I decided that during Lent I would use the main services to explore some aspects of Christian doctrine... it'll be fine, I thought, I can do this, it won't take long to read up enough to make a coherent reflection.  How daft was that... how many hours did I spend in doctrine classes and philosophy of religion classes... and now I try to condense stuff into twenty minutes!  I'm enjoying the reading, and reminding myself of things I had long forgotten.  I am enjoying (I think) the challenge of finding hymns that do what I want them to do.  But it does feel like it was a particualrly ridiculous idea when I realise that even with the basic texts I'm re-reading I have to skim through several hundred pages on , for sake of argument, the doctrine of God.  Just hope that people find it of some vague interest and usefulness as part fo their lenten reflections.

Your challenges, should you wish to accept...

• Find four/five hymns/songs that refer ONLY to the first person of the Trinity and do not exclusively use the name Father.  These must include at least ten different descriptors for God.
• From one hymn/songbook only, find five hymns that form a coherent set, including one for pre-communion use, that use the phrase 'Jesus Christ' rather than 'Jesus' or 'Christ'

I've done both, so it's possible, but it's quite a good challenge.