BOOK REVIEW - Four Ministries, One Jesus : Exploring your vocation with the four gospels by Richard A. Burridge

I was given this excellent book by Fr Chrichton, my last vicar in Southgate. I think it helped (but was not essential) that I had read “Four Gospels : One Jesus” (by the same author and considered to be a modern classic) before reading this book.
‘Four Ministries’ draws on the theme of the earlier (1994) text, using the four symbols now associated with the evangelists to describe a different area of mission and ministry. As in the earlier book, in which Richard Burridge makes clear that the four portraits of Jesus offered by each gospel help to provide a different picture of the same man (in the same way that at Chartwell, different photographs on the walls in different rooms show different aspects of the life of Churchill), so this text, divided into sections examining each gospel, describe different aspects of the one mission and ministry of the church.

BOOK REVIEW - A Grief Observed by C.S.Lewis

A Grief Observed by C.S.Lewis (First published 1961)

In the 1994 introduction to this book written in 1960 and originally published under a pseudonym, Douglas H Gresham, the step-son of C.S.Lewis, issues a note of caution. He explains that this is a description of the grief experienced by C.S.Lewis following the death of his wife. The title “A” Grief is therefore important - this is a personal account - not an attempt to define - or explain - grief universally. Despite this, I recognised much of what Lewis describes, either from my own (limited) experience of bereavement, or from what other people have told me about theirs.

Start:Stop-But can I just first....

Bridge of Glory, Nicholas Roerich (1923)

Good morning and thank you for joining us for Start Stop. Our prayers and reflection will last around ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates. Today the church remembers the life of Bernard of Clairvaux, whose writings include a step by step plan to help us on our journey of discipleship. We begin with a short reading from scripture.

Treasure in Heaven-Prayers of Intercession

Praise for God (For J S Bach) by Robert Natkin 1967

These prayers of intercession were written for St Pancras Church on Sunday 11th August 2019 and are based on Genesis 15.1-6 & Luke 12.32-40 with a few references to the Feast of the Transfiguration which was celebrated on Tuesday. It is a great pleasure to be able to help out at other churches during the holiday season.

Jesus said “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Let us take pleasure in giving thanks for this gracious gift, by directing every moment of our lives to God, who is Lord and Master of all.

Lord, in your mercy

Hear our prayer

Start:Stop-The Transfiguration

The Transfiguration - Sieger Koder

Good morning and welcome to Start Stop. Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration when we remember that moment when Peter, James and John are called up to the top of a mountain where Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant in glory. Today we will read the account in Mark's Gospel:

Start:Stop-The Image of God

From Island of Saints - An exhibition of Icons at All Hallows by the Tower

Good morning and welcome to Start Stop. Our prayers and reflection will last around ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates. Our theme today is The Image of God and we begin, as usual, with a short bible reading.

Icons and the Russian Avant-Garde

The Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings 0,10 - Petrograd 1915-16

As part of “Islands of Saints,” a small exhibition of Icons of British and Anglo-Saxon saints at All Hallows by the Tower (12 July – 2 August 2019), art historian Andrew Spira gave a fascinating lecture on the influence of the orthodox Icon painting tradition on the Russian Avant-Garde (which reached its peak between the 1917 revolution and the early 1930s). He used images of work from a variety of little known (to me!) artists, to illustrate how icon painting influenced art and culture throughout the changing political landscape of Russia. He began by explaining what an icon is and how the icon painting tradition emerged.

Start:Stop-One Small Step

Good morning and welcome to Start Stop. This morning we will be reflecting on the first Lunar Communion, the link between St Stephen Walbrook and the space-faring adventurer Dan Dare and how for many Christians today the freedom to celebrate communion seems like a world away. We begin with a short bible reading which can be found on page 117 of the New Testament.

BOOK REVIEW - A Clergyman's Daughter by George Orwell

Written more like a screenplay than a novel, with five distinct acts and narration which ‘breaks the fourth wall,’ Orwell is said to have dismissed this early (1935) novel as “bollocks” – not a word that would be in the vocabulary of the titular anti-heroine, Dorothy Hare.

Start:Stop-The Whole Armour of God

Don Quixote by Pablo Picasso (1955)

Start:Stop at St Stephen Walbrook offers busy commuters the chance to start their day by stopping to reflect for ten minutes, every Tuesday morning. This is a transcript of my reflection from July 2nd 2019. 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 today comes from the final chapter of the Letter to the Ephesians. If you want to follow along the passage is on page 209 of the New Testament.

Start:Stop-Thy Kingdom Come

Searching for God - Almighty Hands by Nic Fiddian Green at Southwark Cathedral

Good morning and thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. This reflection will last around ten minutes - please feel free to come and go as your schedule dictates.

Between Ascension Day and Pentecost the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have invited Christians around the world to join together to pray that more people may come to know Jesus. In our reading this morning we hear the teaching of Jesus concerning prayer. If you’d like to follow along it’s on page six of the New Testament.