St Mary’s Magazine – Christmas 2023
Welcome to the Christmas 2023 edition of the St Mary’s Magazine.
This is our twelfth Magazine edition to be published on our website – our third birthday! Please note that there will still be a print version available for those who want one, and you can also see old editions in our website archive.
Word of the Year, 2023
One of the oldest dictionaries, Merriam-Webster, has picked ‘Authentic’ as the word for 2023. According to data analysed by Merriam-Webster, ‘authentic’ saw a big uptick in searches this year and this has led the dictionary to name it the word of the year. In our age of deepfakes, post-truths and AI, have we reached a…
Quinquennial Condition Survey Reports
At our last Vestry Meeting on Tuesday 21st November, Dave Chouman, our architect, gave us a presentation based upon our latest Quinquennial Reports (2021-2026). Dave first of all reminded us that we had done a tremendous amount of repair work based upon the recommendations of our previous condition reports (2016-2021). We then turned to the…
Waiting
How are you at waiting? This is just one biblical answer to the question: Galatians 4:4-5 (NIV) “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” Perhaps, like me, you’ve asked…
Why the Floods Came
1 And the Lord spake unto Noah, saying, Where is the ark which I have commanded thee to build? 2 And Noah answered and said unto the Lord, Behold, I have had three carpenters off with Covid-like symptoms. The gopher wood supplier hath let me down; yea, even though the gopher wood hath been on…
The International Year of Camelids
Seeking inspiration for a magazine article last month, I thought I might look up to find out of what 2024 is the International Year. After all, something like The Child, or The Oceans, or Faith, might make a good article for a church magazine. Then I discovered that the United Nations has decreed that 2024…
Book Review: The Healing
Joy Margetts, The Healing: A soldier, wounded in a battle he had no intention of surviving, finds himself recovering in a monastery. There are so many unanswered questions at the beginning of this book you have to read on, and if the soldier himself is grumpy, you do want to know why, and the monks are…
Mexican Evening
Look at the vibrant colours of the decorations here for our Mexican evening! It brought some sunny warmth to a cold November evening. Thanks to Marin for the photographs.
Angels
We are made from light. Called into being we burn Brighter than the silver white Of hot magnesium. More sudden than yellow phosphorous. We are the fire of heaven; Blue flames and golden ether. We are from stars. Spinning beyond the farthest galaxy In an instant gathered to this point We shine, speak our messages…