Posts Tagged church

Let there be (energy-efficient) light

26 March, 2009 at 11:45 pm · Filed under Church & faith, Going green ·Tagged , , ,

Good news from Monday’s church council meeting.

Our church has adopted eco-congregation status and as part of this we got an energy audit done. Traditional church buildings are a nightmare to heat in an environmentally conscious way. In fact, they are a nightmare to heat full stop. High ceilings, big windows, and sometimes only used for a few hours a week. Our energy audit came up with lots of proposals: from lagging the roof space to replacing all the lights, converting the heating and installing solar panels.

And now Islington Council’s climate change fund has awarded us a grant towards the cost of the solar panels and the new lights, and advice on getting help with the rest. So often people have good ideas for going green, but just don’t have the capital to hand to make that investment. Islington’s climate change fund is a fantastic initiative and I hope other local groups will be encouraged to apply as well.

Several people on the church council are among those who gave up our £20 direct debit discount in order to boost the Climate Change fund. So we’re delighted by this kind of recycling!

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Christmas is coming

18 December, 2008 at 7:15 pm · Filed under Family & friends ·Tagged , , , ,

As the ad says, it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

The postman is bringing real post not just junkmail. Quiet houses are suddenly covered in festive lights – like 2 Rocliffe Street which is brightening its corner near the canal. So are Islington’s shopping streets, thanks to the Council: blue lights for a cool Yule.

The Christmas party season is in full swing. On Sunday night we celebrated after a happy carol service with drinks in the Crypt at St Mary’s. Last night was Islington Lib Dems mince pies & mulled wine do. And there’s still my work party to come. Will we make it to Christmas Day?

Richard wrestled his way home with the tree last weekend, and Percy has been getting used to this strange arrival in the living room. We have to wait until he’s stopped trying to climb the tree before we can decorate it….

There’s still some presents to buy, final cards to write, and holiday food to organise. Not to mention negotiating the logistics of who’s travelling where and when. But with a week to go, and a Ceremony of Carols on the radio, celebration is starting to take over from stress.

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Brave Bishops and turbulent priests

23 June, 2008 at 7:56 am · Filed under Church & faith ·Tagged , ,

I’m a great fan of Archbishop John Sentamu, who recently did a parachute jump in aid of the Afghanistan Trust. That’s after tearing up his dog collar in protest at the state of Zimbabwe. When John was Bishop of Stepney (our local Bishop for Islington), he came to conduct a confirmation service, then left the chancel steps to play the African drums during the hymns. He also chaired the local EC1 New Deal regeneration project; when blocked by a government official who kept saying, “I have to answer to my boss”, the Bishop responded, “I think you’ll find he answers to mine….”. He was also my brother’s bishop in Birmingham, where he baptised my younger niece and god-daughter Miriam (who is also an extremely feisty character).

Michael Lewis, the Bishop of Cyprus & the Gulf, is less high profile; he has been visiting Baghdad and appealing for the release of British hostages held there.

Back in Britain, Bishop Richard Holloway is taking to the stage at the Edinburgh Festival, in the role of St Thomas Beckett (hat-tip: Mandrake in the Daily Telegraph). Before he went to Edinburgh, Richard was briefly my vicar in Oxford. He has always been courageously liberal, particularly on gay rights.

We take it for granted that, unlike Beckett, today’s turbulent priests can speak out without threat; in Britain at least. It’s a decade since Bishop Juan Gerardi was murdered in Guatemala, nearly 30 years since the murder of Archbiship Oscar Romero in El Salvador.

I get angry when people lazily label Christianity as repressive or illiberal, when in fact there are Christian leaders in every generation, and all over the world, speaking out for human rights and social justice.

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Guardian blog 11 June

11 June, 2008 at 8:18 pm · Filed under Liberal Democrats ·Tagged , , , , , ,

My latest Guardian blog, covering Amnesty’s Tiananmen demo, 42 days, plus the Anglican church’s attitude to politics, is now available here.

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Book of Numbers

13 March, 2008 at 12:45 pm · Filed under Church & faith ·Tagged , , , ,

Between other projects, I’m compiling the annual report for St Mary’s church. This time last year I produced the report for the first time, and we did it formally to meet the requirements of SORP. Despite the Bond villain name, SORP actually stands for Statement of Recommended Practice, for charity accounts. We’ve been blessed in our Honorary Treasurer for the last 3 years, Antony Wedgwood, who is himself an accountant. He does the numbers with ease, so I just have to sort out the words.

This year the report needs updating, but thankfully not creating from scratch. Just as well, as I have significantly less time than last year, what with the Post Office campaign, GLA elections, my Guardian blog and works on the flat… oh and the day job.

I do enjoy compiling the report, not least because it’s fascinating to get the overview of all the different activities associated with the church; St Mary’s is very much an outward-looking church so the report has lots to cover. As well as minstry and music, the report covers the pre-school and youth club run each day, and the Access for All project. The church already hosts groups as diverse as a legal advice centre, a Stroke Club and Alcoholics Anonymous; opening up the crypt, which is the focus of Access for All, is the next big challenge for us. The project has already won lottery and council funding. So lots more numbers for Antony’s successor to crunch.

The report is also a reminder of how many volunteers it takes to run all these groups and the hours they put in. Last month, the Commission on the Future of Volunteering (part of Islington-based charity Volunteering England) published its report. Unsurprisingly they reported that potential volunteers are being put off by all the bureaucracy. You need to recruit people to monitor the people who complete the papers to get the funding to recruit more people who then get vetted to actually do the work…. Now that Britons work the longest hours in Europe, and with a government that discourages stay-at-home Mums, finding people with time for volunteering is harder than ever. I’m amazed at the great volunteers we have and the time they put in. I just hope the report does them all justice.

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Tom in ‘Casualty’

3 February, 2008 at 10:10 am · Filed under Church & faith, Movies, media, music & culture ·Tagged , , ,

The wonderful Tom Mannion was a guest star on Casualty last night. It wasn’t exactly a speaking role – Tom’s character was incoherent, apparently drunk, but actually suffering from a brain tumour – but fantastically acted. If you missed Tom on TV, you can catch him in Metamorphosis at the Lyric in Hammersmith; the production has just had extra dates added to its run, before going on tour.

I should declare an interest: Tom is a fellow member of St Mary’s church Islington (which may come as a surprise to people who saw him with Billie Piper in ‘Diary of a Call Girl’). Indeed, when I first went along to a service there, back in 1992, the service sheet announced ‘Music by Tom and Gerry’. Irresistible.

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Advent carols

1 December, 2007 at 8:20 pm · Filed under Church & faith ·Tagged , ,


Today was the first of our Christmas carol service rehearsals. There were just 5 of us this afternoon (and I’m the only soprano – help!) but the choir usually snowballs, adding singers at each rehearsal and even picking up a few on the day itself (16 December at 6pm). Music is an important part of church life all year round, but most of all at Christmas. Perhaps that’s not surprising; after all, we get Christmas carols are played in shops, sung at stations, performed in schools, even warbled in pubs.

The musical mix at St Mary’s normally ranges from choruses to Taize. But the carol service is based on traditional readings, popular carols and anthems. According to Anna, who is leading the music this year, the rule is, ‘you have to have Bach and you have to have Rutter’ – all sung by candlelight.

The candles caused excitement last year when vicar Graham Kings’ notes caught fire – he ended up on YouTube. Hopefully this year, the music and the Christmas story should provide drama enough.

Christmas is a famously stressful time but I find Christmas singing a great stress-buster. Last year a few of us sang carols round some of the estates just off Upper Street. Here in the busy heart of 24/7 Islington, the most requested carol was Silent Night. If your Christmas wish-list includes some peace and joy, then maybe St Mary’s carol service could be the place to find it.

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