A word from the vicar
Courage (May 2025)
How necessary is courage? And how do we get it? These questions came to the fore for me when I read the book "The Screwtape Letters" by C. S. Lewis. He writes that: “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality. A chastity or honesty or mercy which yields to danger will be chaste or honest or merciful only on conditions. Pilate was merciful till it became risky.”
I like to think of myself as a kind and generous person, but when faced with my fears I often fall short of these ideals for myself. Courage then is entirely necessary for our pursuit of the life that Christ desires for us. What does this kind of courage look like?
I remember reading the book “The Five Second Rule” by Mel Robbins. It is a book all about this Rule (acting upon an idea within five seconds to avoid procrastination), but also about everyday courage. When we think about courage we often think of grandiose gestures. We think of soldiers going off into battle. We think of knights slaying dragons. All of these are indeed expressions of courage. But they make us feel that courage happens “out there,” it is something that is not often required by ordinary people.
Robbins stresses that the need for courage is actually all around us. It takes courage to admit that we need help. It takes courage to go for the job that we want. It takes courage to walk across the room and talk to a stranger. This is everyday courage. When we remove these examples from our discussion of courage, we rob ourselves of being courageous.
Where does courage come from? When we combine C. S. Lewis’ teaching on courage with Robbins’ idea of everyday courage, we see that courage is integral for following Christ. We cannot truly be kind without courage. We cannot truly be loving without courage. We cannot truly be merciful without courage. If courage is so important, then where do we get it?
We do not wait for courage to bubble up before we act courageously. Courage is a decision, spurred on by God’s Spirit inside of us. It is not the inability to feel fear, but rather, it is the ability to act despite fear. When I am faced with a decision, I have the choice to listen to my fears or to ignore them and act anyway.
Any discussion on courage must necessarily look at its relationship with wisdom. We have probably all heard the saying “they are either extremely brave or extremely stupid!” Courage needs to be tempered with wisdom. Not every act of bravery is right, neither is doing right purely about bravery. Rather we do right, and if necessary, we are brave. The bravery comes in the wake of the doing right, not vice-versa. Placing ourselves in stupid, dangerous situation for no reason is not true courage and it is important for us to know the difference.
Let us live lives of courage, inspired by the Spirit of God and looking to Him for the courage that we need to go throughout our daily lives, and the courage that we need to be true and authentic followers of Christ. May we be more courageous in our love, kindness, mercy and grace. Simon
Life after death (April 2025)
I suppose there will be some amongst you who are still reeling from the news that Simon and I will be moving on to pastures new in the early summer. For those who haven’t yet heard: Simon is to be licensed as Interim Vicar of St James’ Church in Silsden, whilst I will be licensed at around the same time as Vicar of St Jude’s Wolverhampton.
If you missed my testimony on the day my new post was announced, I’ll briefly summarise it here: Helen and I were of the opinion that we wouldn’t consider moving until Cody finishes high school in three years’ time. We love it here and we are very settled. But God had other plans!
Although I was not looking through the clergy jobs pages, a parish profile was placed in my path which, having read it, seemed to be calling out to me. The bullet points under the heading: “What we’re looking for in our new vicar” felt very targeted – listing the gifts, skills, and passions that I think I have as a parish priest. Having prayed about it, Helen and I decided that I should apply, just in case it was God’s Will.
Before going for a two-day interview at the beginning of March, I had a man-to-man chat with Cody over a very spicy curry. I was sure that he would protest about having to move from the school and friends he loves. Instead, he told me that he knew what I was going to say before I asked him, and that we must be obedient to God. It was a powerful sign that God was perhaps preparing us all for a change.
On the morning of the interview, Helen and my mum sent me the same Bible passage; the story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son. It seemed to me that God was asking me to be obedient, but – as with Abraham – He wouldn’t ask me to go through with it. That’s what I hoped at least. As I sat at home later, waiting for the call; I was both expecting and hoping that I hadn’t got the job. Of course, I had. It’s going to feel like a bereavement to us leaving these parishes, and I know that many of you kind people feel similarly about Simon and I moving on, but if there’s one message that’s central to the Easter story it’s this – life follows death.
When predicting his death, Jesus spoke these words to his disciples: “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies it produces many seeds” (John 12.26). Jesus was making the point that his death (and subsequent resurrection) was necessary for the fruitfulness of the gospel. Without it we would continue to be slaves to sin and destined for the grave. With it we find forgiveness and life in all its fulness. Within fifty days of the resurrection the number of “Christians” had grown from a couple of hundred to over three thousand!
God has always worked out his purposes through sacrifice, though never as supremely as through the cross and empty grave. Just as a seed must die before sprouting and producing a new fruit-bearing plant; so we must experience ‘deaths’ to become more fruitful. As we come to faith in Jesus we must die to self and be born again in Christ. Then later there are sacrifices and bereavements that are difficult but ultimately lead to us becoming more fruitful for the kingdom.
I am certain God has called me to this new post; and equally certain that He is calling a specific person to become the new vicar of Bradley. God’s ways are greater than our ways and I am sure that if we remain fast to his Word, then there is greater fruitfulness ahead for St Thomas’ Bradley, and for St Jude’s Wolverhampton, and for St James’ Silsden. I’m still experiencing a deep sense of bereavement – but with God, life always follows death. Ian
How confident do you feel about sharing your faith? (March 2025)
We are about to move into the season of Lent, a period of preparation for Holy Week and Easter which echoes Jesus' time in the wilderness at the start of his ministry.
Its traditional to give something up at Lent. To fast from something you enjoy like chocolate, alcohol, or social media! This isn't just a legal exercise, but rather it's a spiritual discipline that can lead us into God's presence, to pray, perhaps, for those who are hungry, or to reflect on Christ's own suffering for our sake.
But it is equally appropriate to take something up in Lent. In the past I've decided to study a less familiar book of the Bible or - as last year - to get up extra early to pray - that was really hard for me I can tell you!!
Our Lent course this year is aimed to equip us to take something up that few of us are good at, but all of us should be doing: sharing our faith with others.
I love the analogy of Christians being the people in a world of beggars who have alone discovered the source of food. How could we keep that to ourselves whilst others are starving?
Well, we have something better even than food: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who loves us, forgives us, and promises us life in all its fullness. And the rest of the world is spiritually starving. I sense that in the UK today, there is a real appetite for finding God. Are we ready to show people the way?
Faith Pictures is a six-week Church Army course that we will be offering on Tuesday afternoons and Wednesday
evenings at Church. Life groups will be suspended during Lent as we learn together how to share our story and share God's story.
Evangelism (the technical term for sharing our faith) does take courage; but it is far more terrifying, I think, to imagine our friends, neighbours, and colleagues hungry for Jesus but having no one to introduce them.
Giving up cake may be a good thing to do - especially if it leads us into prayer and contemplation; but taking up evangelism... well, what a difference that could make!
So come along to one of our Faith Pictures courses. I am confident you will not regret it. Ian
Community Opportunity (March 2025)
Many of you will be aware of the eight Almshouses known as "The Homes" off Deighton Road. For eight years I've been a trustee of the charity, joining Doreen Gill and Rita Payne who have served for much longer! When I began, there were seven of us; now there's just three; and we desperately need a few more trustees. We have handed over all the maintenance and book keeping over to a Property Management company. All we have to do is meet for an hour, 2 or 3 times a year to be kept abreast of things and, if required, make a decision or two about budgeting, residents or property improvements. It's not a big job but it's a good one for a Christian to hold as we provided housing for people who would otherwise be struggling to find accommodation. Speak to me if you'd be willing to help. Ian
Whole Life Disciples (February 2025)
This month the PCC are taking a whole meeting to engage with a course that claims to help Churches understand how effectively they disciple their members,
Run by the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity (LICC), the authors have identified twenty ‘vital signs’ that they say indicate just how effective a Church is at discipling their members. The PCC will be considering how healthy our own ‘vital signs’ are: We will keep you updated!
But for now, I would like to pose a couple of questions: What, exactly, is a disciple and what is discipleship?
Now you might want to jump right in with the answer to the first of these questions at least: A disciple is someone who follows Jesus.
If that was your answer, you would be right. But, what does that involve? Is it about believing in Jesus or about coming to Church regularly? Is it about trying to live a morally good life or about being faithful in Bible study and prayer?
Well, true disciples of Jesus are both less and more than these things. They are simply people who accept who Jesus is and what he has done for us; and who then strive to follow his example and put his teachings into practice in their whole lives. All disciples repeatedly get things wrong (just ask Simon-Peter} but if we recognise our mistakes, repent, and turn back to Jesus we are being faithful disciples.
Jesus invited us to be his disciples in those famous words of his from Matthew 11.28-30. He calls all who are weary and burdened to take his yoke upon us and learn from him.
Being a disciple of Jesus is a full-time vocation but when Jesus went on to say that "my yoke is easy and my burden is light” he was claiming that following him was far less taxing than trying to conform to the standards of the world.
One of the purposes of any Church or Christian group is to help its members take up or put on this yoke of Jesus. The process of doing this is called discipleship.
Now you might well feel that at Church or in your Life Group you can learn much about Jesus and maybe even lean how to be like Him. But I wonder whether you feel equipped to be a disciple of Jesus on a Monday morning at work or at school or in the Supermarket or wherever else you may be?
As a Church, we want to become better at enabling us all to become whole-life disciples, part of which is a confidence to share our faith in Jesus with others. That might sound scary, but it is the path to real joy, real peace, and real contentment. Remember Jesus came to bring life in all its fullness {John 10.10). Only his disciples can fully experience the reality of this promise. Ian
A New Season (January 2025)
Although I can’t quite put my finger on why this should be, it feels as though we’re entering a new season at St Thomas’ Bradley.
Part of this, I think, is a sense that God wants to move many of us on in our faith this year. I sense that he’s preparing to call new people into leadership roles and desiring that – as a Church – we grow in our commitment to Him.
At our meeting in January, the PCC will be using a tool to discern how effective we are at growing disciples in our Church. It’s one thing to be a place where people are happy to gather, worship, and enjoy each other’s company, quite another to be a place where people are set on fire for God and nurtured to become tomorrow’s evangelists, teachers, prophets, and missionaries.
If you’re thinking that this couldn’t possibly be you, be reminded of Romans 8.11: “the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you.” In his strength, any one of us can be anything that God calls us to be!
There will also be some new things happening this year. After 5 or 6 years, our monthly Sunday afternoon service “Open” will be replaced with a more interactive Bible study. This will take place on the third Sunday of each month at 7pm. We’re calling it “Bible 101” and we’ll not only be studying specific texts, but also learning how to get the most out of reading our Bibles.
We’re also starting a monthly Café Church meeting on the first Monday evening of each month, beginning in March. This will enable us to discuss a variety of topics over food. More on this in next month’s newsletter.
Finally, after much thought and prayer, we’ll soon be offering a twice-weekly drop-in called Jars of Clay. We think this will happen on Tuesday mornings from 11-12 and Thursday evenings from 6 to 7. This initiative stems from our last Parish weekend theme and acknowledges that although we have the treasure of Jesus Christ within us, on the outside we can be a bit broken and cracked, hurting, and struggling. At Jars of Clay there’ll be people to talk to and pray with, and the kettle will always be on! We’re aiming to start this at the end of February.
I wonder what God has in store for each of us in 2025? My prayer for you is that of Paul for the Church in Ephesus. Ian
Ephesians 3.16-21 :-
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
An Advent With Luke (December 2024)
One of the joys of being part of the Church of England is being able to join in with the liturgical year. The liturgical year runs from December to December each year and sees the Church going through the life of Jesus. The liturgical year also runs on a three yearly cycle, meaning that each year we work through a different gospel. Year A is Matthew, year B is Mark and year C is Luke (with John's gospel spread throughout all three years to fill in the gaps).
This year we are moving into year C (Luke), and so we thought as a church it would be an excellent idea to do a deep dive into this gospel so that, by the end of the year, we can feel well acquainted with, and equipped by, the good doctor Luke.
The gospel of Luke is marked by great attention to detail [as one would expect from a doctor); which scholars believe is a result of many interviews with eyewitnesses of Jesus that Luke himself conducted. We also have lots of great stories that come only from Luke's gospel, from the story of John the Baptists birth, all the way to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
In order to get the most out of this year, it would be an excellent idea for you to read through Luke's gospel to kick off the Christian year. Thankfully Luke's gospel has 24 chapters, and there are 24 days this advent. Therefore, we would love to invite you as a church to read through a chapter of Luke's gospel each day of advent. The plan for advent looks something like this:
Luke chapter 1 | 01/12/24 |
| Luke chapter 13 | 13/12/24 |
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Luke chapter 2 | 02/12/24 |
| Luke chapter 14 | 14/12/24 |
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Luke chapter 3 | 03/12/24 |
| Luke chapter 15 | 15/12/24 |
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Luke chapter 4 | 04/12/24 |
| Luke chapter 16 | 16/12/24 |
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Luke chapter 5 | 05/12/24 |
| Luke chapter 17 | 17/12/24 |
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Luke chapter 6 | 06/12/24 |
| Luke chapter 18 | 18/12/24 |
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Luke chapter 7 | 07/12/24 |
| Luke chapter 19 | 19/12/24 |
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Luke chapter 8 | 08/12/24 |
| Luke chapter 20 | 20/12/24 |
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Luke chapter 9 | 09/12/24 |
| Luke chapter 21 | 21/12/24 |
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Luke chapter 10 | 10/12/24 |
| Luke chapter 22 | 22/12/24 |
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Luke chapter 11 | 11/12/24 |
| Luke chapter 23 | 23/12/24 |
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Luke chapter 12 | 12/12/24 |
| Luke chapter 24 | 24/12/24 |
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Jars of Clay (November 2024)
The theme for our Parish weekend at Scargill last month was taken from Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, chapter four, verse 7: “But we have this treasure in clay jars to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
We spent the whole weekend unpacking this verse but, in summary, Paul is making the point that every believer in Jesus has — in the gospel message they've received — the greatest of all treasures. It reminds me of what the Psalmist said about God's Word: that it's “more precious than gold; much pure gold” (Psalm 19.10).
Qk, so that's the treasure, but what about the jars? Well, the jars are us — the vessels in which this gospel treasure is contained. It's a great metaphor for a couple of reasons: firstly, it reminds us of our origins:
“Yet you, Lord, are our father. We are the clay; you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand” Isa. 64.8.
And secondly, it reminds us of our fragility and vulnerability. Many of us made a clay jar of our own at Scargill and — as Simon found out — they were easily broken if dropped or held on to too tightly!
Like clay jars, we're all very prone to being chipped, cracked, and sometimes even smashed. But as Paul makes clear; this weakness is important so that we can't claim that the power of the gospel living within us is anything to do with us. It should keep us humble and prevent us from boasting in anything other than Christ crucified and resurrected.
But it's not easy being so fragile and it's often painful when we're damaged by life. As a Church we're called to play our part in putting one another back together and to refuse to judge one another's brokenness or the possible reasons for it.
As I've written recently, I'm praying about how we might create time and space do this more effectively at Bradley, St Thomas. How we might be able to share our struggles and be listened to and be prayed for in a way that’s not always possible on a Sunday morning. How and when we do this has not yet been decided; please do pray about it and come and see me if you have any words from God about how we should proceed.
During my sabbatical, God really spoke to me about how we need to have a space at which things not often mentioned on Sundays can be discussed sensitively and in confidence. And during our parish weekend at Scargill, God gave me a name for this new gathering: Jars of Clay. Ian
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