Author: Barry Unwin

His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

10/04/2021
It’s with great sadness that we heard the news of the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, today. We give thanks to God for his extraordinary life of dedicated service.

Some of our churches will be open for private prayer over the next few days to allow anyone who wishes to come and and give thanks for Prince Philip, the chance to do so. 
  • Upton Parish Church will be open 9:30am – 1pm on Sunday 11th April (including a service at 9:30am).
  • St James, Welland will be open 10am-5pm on Sat 10th and Sunday 11th.
  • St Gabriel’s, Hanley Swan will be open 10am-5pm Sat 10th-Tuesday 13th April.
  • The Hook Church, open 10am-6pm, Sunday 11th and Thursday 15th.
  • St Mary’s, Hanley Castle, open 10am-6p:30pm, Sunday 11th to Tuesday 13th.

Government guidance is that books of condolence represent an infection risk so we are discouraged from having them. Instead there is a national national online book of condolence, prepared by the Church of England, which can be signed here.

Why the Hope Church Family?

11/09/2016

The Hope Church Family is eight Church of England churches (and a ninth, which is redundant) working together at the southern end of Worcestershire.

But why the “Hope Church Family?” Let’s take each word in turn.

  • FAMILY – The collective noun for parishes is “benefice”, but it’s a dull word, loved by lawyers and difficult to define. Family is a much better description of what we are – both because in Jesus we are adopted sons and daughters of God, but also because it emphasises solidarity without imposing conformity.
  • CHURCH – because although we all worship the living God, we live in a number of different communities (or parishes), each with it’s own church building.
  • HOPE –because being a Christian isn’t a personal, private thing, it’s  good news for the whole world.  And that’s what we’re about. 

Now you might ask – Why “hope” and not something geographical that says where we are? The simple answer is that any geographical reference (for example Upton) would give undue emphasis to one of our communities over another.

The Hope Church Family name is recognisable enough to enable us to work together across our communities,  whilst also being flexible enough for each of our family of churches to retain it’s own identity.

 

 

 

Barry Unwin
September 11th 2016

My Greatest Adventure – Bear Grylls

08/09/2016

Over the past few years Bear Grylls has become the embodiment of adventure and outdoor survival in the public imagination. A former reservist in the SAS, Bear has climbed Everest, navigated the Northwest Passage and Paramotored over the Himalayas.

Whether it’s from the streets of the Philippines or the sidewalks of New York it’s great to be reminded that everyone’s journey is different, and everyone’s story is unique.

Bear’s is one of millions of different stories of exploration—of asking life’s biggest questions without knowing what will be found. Despite a life characterised by risk, danger and the unknown, it is this exploration that he describes as his ‘greatest adventure’. Watch Bear’s story:

 

In defence of Justin Welby: mediator, not homophobe

03/09/2016

Journalist James Macintyre writes an interesting article on the Christian Today website looking at the Archbishop of Canterbury’s much-misrepresented comments on gay marriage at the Greenbelt Festival this summer.

 

How strange it is to be at an event and then see it misreported. Stranger still to see that misreporting to be based on your own report of that same event.

Last weekend, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury came to the Greenbelt festival in Northamptonshire for the first time. There was a mood of enthusiastic anticipation on the Saturday lunchtime when Welby sat down on the main stage with the ‘Gogglebox vicar’ Kate Bottley, in front of hundreds of festival-goers. But despite the initial applause, there was no guaranteeing a favourable reception for what he had to say, especially on the inevitable question of sexuality. Greenbelt veterans warned that the festival’s crowds could be “spiky”. Their centre of gravity was certainly left-of-centre.

Yet in the event, Welby’s carefully balanced answer when the question came was well received, not just because it was unusually human, but because it was, broadly, progressive.

Read the rest here.

Marriage? Baptism?