17th April 2026
The return of the Artemis II crew last Friday following their record-breaking flight to and from the Moon was surely a source of satisfaction for many of us. Apart from some minor difficulties with the on-board toilet, the mission seems to have gone rather well. By coincidence, fifty-six years ago today, the world was celebrating another safe return from space, but that happy outcome had been far from certain.
Commander Jim Lovell’s famous words, ‘Houston, we’ve had a problem,’ announced to NASA that the Apollo 13 mission had suffered damage to an oxygen tank, meaning that the planned moon landing wouldn’t take place and that the priority was now to get the three-man crew back to earth. The technical ingenuity of the scientists and engineers on the ground, matched by the skill, courage and fortitude of the three astronauts, eventually turned a near disaster into an against-all the-odds success, the three men safely recovered using the lunar module as an improvised lifeboat.
Nothing short of a miracle, some might have said, and, in truth, many around the world had no doubt been praying for those men to be swiftly re-united with their anxious families. But were such prayers necessary? What part, if any, did they play in that remarkable rescue? Prayer alone surely wouldn’t have saved Lovell and his two companions, but who can tell what difference it might have made to the sum total of human effort, determination and hopefulness underlying the eventual achievement of the goal? The moral for me is that in all our endeavours we give our utmost best, while trusting in the God who always gives us his.
Ken Stewart
15th April 2026
Finding God in the Stillness
In the busyness of life, it’s easy to move quickly past the quiet invitations God places before us. Yet again and again, scripture reminds us that his presence is not found only in the dramatic or extraordinary, but in the stillness, when we pause, listen, and trust. Often in the small everyday things of life. Perhaps this week you might consider where God might be gently calling you to slow down. It could be in a moment of prayer, a kind word to someone in need, or simply resting in his promises.
Faith is often built in these small, unseen moments. When we choose patience over haste, grace over frustration, and trust over worry, we reflect the heart of Christ in a world that deeply needs it. You may not see immediate results, but God is always at work, shaping us and working through us for his purpose.
A Prayer
Great God, help us to recognise your presence in the everyday moments of our lives. Teach us to slow down, to listen, and to trust you more deeply. Give us hearts that reflect your love and patience to those around us. Strengthen our faith, even in the small things, and guide us in your perfect will. Amen.
Sam King
Sunday 12th April 2026
Join us in person or online for a streaming service via Zoom at 10.30 am – check your email or contact us for the details.
A recording of the service should be available here this afternoon.
10th April 2026
At Easter we recall the story of Jesus, risen from the dead, joining two of his followers walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Last month the new Archbishop of Canterbury undertook an 87-mile, 6-day walking pilgrimage from St Paul’s Cathedral to Canterbury Cathedral in preparation for her installation. BBC TV has just aired the latest series of “Pilgrimage” – yet more walking. What is it about walking and perhaps especially walking in company … that can sometimes turn a simple activity into a profound experience?
It’s been suggested that walking slows us down, and can strip away life’s complexity and busyness, somehow making the bare essentials clearer to see. Do we sometimes have more open and meaningful conversations as we walk alongside one another, rather than perhaps sitting across a room from each other? Walking together makes it easier to leave space for silence and thought between the words.
Travelling through the beautiful North Yorkshire and Northumbrian countryside (as seen in the Pilgrimage series) adds another inspirational dimension – how can the heart fail to soar confronted by such beautiful landscapes? There were lovely moments when these TV “pilgrims” spotted dolphins from their walk, and when they crossed the causeway to Lindisfarne in the stunning early morning light. In such wonder-full surroundings, we can find ourselves pondering what we really value in life.
Researchers are discovering that a sedentary lifestyle is bad news for our health. Just as movement is good for our health, a preparedness to journey on in our faith is surely good for us too. The journey can change us – whether that be a physical one or a virtual one.
Ruth Allen
8th April 2026
Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). John 20: 15-16, NRSV.
The gospels give varying accounts of the resurrection of Jesus but one common theme is that those meeting the risen Jesus did not recognise him at first. In the account we used on Sunday, from John’s gospel, Mary Magdalene thinks she is talking to the gardener until she hears the stranger speak.
We can certainly have sympathy with this reaction; she had seen Jesus crucified and dead people do not get up and walk around.
Shortly after we returned to Bristol I had a similar (but definitely less dramatic!) experience. I went to a service at St Paul’s church, probably in holy week. There were not many of us there but the congregation included a tall, rather bedraggled looking man who I certainly did not recognise. During the service he got up to read the lesson. As soon as he began to speak I instantly recognised him as a former colleague that I had not seen for over thirty years. Now that I could hear his voice I could mentally slim him down, dress him smartly for work and restore his neatly cut dark hair. It was lovely to catch up with him after the service.
From then on, I became more alert for the possibility that the stranger I was meeting could possibly be an old friend and it was surprising how often they turned up.
As Jesus would have said, “stay alert”! You just do not know who you are going to meet.
Nick Parsons
Easter Sunday, 5th April 2026
Join us in person or online for a streaming service via Zoom at 10.30 am – check your email or contact us for the details. The service includes communion.
A recording of the service should be available here this afternoon.
Good Friday, 3rd April 2026
Join us in person for our joint Good Friday service at the earlier time of 10.00 am.
An audio recording of the service is available here.
1st April 2026
In John’s account of the crucifixion Pilate asks, “What is truth?” Perhaps a deep philosophical question or perhaps trying to find what the Jewish leaders were claiming. The Romans had a goddess of truth, Veritas, and considered truth a virtue.
Truth seems to be increasingly under threat. There are those (mainly celebs) who make statements adding “This is my truth” where most of us would call it opinion. “That is a blue cheese” – truth. “Blue cheese is disgusting” – not truth, yours or mine, merely opinion.
Consider portraits. Paintings of eighteenth-century ladies look similar. Clearly the painter tried to make the client conform to what was thought to be beauty where possible. (They might not be paid otherwise.) Then came photography and we said that the camera didn’t lie. The photo showed both your wrinkles and your smile. But digital photography has changed that. Using AI you can remove your wrinkles, give yourself a glowing tan, wonderful eyebrows and fat lips and end up looking exactly like thousands of influencers on social media.
More worrying is the alteration of photos of newsworthy events by individuals, political parties, pressure groups or governments. Just add another hundred to the pictures of a political rally, put a gun in the hand of a demonstrator, put a politician’s face into an embarrassing sex picture. It is clear that the BBC and reputable newspapers are now checking photos submitted to them for this kind of interference.
Justice has always needed truth and photos will always be used as evidence.
Will we start to doubt whether anything we see or read is truth?
Margaret Clements
30th March 2026
Let us join the disciples as they follow Jesus during the week that will lead to his crucifixion. I encourage you to read the whole of John chapter 12 and imagine yourself in Jesus’ presence as the story unfolds.
The week begins in Bethany, at the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus – yes, the one Jesus raised from the dead. Mary pours expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet; Judas grumbles that the money would be better spent on helping the poor; the chief priests plot to put Lazarus to death (again).
Then we follow the crowds as they travel up to Jerusalem; Jesus is on a donkey; the people wave palm branches and sing, as if to welcome a king into the capital; the Pharisees plot against him. A group of Greeks/Gentiles join the crowds and want to see Jesus too.
Jesus speaks to them: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12.23–24, NIV).
The crowds are divided. He has performed miraculous signs among them, but many do not believe in him. Others, even many of the rulers, do believe in him and yet are afraid to acknowledge him, for fear of being excluded from the community.
“I have come into the world as a light”, Jesus says, “so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness” (v46).
We take time to reflect as the week progresses. Will light or darkness prevail?
Ian Waddingon
Palm Sunday, 29th March 2026
Join us in person or online for a streaming service via Zoom at 10.30 am – check your email or contact us for the details.
A recording of the service should be available here this afternoon.