Reflections and Stories

When your team doesn’t win

31 May 2017

This week my Facebook feed is full of political posts about how if I vote a certain way then certain things will definitely happen – money for schools, better healthcare trusts - you name it, there is a manifesto pledge for it, somewhere. I always feel hopeful the week before an election as more...

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Rach’s Reflections: Life In All Its Fullness

19 May 2017

A couple of Sundays ago I was preaching twice. On both occasions I used the same readings which included John 10:1-10. It ends with the well-known and often quoted, “I came to give life—life in all its fullness.” This blog is version three of the sermon, as I’ve never yet said the same thing...

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Rach’s Reflections: Whatever the Future May Be

2 May 2017

I ended up on the Telegraph website the other day, (not on purpose, you know what happens when you click on one article from Facebook), after pondering what to blog about this week. I came across two articles that confirmed my theme of vocation, discernment and life choices.

The first...

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Rach's Reflections - The Stones Will Cry Out

13 Apr 2017

I made a comment to a friend yesterday about having a long weekend off work at the end of this week. His response was "oohh that's nice".  I think he'd forgotten that Easter weekend means bank holidays for me now – while last year I was working for the church, when Easter is not a lovely four...

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The Gift of the Present: Dealing with Mental Health During Lent

5 Apr 2017

I’ve written for SCM before about my schizoaffective disorder and how religious buildings are a major trigger for it. What I did not mention was that my symptoms tend to flare up hugely during Lent. From 2011 to 2016, every Lent without...

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The Keys to Discerning Your Vocation

13 Mar 2017

Did you ever sing the children’s church song, ‘prayer is like a telephone’?

Prayer is like a telephone, for us to speak to Jesus
Prayer is like a telephone, for us to speak to God
Pick it up and use it every day!
 
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Inspirational Women: St Hilda of Whitby

6 Mar 2017

Over the past year I’ve found myself being drawn again to the Northumbrian saints of the so-called Dark Ages. This was partly prompted by a realisation that Oswestry, one of the nearest towns to where I now live, is named for St Oswald, and is said to be where he died in battle. It grew further...

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The Joy of Lent

1 Mar 2017

I once heard Lent described as a three-legged stool comprising of fasting, penance, and almsgiving. Take any single leg away, and it tips the other two off balance and renders the whole thing useless. When I first heard this, I was surprised: almsgiving is a part of Lent? Isn’t it all about...

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One student’s story of faith in Liverpool

20 Feb 2017

I started the journey to find a church in Liverpool at the very start of my second year. I’d grown up in a Church of England family and had decided to get confirmed at 17, but in my first year I’d never even looked for a church in Liverpool; I hardly remember the thought crossing my mind. It had...

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All Are Welcome: Lessons from Roller Derby

14 Feb 2017

Eighteen months ago I took a big leap of faith and moved to a new city where I knew no-one. As such, finding communities that offered a welcome was really important to my feeling comfortable and at home.

I quickly joined two communities – a local church and a roller derby team.

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