Start:Stop-Mother Maria Skobtsova and Homeless Jesus

Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. This reflection will last around ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates. We begin with a bible reading which can be found on page 30 of the New Testament. 

Five things I learnt from my first Rosary ADVENTure

During Advent I took part in the Rosary ADVENTure, praying the Rosary each day. The Rosary ADVENTure was devised by Fr Rick Morley, a priest from New Jersey and Fr Sam McNally-Cross, the Vicar of St Thomas Kensal Rise in London. They created a Twitter account to form a community of pilgrims from around the world committed to praying the rosary through Advent, with prayer intentions tweeted at the same time each day. Each tweet was ‘liked’ or ‘retweeted’ when prayers had been said.

A reflection on Psalm 76

I am Not Alone - Isaiah 43:2 - Richard Rice

God’s love for me and my love for Him connects me to the whole of creation. Achieving a state of unity, peace and reconciliation both within and without is therefore fundamental to my existence. 

Start:Stop-How Lovely Are Thy Dwellings

The Dome of St Stephen Walbrook

Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. This reflection will last around ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates. We begin with a bible reading which can be found on page 572 in the Old Testament. We have been thinking a lot about journeys recently – you will see that the Wise Men made it to the manger when we celebrated the Epiphany on Thursday – today our reading has a similar theme:

Les Cinq Vierges by Thomas Merton

Alla Nazimova performs the dance of the seven veils in Charles Bryant’s Beardsley-inspired Salomé (1923)

This month marks fifty years since the death of Thomas Merton who has been described as the most influential American Catholic author of the twentieth century. This poem - one of four written in French - appears to bring the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids into the twentieth century in more ways than one.

Start:Stop-Just In Time Christianity

The Wise and Foolish Virgins, Edward Burne-Jones (1859)

Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. This reflection will last around ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates. We begin with a short bible reading which can be found on page 29 of the New Testament section of the bibles.

Start:Stop-The Stilling of the Storm

Sieger Koder - Stilling the Storm

Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. This reflection will last around ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates. We begin with a short bible reading which can be found on page 8 of the New Testament section of the bibles.

Start:Stop-The Good Samaritan Today

"First Duty" by Phillip Job on show at St Stephen Walbrook on Thursday 8th November 2018

Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. This reflection will last around ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates. This month we celebrate the founding of the Samaritans here in this church 65 years ago. We begin with the Parable of the Good Samaritan which can be found on page 76 of the New Testament section of the bibles.

Church Times Podcast-Armistice Centenary

Like many churches, Christ Church Southgate is one of those places which needs to actively reach out to people in the community. As Churchwarden I found an effective ‘arrow of evangelism’ was the history of the parish and the beautiful art and memorials in the church. These could be used to tell a narrative of how the parish had evolved from a small village to the north London suburb we see today. In exploring the history of our community through the art and memorials in church, new connections were made – street and building names took on a new significance and meaning. People saw they were connected to the church. They became ‘living stones’. The history and art inside the church helped to both break down and build up the walls of the church at the same time.

Realising that I knew nothing about the names of the 146 men on our WW1 memorial prompted a frenetic period of research – which developed into a three year long remembrance project – as different members of the parish started to take on – and complete – this history – weaving the stories of these men into the stories of their own lives.

I was interviewed by Ed Thornton, Assistant Editor of The Church Times, about the project for the Armistice Centenary edition of the Church Times Podcast. Listen here.

Church Times Feature-A Parish Remembers

It was a great honour to be asked to write a feature article for the Armistice Centenary edition of The Church Times. The article can be viewed online on the Church Times website here. 
The article describes the research I undertook into the names of the men listed on the war memorial in Christ Church Southgate and how this history was developed, by other members of the parish, during the course of the centenary. 

Start:Stop-Living Stones

Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. This reflection will last around ten minutes, followed by a period of silence and prayer. The prayer response is on the sheet which you can pick up on the table at the entrance to the church.  Please come and go as your schedule dictates. We begin with a short bible reading, which can be found on page 250 in the New Testament section of the Bible.