From The Rectory – for November 2026   Over the last few weeks in church we’ve continued to think about the teaching of Jesus from Mat...

Following on from https://marclloyd.blogspot.com/2026/09/just-beginning-to-dip-into-patrick.html   Some further jottings from chapters o...

 We are obviously all for the best possible Bible study and teaching.  In my circles, there has sometimes been great stress on independent s...

  Just beginning to dip into Patrick Schreiner, The Four Sense of Scripture: Learning from Ancient Ways of Reading the Bible (Baker Academic...

 I want to say: (1) Stop and think about where your food comes from  (2) Give thanks to / for those who help to feed you and to God who give...

  Free and unsolicited assignment advice Which may also be relevant for sermon prep. (1) As soon as you reasonably can, pick a question ...

  Are the kids snowflakes? Yes, in some ways some of them probably are. Yet some of their parents have been kidulting and maybe the sins...

  “Happy Vicar; Happy Church” – Save the Vicar to Save the Parish   There are several clarifications and qualifications we could make to...

Last night on BBC1’s Question Time (from Salisbury 17/9/26), Fiona asked the audience if they would be in favour of the state funding of po...

  What free Christian audio / video / podcasts would you recommend? (This list started with some suggestions suitable for new Christians, ...

 I don't always use sermon headings, and I might actually just walk though the story on Sunday. But I have been playing around with diff...

 (1)    Resolve to lead, and know why. Be a leader and not a follower.   One fundamental decision one must make is whether to lead or to f...

Those preaching on Sunday’s Common Worship Lectionary Gospel (Matthew 18:15-20) may be Googling policies and procedures on excommunication. ...

In a 1991 speech, John Cleese famously tried to say how we can be creative. He said not much could be said. Have a playful childhood was a g...

 It is sometimes claimed that the sacred / secular divide is a product of Christianity.  Some contemporary Christians are very much against ...

From The Rectory   I hope you’re enjoying our explorations in Matthew’s gospel a little bit, if not as much as I am. We recently spent t...

What are we to make of so-called Christian Nationalism? Well, we can all see some far right people waving flags and we know that we are agai...

 The kids are sometimes encouraged to use WOW words in their writing. And of course a rich and varried vocabulary is a wonderful thing.  Tho...

 There was an old adage, perhaps especially in free church circles, that the minister should be never out of his study in the morning and ne...

Certainly the preacher should prepare.  He (or she) should prepare himself. He should pray.  He should prepare his material. He should study...

  In All Things Thee To See : A Devotional Guide to Selected Poems of George Herbert Stephen Witmer Crossway, 2026 (ISBN: 9798874900748 ...

Surely we want to minister the gospel wisely.  There may even be a place for some sort of strategy and efficiency in the church.  But may th...

 I allowed myself to write at enormous length: So far I’ve been very much enjoying re-engaging with Jesus for this Diocesan year of focus on...