Introducing Our New Priest

A message from the Revd Dr Helen Orchard, who will be licensed in the church on Tuesday 12th April.

I am very much looking forward to joining you all at St Matthew’s in April and am pleased to write this piece to introduce myself.

I hail, originally, from suburban Surrey and spent most of my youth in Woking, apart from a short period when my family lived in Cape Town while Dad was working there. I am not from a Christian family but decided I believed in God when I was 15 during a visit to Westminster Abbey. There began the long and winding journey of faith. I was baptised and confirmed aged 17 at St John the Baptist, Woking.

I studied first at Sheffield University: a BA in Biblical Studies, then a PhD in the Gospel of John which I undertook part-time while working full-time. I don’t recommend that – it was extremely hard work! Much of my working life before ordination was spent in the NHS. I was an NHS manager in Birmingham and Sheffield, working in hospitals and the Health Authority. NHS managers are often Public Enemy No. 1 but I really enjoyed working in the public sector and for a cause I passionately believed in. My most satisfying job was developing cancer services at Weston Park Hospital in Sheffield.

In 1999 I secured a secondment to Sheffield University as a Research Associate. The Lincoln Theological Institute, then part of the University, was looking for someone to undertake a piece of work on Chaplaincy in London hospitals. This was the beginning of my path to ordination as one of the hospital chaplains told me during my first case study that I should think about becoming a priest. I laughed and said “I don’t think so. I haven’t been to church in eight years!” However, I knew instinctively that it was the truth and started to explore vocation. I got involved at St Mark’s, Broomhill, a liberal Catholic church in Sheffield, and from there went to Westcott House in Cambridge for two fantastic years of study and formation, meeting some of my closest friends.

I was ordained in 2003 in Guildford Cathedral and served a three year curacy at St John the Evangelist, Merrow. I loved parish ministry and was very lucky to have great clergy colleagues to work with. I was very much in two minds at the end of my curacy as to whether to look for a parish or to try college chaplaincy – something I had been interested in for a while. As it happened, the job at Exeter College came up and I was appointed Chaplain-Fellow in 2006. I have had the best of times and worst of times here. Tragically, we have had four unexpected student deaths, which is a lot for a community of this size. The up side has been the privilege of working with such gifted young people and enjoying fabulous music and liturgy in a beautiful and stimulating environment. I have to admit, however, that I am more than ready to return to parish ministry, where I see my long term future. Despite having helped out in other churches over the last five years, it is not the same as celebrating the great Christian feasts with your own community and, of course, in College there are no students here at Christmas and Easter.

Life is very intense during term in Oxford: it really is a 24/7 job, especially when you live in College, as I do. However, I try to make time for the odd extra curricular activity. I love music, especially sacred choral music (Bach, Handel, Howells, Walton… I could go on), as well as opera. I also enjoy art and am looking forward to being closer to London galleries. I’ve tried rowing while here (well, one has to in Oxford), and that has been fun. I have also travelled widely. Possibly my favourite trip was a truck journey through Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt before I went to Cambridge, but last year I saved up to do a thousand mile road trip through California and that was a great adventure. I am looking forward to living in a house again so that I can cook and entertain; something not really possible in College. I am also looking forward very much to the vicarage garden… and so is my cat! His name is Resurrexi (because he was born in Eastertide), but he is normally called Rexi for short. He is a very affectionate ginger tom who has been greatly spoiled by the students here.

I hope the above will help you to feel that you know a little more about me and I am really looking forward to getting to know all of you in the months and years ahead

Helen Orchard

Inter Regnum at St Matthew's

Thanks to exceptional stand-in priests, strong wardens, the warm support of the congregation and the determination of the Rector to appoint a new priest as quickly as possible, the interregnum has been an interesting and (one hopes) a not too stressful experience. Visiting priests, some new acquaintances, some old friends, have given us varied and challenging sermons.

During the summer months we were pleased to welcome Tulo Raistrick to lead and to preach at some of our services. Tulo, who worked for Tearfund and worshipped for some years at the St Matthew’s early Sunday Mass, is now preparing for ordination. We wish him well as he enters the priesthood.

An Islamic Perspective

One cold, dark, evening in November, my friend Sarah Collins and I were welcomed into the warmth and brightness of the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Morden to attend an evening on The Role of Women in promoting a peaceful society: an Islamic perspective. The mosque is the largest of its kind in Western Europe and is home to the local Ahmadiyya Muslim community, an Islamic movement founded in India in 1889, which has since spread to over 195 countries worldwide. The evening was enlightening and inspiring for Sarah and me, and gave us a great deal to think about with regards to our own roles as members of a CofE community.

We were invited to the mosque by Farhana Dar, a fellow mum at St Matthew’s school. We had had many conversations about religion and how we shared many fundamental beliefs and values. It seemed the natural next step to see Farhana’s place of worship for ourselves to gain a broader understanding of the Islamic perspective. Farhana had chosen a church school for her three children as she felt strongly that they should be somewhere that they could freely and fully explore the concept of God and prayer. The belief in one God is a key Islamic principle, but Farhana is always keen to stress the notion that all religions and prophets were sent from the same source. Whilst the Islamic name for God is Allah, it is fully accepted by Ahmadis that other religions are worshipping the same God, but simply by another name. Farhana’s religious beliefs are a key part of her life and she seemed the obvious choice when recently elected as a parent governor at St Matthew’s School.

Ahmadi Muslims differ from other Islamic sects in that they believe their founder, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was the promised Messiah of this age. However, their Islamic principles remain core to their beliefs and practices. Ahmadi Muslims claim to be leading a global effort to revive and spread the true, peaceful message of Islam as taught by the Holy Prophet Muhammad over 1,400 years ago and documented in the Holy Quran. Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is believed to have initiated this revival:

“The mission for which I have been appointed is to remove that growing gap in the relationship between God and His creation and replace it once again with the relationship of love and sincerity; and by allowing the truth to manifest itself, cause religious wars and discord to end and thus lay the foundation for peace.”

Ahmadis in Britain today strive to live by five principles of loyalty, freedom, equality, respect and peace. They recently launched an advertising campaign on local buses to spread their motto: ‘Love for all, hatred for none’.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim community is known to be persecuted in some parts of the world by other, less moderate, Islamic groups. This was pressed home to us as we were subjected to thorough bag searches on our arrival at the mosque. The women searching our bags were extremely apologetic and explained that some of the prejudice experienced in countries such as Pakistan had sadly spilled over into the local community in South West London. The local Guardian recently published a piece reporting cases of business boycotts and hate leaflets aimed solely at Ahmadi Muslims in the Tooting area. In May 2010, 93 worshippers were killed in co-ordinated attacks by gunmen on two Ahmadiyya Mosques in Lahore, Pakistan. An extremist Islamic group claimed responsibility for this atrocity. Whilst the prejudice experienced in the UK has not reached the violent extremes of that experienced in Pakistan, it has managed to cast a dark shadow across a community whose primary aim is to spread peace and understanding. This must surely render the mission for peace all the more challenging and I can only applaud the Ahmadis for their steely determination in the face of such ill-judged hatred.

In spite of the bag searches, once inside the Islamic centre we were offered an extremely warm welcome and a wonderful spread of refreshments, before opting for a tour.

Some of the Muslim women present on the tour commented how much they enjoy the sound of church bells, as it gave them comfort to think there were others outside their own communities who were also on their way to worship God. This led me to think of the recent ban on minarets imposed in Switzerland and what a stark contrast this is to the tolerant views being aired here. How sad it is that communities cannot move away from suspicion and xenophobia.

We then visited the prayer areas, which were beautiful, huge, white rooms with domed ceilings and vast carpeted areas marked out for rows of worshippers. The male and female areas were almost identical in size and appearance and had little in the way of decoration or adornment other than some simple Arabic inscriptions which, to me, only seemed to add to their beauty. Whilst here, Farhana explained to us the Five Pillars of Islam, which are the key teachings that all Muslims should live by. These are Shahada (Declaration of Faith), Salat (Prayer), Saum (Fasting), Zakat (Almsgiving/giving to the poor) and Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca). We expressed our awe at her ability to pray five times a day, but Farhana managed to rationalise it brilliantly: ‘There are always times in the day that are more challenging than others. If I know that I’ll be before God in an hour or so this keeps me from behaving or thinking in a way that I may later regret.’ It led me to think of the many times I’d lost my temper trying to get my children to get ready for school, or my cursing when I’d missed my train. If I’d known I’d shortly be before God, I wonder if I’d have thought or acted more appropriately?!

After the tours we were seated, along with several hundred other guests, in the main conference hall to listen to the speeches. Most of the speakers were members of Lajna Imaillah, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Association, but there were also three local Members of Parliament present. All spoke with great passion about their quest for a peaceful, cohesive society, focusing on different areas such as global peace, equality of the sexes, human rights and raising children in the modern world. The MPs spoke highly of the Ahmadiyya community’s hard work in promoting their views on equality and community cohesion. The issue of Islamophobia was raised, as was the intolerance experienced between Islamic sects. This led me to think about the issues that currently divide us within our own Anglican community and how easily our passionate views could lead to resentment towards others holding different views within the wider church. I also thought deeply about how this relatively small minority Islamic sect strives to shout a loud message of peace across the local community and across the world, whereas we do comparatively little within our own church. Some of the speakers admitted that they felt they needed to work especially hard in Western society as the reputation of Islam had been smeared by hard-line fundamentalists. They felt it their duty to build on a reputation of Islam as a peaceful, loving religion in order to promote a better understanding of their faith.

However, I believe there are also many so-called Christians out there holding pretty hard-line views that manage to tarnish the reputation of Christianity worldwide. I wonder if it is our own duty to become more vocal against this. For example, when Pastor Terry Jones declared September 11th Quran Burning Day, should we have done more to spread a positive message towards other religions to counteract this hatred? I recently read a letter in the Wimbledon Guardian, written by a self-declared regular churchgoer, bitterly complaining about the presence of the Baitul Futuh Mosque and its holding of secular community functions. I scoffed at this for so many reasons, but mainly because I failed to see the difference between a mosque holding functions on its premises and the use of a church hall! We can all quietly utter our outrage behind closed doors at such ignorant views, but we surely owe it to our Muslim neighbours to make as much effort as they have made to spread a message of peace.

I would like to extend my warmest thanks to the people of the Baitul Futuh mosque for their exceptional hospitality. Our evening was rounded off with a delicious meal, cooked onsite, and a chance to explore the highly informative library and exhibition areas. Special thanks are due to our dear friend, Farhana, for giving us such a wonderful insight into the faith she holds so close to her heart. I would be keen to explore the possibility of holding some interfaith events at St Matthew’s so that we too can get to know our neighbours. If this idea appeals to anyone please do get in touch with me.

Sonja Timpson

Making Music

One Monday in April the church was closed so that a CD could be made using the St Matthew’s organ. Intrigued, REVIEW asked for more information.

The Music Makers is a liturgical music publisher. In addition to publishing new works of sheet music for choirs and supporting plainchant, we have also produced a number of compact discs over the past nine years. Originally the CDs were intended to be used as teaching aids for those wishing to sing plainchant and other traditional music. However, during the past four years or so, we have also been asked to record CDs to aid particular areas of devotion and which are more meditative, using both speech and music. The first of these was in honour of Saint Paul, as Pope Benedict announced a Year of St Paul which ran from 2008-9. We then produced a CD in honour of St Therese of Lisieux as there was a tour of her relics around the country in September 2009. Last year, we produced a CD about Cardinal Newman, who was beatified by Pope Benedict during his visit to this country last September.

The subject of the new CD (recorded at St Matthew’s) is Our Lady of Walsingham. This year marks 950 years of Marian devotion in Walsingham as it was in 1061 that the visions of Our Lady took place and a special year of celebrations is starting in March. The CD is to be called Our Lady of Walsingham and has as a subtitle “A History and Meditation in words and music”. The narrator is the Archbishop of Birmingham, Bernard Longley, who has an excellent reading voice and there are contributions from the Administrators of the Anglican and Catholic shrines at Walsingham.

The music on the CD is sung by a professional vocal quartet, Schola Cantamus, which I direct. As the CD tells the story of Walsingham from the beginning, I have tried to include as wide a variety of music as I can, ranging from plainchant and medieval settings of Marian antiphons right through to present day music. The music is, of course, all to do with Our Lady and includes some Anglican music as well as Catholic, to reflect the ecumenical nature of Walsingham.

As I was using an organ for some of the tracks, I was keen to find a recording venue with a good organ. The organ builder, Matthew Copley, has worked on your organ in the past and kindly recommended it to us. As pure coincidence, I noticed from both your website and from the church itself, that you have a particular devotion to Walsingham!

The CD is due to be available from mid-March and may be bought in central London from St Pauls Bookshop next to Westminster Cathedral or from direct mail order from The Music Makers (www.themusicmakers.org).

Jeremy de Satgé

Appreciating the Servers

On Sundays and at other services, servers assist in the Sanctuary. You will have seen them wearing wearing black cassocks and white cottas, assisting the priest to prepare the Holy Sacrament, holding the book for the reading of the Gospel, carrying the incense and walking in procession with the priest.

In the news sheet of 21 November 2010 we read: ‘THE SOUTHWARK CHAPTER OF THE COMPANY OF SERVERS will be meeting in the church this coming Saturday, 27th November. They will start at noon with a simple Said Mass with hymns, to which anyone is invited, and will then meet for lunch and discussion afterwards in the church’. How many congregation members read this and gave it a second thought? Do we appreciate how much we at St Matthew’s rely on our strong team of servers? REVIEW asked two of our servers to tell us more.

The Company of Servers was formed in the spring of 2009 for all who are servers in the Anglican Communion. It was founded alongside the Society of Catholic Priests and shares its understanding that the ordained priesthood is for all whom the Church believes to be called. The Company of Servers seeks to encourage, support and value lay ministry in the Anglican Communion and to help servers develop not only practical but spiritual skills, as well as offering friendship, guidance and learning opportunities. Membership is open to all ages, from the youngest, newest server, to those who have dedicated many years’ service. Members are known as Companions and become part of a national and international community. Companions are members of the Company in the area, (usually the diocese), where they serve. These are known as ‘Chapters’, and each has its own identity and role within the whole Company.

Our own Chapter is the Southwark Chapter which meets regularly at churches around the diocese. Laura is on the committee for the Southwark Chapter which is showing signs of having the largest membership amongst all the Chapters. These meetings of our Chapter, of which there are about five a year, are proving to be a time not only to see other churches around the Diocese and how the worship is organised there, but also to gain new friends and new experiences and to learn about serving and about our own faith.

The annual Company Festival, held at St Alban’s in 2010 and scheduled for Leeds in 2011, focuses on fellowship, worship and learning, both from each other and in a variety of interactive workshops, activities, talks and reflections. This is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with others who share their time and talent in the service of God’s Church. Throughout the year, individual Chapters organise their own training days, worship, meetings and activities. Companions are encouraged to take an active part in the Company which provides opportunities for all age groups and understands the levels of commitment those who serve can offer. Families and friends are welcomed to open events. The Company of Servers aims to promote good practice in serving and liturgical excellence, not only for its members but for clergy, who can become Associate Companions.

William and John have been part of the foundation of the Company and both serve on the National Central Committee.

The Company of Servers hopes to raise an understanding of the hows and whys of serving and to encourage those who serve already to continue and feel valued. Through raising awareness of the ministry of those who serve at the altar it is hoped that others will begin to explore this essential role in the service of God and his Church.

For more information see the Company’s website:
www.companyofservers.org
or speak to William, Laura or John.

John Kitchener and William Varlow

Malcolm Lee Barron: an obituary

The whole community of St Matthew’s was shocked to hear of the death of our Musical Director, Malcolm Barron, on New Year’s Day 2011.

Malcolm was a lifelong Wimbledon man, from his birth on 11th November 1946 at Lingfield Maternity Home. For much of his life he lived at the family home in Denmark Avenue. He attended Rokeby Preparatory School (then situated at the corner of The Downs and Worple Rd), and then King’s College School. At Rokeby he took part in school plays, in one of which his rendition of the immortal words, “as a matter of fact I’m a pixie myself”, became part of family folklore.

He showed early musical promise on the Steinway piano which the family inherited when he was a boy, and as a young man he became interested in the organ, spending many hours practising at St John’s Church, Spencer Hill. The novelist Jane Gardam, who lives nearby, referred in one of her novels to the playing of the organ late at night; this was inspired by hearing Malcolm.

He qualified as an Associate of the Royal College of Music in July 1977 and in January 1981 was admitted as an Associate of the Royal College of Organists. He furthered his studies by taking courses in organ technology in the 1980s under Matthew Copley and wrote a detailed thesis in 1995 on how to construct a house organ. His expertise in organ building and repair served to inspire him to even greater playing. In 1994 he was awarded a Certificate in Musical Repair, which widened his knowledge to include other instruments.

Over 20 years ago, Malcolm joined St Matthew’s as Director of Music. His organ playing was recognised by the congregation and his peers as first rate. He had great natural ability, but was never content to rest on his laurels and devoted many hours a week to practising. He regularly played works that require immense technical skill and musicianship, such Messiaen’s Dieu Parmi Nous (which he usually played at Christmas), and the finale of Vierne’s first organ symphony.

Malcolm was also ambitious for the church choir and refused to be downhearted at their small numbers. Last year he organised a professional singing teacher to give two coaching sessions to the choir, which improved standards and gave a boost to morale. He was constantly on the lookout for new material and, at Christmas, there would always be an unfamiliar carol at the Nine Lessons, that Malcolm had discovered after hours of research. This year he introduced the traditional Catalan carol, El Desembre Congelat (Cold December’s Winds Were Chilled). Many people in the congregation said that the Nine Lessons this year was one of the best that they had ever heard at St Matthew’s, and that is a wonderful testament to Malcolm’s talent and energy.

About ten years ago, Malcolm ran a junior choir at church, which inspired many children to love music. Malcolm taught at a prep school in Sussex in the 1990s and in recent years earned his living teaching piano at home.

Malcolm’s musical interests ranged far further than church. He was a leading light of many musical evenings which were held at St Matthew’s Hall, in which he showed that he also had a flair for secular music. His Noel Coward impersonation, resplendent in a white dinner jacket, was a joy. Last year he delighted everyone at Jonathan Turton’s birthday party with a brilliant performance of the Master’s On the Piccola Marina. In recent years he also led a small choir in performances of madrigals and jazz classics at the church fairs. He put a great deal of time and effort into choosing the music for such events, even to the point of writing his own arrangements. In the summer holidays he would join the choir Ex Collegio to perform at English cathedrals: he modestly said that he found the discipline hard, but it was clear that he took great pleasure in singing at this high standard, and loved what he called “the extraordinarily extensive, varied and beautiful choral inheritance that this country enjoys.” He often attended concerts and opera, and had a particular love of Wagner and Strauss.

Malcolm’s intellectual curiosity was not limited to music, and in 2005 he passed the University of Cambridge ESOL examinations, which entitled him to teach English as a foreign language. In later years he also applied himself to learning Japanese, reaching an advanced standard. He loved to converse with Japanese friends and could write Japanese script exquisitely.

In 2001 Malcolm moved to Lambton Road and was a familiar figure to everyone in the community, riding his bike up and down Worple Road in his luminous yellow jacket. He was a kind, generous man, who would always support his friends in time of need, whether to help them through life’s worst troubles, or simply to put a chain back on their bike. He enjoyed good food, wine and cigars, and he particularly loved to travel to France for the day to stock up. Most Sundays he could be found after church at Bar 191, enjoying tapas with his friends. His quiet, gentle manners and immense thoughtfulness were greatly valued by all who knew him.

For many years Malcolm helped his mother look after his father, who was not well towards the end of his life. Following his father’s death, Malcolm was a steadfast companion to his mother until her death in 1995.

Malcolm’s death of heart failure was sudden and unexpected, following a short illness between Christmas and New Year. He is survived by his brother, James, his sister-in-law, Enid, his nephew and his niece. He is deeply mourned and fondly remembered by all those who knew him.

Catherine Richards

A tribute to Malcolm
by Fr Leslie Drake, priest-in-charge of St Matthew’s 1999 to 2003
now vicar of St Augustine of Canterbury, Aiken, South Carolina

This was read to the congregation at Malcolm’s funeral

As I write this I realize again the odd situation of the parish priest who may have known the person least long of anyone listening to this tribute. I am sorry that I cannot be there with you, his family and friends, to deliver this myself. Quite frankly I do not know what the mood might be by the time you hear this. Malcolm’s death came as a terrible shock. I valued my time in Wimbledon very much and Malcolm’s friendship was a huge part of that experience.

You probably know his good points at least as well as I, but so that nothing goes unsaid, I would hope that all will remember his excellent musicianship combined with a firm grasp of Christian faith. A well-read, reserved English gentlemen, he was especially kind to Colonials. Well, dear people, you know his talents and his great sense of fun and I want to indulge in that special part of this special person. For such a self-proclaimed “quiet person” Malcolm quickly gained the confidence of the peripatetic extrovert: me – his parish priest.

As my move to St Matthew’s came closer, I was immediately a beneficiary of his thoughtfulness. He invited me to the choir’s Christmas dinner at a restaurant in Wimbledon village. There I learned the important facets of this excellent chap – besides his knowledge of theology and liturgy. Malcolm was a keen devotee of jazz music, wine and spirits, cigars, and various types of veteran transport, as any right-thinking fellow would be. Imagine my delight when he readily took up my offer to gather at the Vicarage to review the year’s music along with “Fr Jack” and “Fr Upmann”. Now those listening to this may think to themselves: “He’s not serious?” But, in fact, much serious work got done during these sessions. I quickly gained from Malcolm’s keenly observed perspective on the community I served, and the overall direction of the spiritual life of the congregation was enhanced by being able to explore at length just what would work to move things on. The truth? It was a privilege and delight to work with Malcolm.

Some of you may know how assiduous Malcolm and I, along with our secretary Sheila Kapila, were in ensuring that St Matthew’s had the very best of communion wine. This quest involved the hardship of travelling to the Pas-de-Calais, often. Of course, those early mornings and rigorous toil rendering us faint with hunger we would stop for lunch at a hostelry suggested to us by the Michelin guide which Malcolm always conveniently had to hand. I really do not know how many times we went on these excursions, but every single one of them was truly delightful.

Malcolm visited me in South Carolina only last April. He joined right in with the friendly ways they have here and made quite an impression on the congregation. On the Sunday following the news of his death he was, of course, included in the intercessions at the parish Mass; a sigh went up at the mention of his name. They send their deepest condolences to all who are gathered today at his funeral. On Thursday, January 20th a Requiem will be held for the repose of his soul. Yolanda and I will say good-bye to our dear friend. May he rest in peace, and rise in glory.

Fr Leslie Drake

Keep Fit this Lent

A last-minute addition, a thought for Lent from Canon Richard Truss whose visits we have enjoyed during the interregnum.

My wife had a very special birthday-cum-Christmas present this year, a Wii set. For the uninitiated this is an interactive device which you use with your television and includes, along with all the games, a personal fitness programme. This starts with a fitness test and then gives you all sorts of exercises, from simple jogging to tight-rope walking and hula-hoop dancing, to perform on your living room floor. If you take it seriously, you’ll soon wear out the carpet. By some technological miracle the set responds to your every movement, and in particular monitors your balance – most of us seem to be quite lop-sided. I have fallen of the tight-rope on every attempt so far!

It did occur to me that the church might try marketing some spiritual alternative to this, and what better time to do this than the season of Lent, when traditionally at least we engage with the state of our souls, i.e. our spiritual health. To think about the state of our souls usually induces a sense of guilt, as with keeping fit. “I can’t really be that heavy or out-of-condition!” so “I don’t pray much and I feel a spiritual fraud!” But then we go on to find that what counts is the steady progress (with of course the inevitable regressions) as we’re in it for the long haul. Lent originally was a short period of just three days meant for new Christians preparing for their baptism in the early hours of Easter Day, but then was extended to the forty days to become a time for serious spiritual training. And perhaps, as with the Wii, a key aim might be to improve our balance.

We could think of balance as an attitude of mind, so we all like to think we are “well-balanced” people, and certainly not “unbalanced”, but we could also think of it in terms of our intake, so just as we stress the importance of a well-balanced diet in what we eat, so it is just as important in the range of our spiritual food. This opens up all sorts of exciting possibilities for our prayer life. We can go beyond reading a passage of scripture and mentally repeating a few rehearsed or spontaneous requests. Some few years ago I told a friend that I felt my prayer life was pretty arid and he suggested going along to a nearby art gallery and sitting for some time in front of a painting, and just concentrating on it and letting it soak in. I found this quite difficult to start with as I was not used to using the artistic, visual side of my brain, but slowly it has grown on me, and sometimes I feel that have encountered God, or at least the glory or compassion of God, by this means. This could equally be discovered through music or dance or just going for a walk with our eyes open.

The original meaning of the word “Lent” is “springtime”. In other words, it should be a time for freshness and experiment and a real sense of adventure in our spiritual lives and our relationship with God. So I’m looking forward to it and I hope you are too, and that come Easter, we’ll all be spiritually so much fitter.

Richard Truss