Sermons

I've missed posting a weekly sermon over the past couple, not because I haven't preached, but because I just haven't quite got round to it! We are in the final run-up to my collation and installation service (i.e. the service at which I am formally made incumbent of the group of parishes in which I have been ministering on a semi-formal basis since the start of the year). That takes place at St Michael's Church, Chirbury, Shropshire on Tuesday 4th September at 7 pm.

But meanwhile parish life goes on, and - bearing in mind that I am supposed to be giving Sunday and the equivalent of two days each week - it certainly fills up all the time available, and a bit more. Last week that included the wedding of Mark and Aimie at Trelystan, one of my churches which is situated in a field on the top of the Long Mountain, just a short way into the Welsh side of the national boundary between England and Wales. There were eighteen bridesmaids, which beats my previous record of eight by some distance! They and the bride (and the bride's mother) all arrived sitting on straw bales on a trailer towed by a John Deere tractor. They were making more noise than the tractor. A very enjoyable occasion, even if Aimie and her entourage were a little late arriving! I wish them well!

In between parish duties, I set up sound relay systems for events, often for funerals where the congregation is likely to overflow the church or chapel. We had one such on Saturday at Kerry, piping the service out from the little Baptist chapel there into the beer garden of the Kerry Lamb pub just behind the chapel (there's a door from chapel to beer garden, which struck me as novel). We had maybe thirty or more outside. There was, however, a wedding at the same time at the parish church not far away. We'd been asked to keep the volume down so as not to disturb the wedding; in fact, as the wind was blowing from the church to us, the problem was more the other way round! But I think we managed to balance things fairly well.

Anyway, I shall post two sermons - one I preached last Sunday evening at Newtown Methodist Church, and the other today at my church at Leighton, and also (slightly amended) at the wonderful little Methodist chapel at Pentre Llifior, between Berriew and Bettws Cedewain, a place full of history and well worth a visit, but with a lively and very outward looking congregation.