Christ Church, Longridge

Dear Friends, It’s been an interesting few weeks! As you read this I will just have had two weeks of holiday interspersed with a Minister’s Retreat on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne – and as I reflect on my experiences, I realise how fortunate I have been in coming into contact with some of Earth’s [...]

Dear Friends, The start of Advent this year, not only sees most of us frantically preparing for the festive season, but also heralds in the second stage of the ‘Vision4Life’ programme. The new church year will focus on a ‘Year of Prayer’ and like the ‘Year of the Bible’ that we’ve just concluded, it is [...]

Dear Friends, Recently I was invited to take part in something called ‘Time and Space’, which is an accompanied reflection for Ministers, organised by the United Reformed Church. Great, I thought, another thing to add to the list of ‘things to do’!! The invitation came in early July, at about the time when I was [...]

Dear Friends, “What can I write for my pastoral letter”, I asked my husband and daughter the other evening. “How about ‘Keeping your faith in the political and economical climate’”, came back the reply! (Serves me right for asking!) I was about to dismiss it, when I thought actually this is something which is affecting [...]

Dear Friends, As you [may] know, since September 2008 our son Daniel has been serving as a Medic out in Afghanistan, firstly in Kandahar then latterly at Camp Bastion. Just recently he was back in the UK for two weeks R&R and it was lovely to see him safe and well. Colin and I were [...]

Dear Friends, ‘Out with the old – in with the new’………. I know this is usually something we say at the turn of the year, but there has been a lot of it going on at the Manse lately! You know the sort of thing that happens – you start one job and problems arise, [...]

Dear Friends, It all began at the end of June, when I attended an EM2 (Education for Ministers) course at The Windermere Centre in the Lake District. Entitled, ‘The Word in the Arts’, we were given a rich feast of creativity and fresh engagement with the Bible, as well as some pretty amazingly creative food [...]

Dear Friends, As I write this letter, I am in the midst of preparing to go on holiday! By the time you have read it, I’ll have been, enjoyed time in fresh surroundings, returned, and will probably still be trying to clear the backlog of emails, telephone calls and letters created by going on holiday [...]

Dear Friends, ‘Love is in the air, everywhere you look around – or so the popular song goes. But is it? Today, as I write, many people will be celebrating St. Valentine’s Day. A day when, regardless of its origins, cards, flowers and chocolates become big business as we declare undying love to that ‘special [...]

Dear Friends, The end of the year always seems to be such a rush. People preparing for Advent and Christmas; Rehearsals for Nativities and Carol Services; Cakes and Mince pies to be made; Cards to write. Now whilst preparations in shops and stores seem to get earlier and earlier, I’m always caught in a last [...]

“Dear Friends, Well, here we are at last! Colin and I, plus Basil, are happily settled in the manse, and I am beginning to find my feet. All sounds very simple doesn’t it, but in reality it has been a lot more challenging than that! There have been names, faces, meetings, Circuit plans, preaching plans, [...]

“Dear Friends, Sometimes church life feels like a helter-skelter.  We are rushing at a tremendous pace round and round — from Harvest to Remembrance, then on to Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost and Anniversary.  All this and all the ‘routine’ activities as well.  So much happens in our church and Churches Together in [...]

“Dear Friends,  Where does the time go to? As I type this, it is Shrove Tuesday and it doesn’t seem any time at all since last Shrove Tuesday. They say there are only two certainties in this life — death and taxes. I would like to suggest two others. The first is that time never [...]