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The words seemed rather apt as we stand at the beginning of a New Year with the war in Ukraine still raging, COVID still causing problems, rising heating costs, strikes and economic turbulence all impacting our lives. If 2022 seemed to be to quote the late Queen an ‘annus horribilis’ it might seem that 2023 feels all rather uncertain and unpredictable.
Parish magazine content each month from the team at Caring for God's Acre
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Most years when I was a parish priest in Sussex a group of us used to go Carol singing. We’d visit homes and the local pubs. Rather than asking for money for a charity or Church funds we would finish by giving out mince pies.
Parish magazine content each month from the team at Caring for God's Acre
November seems to be the month for remembering. All Souls at the beginning of the month is a chance to remember with thankfulness those whom we have loved but see no more.
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Parish magazine content each month from the team at Caring for God's Acre
Parish magazine content each month from the team at Caring for God's Acre
In our rural Diocese harvest is and can be a very important time for our communities. When I was in rural Mid Devon Harvest activities began in the middle of August and ran all the way through to the end of October. It was often a real village celebration with Harvest suppers, church services and sporting challenges. I will never forget the Bishop of Exeter taking part in the sack race!
As we watch without much edification the final weeks of the contest for the leadership of the Conservative Party and observe the confrontational nature of the discourse it strikes me that this is a violent way to choose a leader. As I watch the playing out of events at Lambeth and in Ukraine and as I follow online commentary and dispute on all manner of things from The Commonwealth Games to the Women’s football team and the latest garment espoused by the latest celebrity it strikes me that verbal violence is endemic.
Parish magazine content each month from the team at Caring for God's Acre