMC family.
As we prepare to keep company with Jesus in Gethsemane, on Calvary and at the empty tomb in the coming days, I want to share with you a prayer (written by Rev John van der Laar) that we will pray together at the start of our Good Friday service:...