Minister’s Message- December 4, 2022

“Voices in the wilderness”.

In autumn 1931 the great Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi visited Britain. His passion for independence, his advocacy of fair trade and support for the poor were already known, and the visit was a personal triumph, widely reported in the media. During Gandhi’s time in Britain he met national figures such as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lloyd George and Charlie Chaplin, and visited centres of learning and culture such as Oxford, Cambridge and Eton. True to his ideals, he also went to poor places including London’s East End and the mill towns of Lancashire, still in the grip of Depression, where he was received with enthusiasm. The one person who refused to meet Gandhi was Winston Churchill, who sneeringly called him a “rebel fakir”.

Minister’s Message – Remembrance Sunday

Growing up in the late 1950s at a time when people in Britain – we were told – had “never had it so good”, I used to look forward to Remembrance Sunday. Instead of meeting for Sunday School in the rather dreary church hall with its own peculiar smell, we joined the crowd that gathered around the War Memorial across the road. Prayers were said, wreaths were laid, we observed the Two Minutes’ Silence, the Last Post was sounded, we wore our poppies with pride, and we all had a cup of tea afterwards. Strangely enough I don’t remember singing any hymns: perhaps that was left for the indoor service in church; nor can I remember it ever raining!

Minister’s Message – November 6, 2022

The biggest question we humans face is probably, “What happens to us when we die?” Is that the end, or is there something more? It’s a question which all the major world religions attempt to answer in one way or another, by saying that the human soul enters nirvana or goes to a paradise garden, or that we are reincarnated to live again in a different form. Christianity has its own specific and detailed doctrines of a bodily resurrection and the hope of life in glory with God, for which Jesus has blazed the trail. These beliefs comfort us, especially when we’ve recently lost someone very dear to us; they also encourage us to keep plodding along the pilgrim path in the hope of a heavenly reward. The problem of course is that we have no way of proving the truth of our beliefs: we simply have to have the faith that they are not false.

Minister’s Message – October 30, 2022

On September 3^rd 1966 a special excursion train ran from Glasgow to Aberdeen to mark the withdrawal of one of the most famous classes of steam locomotive, Sir Nigel Gresley’s “A4 Pacifics”. Thirty years earlier an engine of this class named “Mallard” achieved the speed record for steam traction which has never officially been beaten.

Minister’s Message – October 16, 2022

I’m sure that we’ve all seen the film of “The Snowman”, based on the book by Raymond Briggs who died earlier this year. This enchanting film first appeared on Christmas Eve 1982 and has been shown every year since, which means that it’s now delighting the grandchildren of the original viewers. It’s famous not only for its magical artwork but also for its music by Howard Blake – this includes the song “Walking in the Air” which, contrary to popular belief, wasn’t sung by Aled Jones but a chorister from St Paul’s Cathedral called Peter Auty: Jones’ record came out in 1985 and made him a star, while Auty wasn’t even mentioned in the film’s credits until it was remastered 20 years later.

Minister’s Message – October 2, 2022

It strikes me (and I may be wrong) that our society has witnessed a loss of faith over the last years and decades. For instance, many people no longer trust mainstream news media such as the BBC as they believe they’re peddling the “fake news” which the Government would like us to hear, What’s strange is that they then turn to social media and seem willing to believe things which are unsubstantiated or bizarre! We have also lost our faith in politicians, whether to give straight answers to questions, to keep their promises, or to “deliver” on their policies. I’d suggest that the behaviour of some – not all! – politicians hasn’t made it easy for us to put our trust in them.

Minister’s Message – September 11, 2022

I suspect that most of you will know that No. 221b Baker Street, London, was the street address of Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective. Of course the detective and the house number only existed in the imagination of the author, Arthur Conan Doyle.

Minister’s Message – September 4, 2022

Beaumaris Castle, which we visited on our recent holiday in Anglesey, has been called the most beautiful and most technically perfect castle in Britain. It’s not as large as Caerphilly, it doesn’t sit on a dramatic cliff like Chepstow, it doesn’t dominate its adjoining town like Conwy and Harlech. But it does have an ingenious symmetrical concentric design of “walls within walls” and it includes a moat, four lines of fortifications and hundreds of arrow slits, not to mention inner passageways, a portcullis and “murder holes” at the entrance. This was “state of the art” military architecture of the late 13^th century, and a triumph for its designer, James of St George.