Maybe blessings have to be unexpected in order to be such, but I am sure you know what I mean.

Listening to my own recorded service this morning, and knowing that at least some others would also be doing so, was very moving and beautiful.  The fact that we could be 'together though apart' by the wonder of digital technology was surprisingly moving.

I enjoyed listening to the recordings of the three songs, each of which took me in my mind to other times and places, to other people and churches/colleges/conferences where they had been part of worship.  A reminder of the mysterious interconnections that transcend time and space, which are so precious.

What I think surprised me most, was the sense of connectedness as I shared in the communion - lifting my mug and taking a slug of cold tea probably sounds a strange thing to do, but it was unexpectedly wonderful.  My 'low' theology of communion makes tea a perfectly reasonable thing to use - even cold tea, from a mug with a slogan about cats on it!  My strong theology of mystery means I am open to being surprised by such moments. The thought that other mugs, cups or glasses, filled with tea, coffee, juice, water etc. might be being lifted and supped was a powerful one - more so than I imagined when I recorded it yesterday.

My after service refreshments - another cup of tea (hot this time!) and a buttered crumpet - consumed as I watched, from my window, the snow falling again assured me that the correct call had been made not to meet today.

God's blessings are always amazing, surprising and, yes, unexpected. For that, I am truly grateful.

I spent Saturday morning recording the notices and then the service - only to discover the files were too big to upload!  So I have uploaded such files as this platform will accept, and provided a temporary link for the spoken-word only service (which lasts roughly 30 mins).  The quality isn't brilliant, but then it was my first attempt at such a 'thing'!

The notices...


The words only service will be available CLICK HERE (and then click the file called 'service' to open it, and the little 'play' arrow to make it start) for a few weeks and then deleted

The songs that exist on the web as videos (other versions temporarily available via the link) ...

A cobbled together recorded service will appear on/via this blog tomorrow (4th March) at 11 a.m.  Feel free to use any/all/none of it! Otherwise, have a lovely 'snow Sunday' and spare a thought for this minister who spent a whole morning recording, converting, uploading, discovering files were too big, uploading elsewhere and making available this stuff (it was actually quite fun, and I learned a lot on the way!).

Regretably, due to continued adverse weather conditions, we have taken the decision not to hold either of our services on Sunday.

We will rearrange the Baptism service as soon as we can.

I will probably post the morning service - in some form or other - on here, on the off chance anyone might want to read it!

I looked out at about 6 a.m. when I got up to feed the cats... there was no new snow, and the road is easily passable.  To my amazement there was someone running along the road, a refuse lorry backing into one of the nearby businesses and a few cars driving at normal speeds.

More recently I looked out to see the buses are running (4/4A) and there are a few more cars moving.

Still holding out on making a call for Sunday's services though note that there are no buses in some areas as yet...

May go out and do a little more snow shifting soon - some of my neighbours have cleared half the car park, and I reckon I could at least clear a narrow path to that bit!