New horizons
I'm undertaking a new professional assignment at present and feel it inappropriate to continue with this ever controversial blog. So for the time being blogging is suspended.
View ArticleA "me" in my bonnet
I have a bee in my bonnet. It is about Daniel Iverson's wonderful worship tune "Spirit of the Living God" which is number 295 in the Methodist hymnbook "Hymns and Psalms".Given the awfulness of some of...
View ArticleThe questions the Methodist Recorder won't answer about its future
During November of last year there was a lively debate on the UK Methodists Facebook page about the Methodist Recorder. A little research led to a post about its unrepresentative board and finances. A...
View ArticleMy Son and The Cat
This afternoon we will celebrate the life of my firend Andrew. When he was a small boy his father Bob wrote a poem. I have been asked to read it at the service:My Son and The CatMy SonProduces noise...
View ArticleRest in peace
One of the happiest posts ever on this blog was way back in May 2007 when I recounted a fantastic weekend as we celebrated the wedding of a close friend. This week I return to the same village, same...
View ArticleBlog suspended
A whole range of issues have arisen that makes it difficult to post at present. Back soon.
View ArticleNo wonder more patients die at weekend
This mornings news that patients are 10% more likely to die at a weekend in an NHS hospital came as no surprise to me.Last week a close elderly relative was admitted as an emergency to a large acute...
View ArticleOld comrades
Earlier this week I had the pleasure of attending the official launch of John Kotz's book Vintage Red that I reviewed a few weeks back .The event was held in the art deco splendour of the council...
View ArticleHow Islamaphobic myths are circulated
All it takes to generate a racist myth is a tiny grain of truth, a willingness to lie and the internet. I have an elderly acquaintance who enjoys forwarding the latest jokes that appear in his in-box....
View ArticleGambling back on the church agenda
The issue of problem gambling makes a welcome return to the agenda of the British Methodist Church. The church is to join with other Christian groups in making representations to the House of Commons...
View ArticleCaring for the elderly - where have we gone wrong?
Today's report into the care of the elderly should be a real wake up call. About half of those surveyed reported themselves happy with the care provided. But"the inquiry also revealed many examples of...
View ArticleWhen the going gets tough
Whole pile of things at the moment making life very difficult. I shared my despair about one situation with the congregation on Sunday. My health is fine but when a close friend is suffering our hearts...
View ArticleWilfred Owen: Disabled
He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark,And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,Legless, sewn short at elbow. Through the parkVoices of boys rang saddening like a hymn,Voices of play and pleasure...
View ArticleThe 360 assessment tool will soon be available for ministers and church leaders
A 360 feedback tool is now being prepared for ministers and church leaders. A Birmingham based management consultancy is working on the project.360 is a method of gathering feedback from subordinates,...
View ArticleDrop the NHS Bill - sign the petition
Just had a note from my colleagues in the Labour Party:Put the NHS firstThe Government is planning the biggest re-organisation of the NHS since it began in 1948.It is unnecessary, unwanted, wasteful...
View ArticleThe smears begin in earnest - now is not the time to be a bishop or an actress
Just over a fortnight ago a Conservative MP, Louise Mensch made herself look very silly on television when she attacked the #occupyLSX demonstrators who had set up camp outside St Paul's Cathedral in...
View ArticlePlanning for Remembrance Sunday 2011
Next Sunday the 13 November I shall be leading the Remembrance Sunday service at City Road Methodist Church Birmingham. The service will start at 10.50 am in order that we will join the 11.00 two...
View ArticleA good way to handle bad news
Tonight's Birmingham Evening MailReading my evening paper on the bus I came across this exemplary piece of communications work from the Methodist Church.Earlier this year many of us here in the...
View ArticleOld phone numbers, broken links, wrong cover price - the Methodist Recorder...
Today's Methodist Recorder website front page.Wrong cover price on the front pageDisconnected telephone numbers on every pageAn online bookshop that doesn't existGhost pages from the main...
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