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With Lent starting next week (pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, followed by the solemn liturgies of Ash Wednesday), this Sunday is the last Sunday after Epiphany on which we celebrate the Transfiguration. It is a fitting end to the season, which started with the magi following the light of the start to the infant Jesus. At the transfiguration, Jesus himself is clearly revealed as this light. Our services on Sunday are as usual at 7am and 9am (with Children's Church and Zoom streami

Dear friends In our readings this weekend we return to the start of Jesus' ministry and to Jesus' sermon on the mount. Here in Matthew 5, Jesus is telling his listeners what it means to be a disciple. The two images he uses is that of salt and light. As salt, Jesus' disciples should have a profound influence on the earth, eliciting goodness. As light, the disciples are a gathered community reflecting God's creative power. Our services on Sunday are as usual at 7am and 9am (

Dear friends Today we step back to the end of the nativity narrative in Luke's gospel to the account of Jesus being brought to the temple to be dedicated to God. By Jewish custom this took place 40 days after the birth, hence the celebration is actually on 2nd February. But we keep the Epiphany theme of the revelation of the nature of Jesus. Here two devout people, Simeon and Anna, who had long awaited this moment, have their waiting rewarded with a glimpse of Jesus and the p

In our gospel reading from Matthew chapter 4, we read of the start of Jesus' ministry. Each gospel writer has a priority in their writing, and for the author of Matthew it is that Jesus' ministry was the fulfilment of prophecy. He quotes from the prophet Isaiah (a passage which we also read this weekend) to declare that Jesus would start his work in 'Capernaum by the sea'. But more than just fulfilling an ancient prophecy, this area was, in Isaiah's time, a place of distress

This email will look a little different as we have changed the mailer service that we are using... In our Epiphany readings we turn to John's gospel and the author's take on answering the question of who Jesus is. In just 13 verses we are given four titles: Lamb of God, Son of God, Rabbi and Messiah, each of which give us new insight into Jesus' ministry. But above all there is the message that Jesus is not aloof, but approachable, wanting to meet and share with others. Our s

Dear Parish Friends This week, in our lectionary readings, we leave the birth narratives behind and jump to the start of Jesus' ministry when he comes to meet John the Baptist at the Jordan River. This is significant, not only for Jesus, but for all who are baptised. Baptism marks a beginning. It is not an end in itself, but it is the start of a life of ministry, a life of faith, a life which, in the words of the prophet Isaiah whom we also read this Sunday, is spirit filled.

Dear Parish Friends Welcome to 2026! And on this first Sunday of the New Year we celebrate the Epiphany; the visit of the magi to Jesus, following the star. In Matthew's gospel these are the first people who recognise Jesus for who he is (no shepherds in this story). Whatever the star was, it took people who were open to interpret the signs to go seeking for 'the one born to be King of the Jews.' Others might have seen too, but did not know what it meant. We are reminded of t

Dear Parish Friends Despite what it might seem looking at the shops, Christmas is not over. The liturgical festival lasts until 6th January, the Epiphany (this is the 'twelve days of Christmas'), and the our celebration of the incarnation and all that this means continues throughout the year. In our gospel passage we will read the end of Matthew's nativity story of the Holy family fleeing from Herod and his threats, into Egypt (we will return to the story of the magi from t

Dear Parish Friends Christmas is only days away, and the gospel passage from Matthew finally starts some of the narrative of the nativity. But we are still in Advent, and still focused on the question of what the coming of Jesus, for which we are waiting, means. Matthew sees in the birth of Jesus the fulfilment of a prophecy of Isaiah, where an unborn child would bring the promise of hope for future generations. And indeed in the rest of his gospel, Matthew expounds on how Je

Dear Parish Friends The third Sunday of Advent, and our readings are once again focussed on Jesus' mission, rather than his incarnation. In our gospel passage from Matthew 11, Jesus tells John the Baptist's disciples that he is indeed the one about whom John spoke. Then our readings from the prophet Isaiah, and Mary's Song (the Magnificat) remind us of the promises of God that are fulfilled in Jesus. Services on Sunday Morning are as as usual at 7am and 9am, with Zoom stream