Lord, help us to flatten the curve and deepen our faith

Oscar Romero Cross, St George's Cathedral, Southwark

It was a great pleasure to lead morning prayer for St Augustine's College of Theology today live on Facebook. These are the prayers I wrote, inspired by the life of Harriett Monsell, remembered today, and the readings and psalms appointed for this morning: Psalms 53, 86,  Exodus 4.27-6.1 and Hebrews 10.19-25.

We are being told day in day out to flatten the curve - to help the NHS. This is good advice! But the cross has two parts. As well as focussing on the horizontal (something we find easy to do in life), we must not forget the vertical! (I have written more about that recently here: "Thank God for Mountains").

Start:Stop - We see furthest in the dark

Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, 1889

Good morning! I hope you are all safe and well. This is our Start:Stop reflection for Tuesday 24th March in a slightly different format than normal. The church is now closed. Please visit our website where you can find details of how we hope to continue to offer services throughout the coronavirus pandemic. 

Through Lent in our Tuesday morning Start:Stop reflections, we have been exploring the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, using as our guide the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book “Saying Yes to Life.” Our short reading this morning describes the fourth day of creation, when God created the day and night:

Lent Quiet Hour - Week 3

Study for Nicodemus Visiting Jesus, Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1899

Poems, prayers and readings for our Lent Quiet Hour based on the themes in the gospel reading for the Second Sunday of Lent.

Start-Stop : Head in the clouds, feet in the water

Urizen, from Europe, A Prophecy by William Blake, 1794

Start:Stop at St Stephen Walbrook offers busy commuters in the City of London the chance to start their day by stopping to pray and reflect for ten minutes. This is my reflection for Tuesday 10th March 2020. Good morning and welcome to Start:Stop. Our readings and prayers will last around ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates - please don’t be disturbed if others do the same!

Through Lent we are exploring the creation story in Genesis using the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book “Saying Yes to Life.” Our short reading this morning describes the second day of creation, when God separates the waters to create the sea and sky:-

BOOK REVIEW : Evil - The Shadow Side of Reality by John A. Sanford

I was recommended this book a few years ago while taking part in a Christian Spirituality course led by John-Francis Friendship at the London Centre for Spiritual Direction, when the class got into an interesting discussion about the nature of evil.

Lent Quiet Hour - Week 2

Christ in the Desert by Ivan Kramskoi, 1872

Poems, prayers and readings for our Lent Quiet Hours in the First Week of Lent, based on ‘temptation’, the theme of the Gospel reading for the First Sunday of Lent.