Author: Jonathan Widdess
Parish of Cumnor News for 7th May
•
Dear friends, Amid the current coronavirus pandemic, we’re all living with increased levels of fear and uncertainty. How do we deal with fear? Some help from the Psalms. ‘I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.’ (Ps 34:4). In this psalm, David expresses real fears. He was on…
VE Day 75
•
VE Day (Victory in Europe) – was celebrated 75 years ago this month, on 8th May 1945, marking the end of World War II in Europe. It was marked with a public holiday. The previous day the formal act of military surrender had been signed by Germany, and celebrations broke out…
Sunday Service Online – 3rd May 2020
•
Join us for our weekly online service as we continue to celebrate Easter. This week Jonathan is leading and Jessica Turner preaching from John 10:1-10. Roger Long is leading our prayers, and we have another very special appearance from the St Michael’s virtual choir. All the words are on the…
Update from the Covid Frontline – is this the ‘end of the beginning’?
•
Nigel Beeton (pictured below in his PPE) works in Radiology in a hospital in the East of England. During this time of the coronavirus crisis, he is writing a weekly diary of his life at the hospital. Friday 1st May Is it too early to start using the past tense with regard…
Parish of Cumnor News for 1st May 2020
•
Dear friends, I was interested and challenged to read this article recently: Christians and the bubonic plague by The Ven John BartonThe Reverend Richard Peirson was one of the exceptions. Most of the other clergy in the City of London had fled the Great Plague in 1665, but Peirson stayed…
New Weekly Prayer Meeting
•
Weekly Zoom Prayer Meeting If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.2 Chronicles 7:14 As a parish,…
‘He gave us eyes to see them’: early Persian painting of Jonah and whale
•
The prophet Jonah is mentioned three times in the Gospels when Jesus refers to ‘the sign of Jonah.’ In the Old Testament he was swallowed by a large fish, traditionally a whale, and in its belly for three days and three nights. It is easy to see in that sign…
New Dial-in Worship Phone Line
•
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has launched a free national phone line as a simple new way to bring worship and prayer into people’s homes while church buildings are closed because of the coronavirus. Daily Hope, which is available from today, offers music, prayers and reflections as well as…
Book Review: Where is God in a Coronavirus World? by John Lennox
•
Where is God in a Coronavirus World? By John Lennox, The Good Book Company, £2.48 We are living through a unique, era-defining period. Many of our old certainties have gone, whatever our view of the world and whatever our beliefs. The coronavirus pandemic and its effects are perplexing and unsettling for…
Rest for our souls
•
Eve Lockett contributes our latest Thought for the Day: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.…
