Dear Friends, Like all of us, I have read much over recent weeks about the current crisis: the causes of it, the handling of it, particularly by governments around the world, and where God is in the midst of tears, isolation and fear. One of the most useful reflections was offered by Tom Wright (former […]
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter – April 2020
Dear Friends, They used to say in times gone by (BC – Before Coronavirus) that a week was a long time in politics. As I look back to what I wrote for Reflections a month ago, it seems like a completely different world. I didn’t even refer to Covid-19. How naïve and short-sighted! Within the […]
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter – March 2020
Dear Friends, ‘All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.’ In a single sentence our greatest playwright summed up the essential character and vocation of human beings. We are destined to perform on the public stage and play many parts. Whether we are natural or reluctant players, there’s no escaping […]
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter – January 2020
Dear Friends, Of all the images we have in our minds of Jesus, which dominate? The good shepherd? The healer? The crucified Christ? Christ risen from death? Traditionally at Christmas we’ve been encouraged to imagine Jesus as a plump baby surrounded by festive trimmings! If so, the Gospel reading we heard on the last Sunday […]
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter – July 2019
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter – June 2019
Dear Friends, According to the spiritual writer David Adam, if spring represents the incoming tide, summer is the full tide of our lives, a time of depth and growth. It is the time when we achieve much and shape who we are. It is a time to seek to enjoy life and live it to […]
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter – May 2019
Dear Friends, The Manse, over Easter, was the focus of intensive revision. Cam was revising for his university finals and Ross for his A levels. I, too, was in the business of revision – but not in the same sense as Cam and Ross who were swatting for exams. But their revision helped shape my […]
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter – March 2019
Dear Friends, I am writing this on Valentine’s Day, conscious that you will be reading this next month, at the beginning of Lent. The two events, separated by a few weeks this year, are very much related to one another, because they both celebrate love: God’s love for us, and romantic love. We can learn […]
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter – February 2019
February 2019 Dear Friend’s It is always good when you have known about something wonderful or fascinating, like a good book or TV series, that others eventually catch on to and enjoy as well. I discovered Marie Kondo and the ‘konmari’ method of tidying and de-cluttering a couple of years ago but now she is […]
Russell’s monthly newsletter – July 2018
July 2018 Dear Friends, Below is an edited version of my address to this year’s AGM: I begin my address by paying tribute two individuals who deserve special mention today: our two caretakers, Mary and Lorraine. They are at the meeting point between countless numbers of premises users and the church. They do so with […]