Posts by Fr. Matthew

Dearest friends, On Friday 9th October we mark the feast of St John Henry Newman, priest and Doctor of the Church. The word “Doctor” means teacher, recognising someone whose teaching helps the whole Church understand and live the Christian faith. Newman received that title last November, and his life gives us particular reason, as Anglicans, to give thanks. Before he became a Roman Catholic, Newman spent more than twenty years as an Anglican clergyman. He was one of the leading…

Dearest friends, Church vestments can sometimes look, from the outside, like little more than ecclesiastical decoration – colour, fabric, embroidery, lace, and layers of clothing from another age. But they are much more interesting than that. The Church has always understood worship to involve the whole person. We hear the Scriptures, speak and sing, stand and kneel, receive bread and wine, see candles, colour, movement, and beauty. Vestments belong within that same language. They help tell us what kind of…

TONIGHT Planning MeetingThursday 10th at St. Luke’s we have our termly planning meeting. Everyone is very welcome to come and help us map out and plan the Autumn term with Advent and Christmas. It’s an opportunity to discuss what we thought worked well over the Summer and what we’d like to see in the term to come.  Prayer requests for Pilgrimage The Diocese Pilgrimage to Walsingham leaves on Monday morning and Jill has kindly agreed to take any prayer requests…

Dearest friends, Summer often brings a welcome change of pace. Schools close, regular groups pause, familiar faces go away on holiday, and the longer days invite us to slow down and notice the world around us. Rest is not an interruption to the Christian life; it is part of it. At the beginning of Scripture, God rests and makes that rest holy. The Sabbath is given to God’s people as a gift: a reminder that the world does not depend…

Dearest friends, As many of you know, this is my final Sunday with you before I set off on my pilgrimage across Europe with my dear friend Rev’d Dan Beesley.  On Thursday 23rd July, following a special Mass at St. John’s at 10.00am led by Fr. Robin and after a swift visit to St. Catherine’s school for a wave off in the playground, I’ll begin a journey of around 9,000km to many of Europe’s great Marian shrines.  Over the coming…

Dearest friends, The summer months have a way of encouraging us to slow down a little. Gardens are growing, fields are full, and all around us we see the quiet work of seeds bringing forth their harvest. It is perhaps no surprise that Jesus should choose this season of growth to tell one of his best-loved parables. This Sunday’s Gospel is the Parable of the Sower. A farmer scatters seed generously across the field. Some falls on the path, some…

Dearest friends, One of the great privileges of this past week was hosting the Archdeacons’ Visitation at St. Luke’s. It brought together clergy and churchwardens from across the archdeaconry, but what struck me most was not the business of the evening. Instead, it was the encouragement we were given to recognise the calling of those around us. We often think of a calling as something dramatic. We think of St Peter leaving his fishing nets behind or St Paul encountering…

Dearest friends, Over the last month or so I’ve been very blessed to be working at Stover School on Thursday afternoons running their Mech Eng’ Club over lunch time.  It’s 45 minutes of pulling my old Piaggio Ape apart and trying to get it running… However, each and every time we remove something we discover it wasn’t quite put on the way it was supposed to be put on. It *kinda* worked, just, but it didn’t last terribly long and…

Dearest friends, Last Sunday, more than 175 people gathered in Mill Marsh Park for Praise in the Park. Take a look at the photos here. It was a wonderful afternoon of worship, fellowship, and witness. Yet perhaps the most encouraging thing about the day was not just the number of people who came, but what it revealed about the work God has already been doing amongst us. Over recent years both St John’s and St Luke’s have experienced their share…