Distant Mountain

Sermon for July 19 th 2015 on Jeremiah 23. 1-6; Ephesians 2. 11-end and Mark 6. 30-34, 53-end  May I speak in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. A couple of years ago, I was in one of those fast, rib boats heading down a Scottish loch on the way to an uninhabited island in the Inner Hebrides. Now, as Louise will tell you, this was a rather unexpected move on my part. Only the year before, I’d opted to paddle back, with my trouser legs rolled up, to the mainland on the causeway from St Michaels Mount in Cornwall, rather than face a small open boat on relatively calm seas.  So, by contrast, I was now heading towards the Gulf of Corryvreckan, which is narrow channel between the islands of Jura and Scarba, where two tides meet over an underwater rock pinnacle to create the UK’s only natural whirlpool. We were heading right for it when the skipper, who knew the waters well, quickly turned the boat 90 degrees left, increased the power

Sermon preached on Sunday 25th January 2015 at St Georges, Cam and St Cyrs, Stinchcombe May I speak in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Exactly one month ago, it was Christmas morning. We were celebrating a feast day in the church in the same way a feast is celebrated in our Gospel reading. On Christmas morning, especially for some of our children, the expectation was all about an abundance of presents. In fact, children of all ages will often study the quantity of presents and the size of the boxes under the tree before wondering what they could be. The general rule of thumb being, the bigger the better. At first analysis, contents are less important, it’s all about the size versus quantity ratio. In fact, the contents can sometimes be so unimportant that even an empty box would be welcome and often, an empty box can be just as much fun as a full one. All a big empty box needs is an abundance of imagination. In our Gospel today, there is a message of abu

The last few months have seen some of the biggest roller coaster lurches in all of my vocational journey, and I haven't said anything here, because I haven't really known what to to say, even though I wanted to share, especially as people have prayed for me in the past, which has always meant a huge amount to me. So what has happened? Back in October, I met two Diocesan Assessors, one lay and one ordained. It then took about a month to receive feedback (for entirely understandable reasons), which effectively said that while I had a clear vocation to ordained ministry, it was felt that I lacked the necessary leadership skills and especially confidence, which I would need to do well at a panel. Now, it's honesty time, my confidence had taken quite a battering over the previous six months, the drawn out vocation process and continued levels of required introspection had started to take their toll, combined with a work situation which had meant my confidence in my role and