Welcome to Earley St Nicolas
Open to God, Open to One Another, Open to the Community
Thoughts For This Week
Endings or Beginnings
Dear Friends, Over the last few weeks both at home and at work, my thinking and doing has been dominated by endings.The passing of friends and acquaintances. Hubby’s looming redundancy, our youngest flying the nest. It’s been a thought-provoking time on many levels....
The Life of a Chickpea and The Fruits of the Spirit
Dear Friends, A few weeks back our Turkish Muslim friends from the Dialogue Society brought in some ‘Noah’s Puddings’, a curious form of sweet pudding, to share after the service. This past week I heard a bit more about why they share this peculiar dish as I was...
Unity
Dear Friends,In the celebration of our service last Sunday we renewed our Baptism vowsand affirmed that we believe and trust in God the Holy Spirit who gives life to thepeople of God and makes Christ known in the world. The joy is that we are only asmall part of the...
Epiphany
Dear Friends, January can feel a difficult, uncomfortable and dark time of year for people. It can exacerbate what we’re already feeling or have lurking inside us. As I have gotten older, I have started to love this time of year, with Epiphany holding more meaning and...
See things in a new way
Dear Friends, Occasionally you see things in a new way. Earlier in the year a couple of our congregation attended a guest speaker event for Café Théologique, the public theology series I have been hosting for over a decade in Reading. The guest was speaking about the...
Gaudete Sunday
Dear Friends, This week we are celebrating Gaudete Sunday, a day of joy within the more thoughtful season of Advent - "gaudete" is Latin for "Rejoice!". We will light a pink (rose) candle on the Advent wreath and our readings are focused on the joy and hope in...
Feast of St Nicolas
Dear Friends, As we journey through the days of Advent, many of you as I am finding, are being challenged by all the different messages that are daily being shared with us. Mine started last Monday when I joined a gathering at Abbeyfield, the care home where my...
Advent Pit Stops
Dear Friends,I can’t quite believe Advent starts this Sunday. The countdown to Christmas has started. The pace is picking up. So much to do! Bring it on!...but hang on a minute, I’m already busy, how can I fit more in? Even my to do lists, have lists of their own....
Oasis
Dear Friends,This past week I was assisting Julia for a REinspired session with year 3 children from Loddon school. Shockingly, they were already looking at the Christmas story. Despite my initial grumpiness about rushing into Christmas before we had even got to...