01 April 2019 approaches, the day when Nicholas Mercer will be installed as Rector of Bolton Priory, and the day when these two churchwardens will breathe an enormous sigh of relief. Every interregnum places an extra load on churchwardens, and there have been times when the demands of the Priory have seemed to take over […]
Revd Barry Overend Bolton Abbey Parish Magazine February 2019 Valentine – the Bare Bones Valentine was a fourth century Roman soldier destined for high rank. He gave up worshipping the Roman gods once he had converted to Christianity. It was not a good career move. As soon as the Emperor got wind of it, Valentine was […]
First Sunday after Christmas30 December 201810.30 Sung EucharistRt Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, Bishop of Ripon Luke 2.41-end ‘Hang on a minute,’ you might be thinking upon hearing our Gospel this morning, ‘we’ve only just done Christmas, and now Jesus is 12 years old!’ Can we not slow down a bit? It is true that the […]
Revd James Turnbull Bolton Abbey Parish Magazine December 2018 – January 2019 Seasonal Greetings to All Those who remember the heady times of the restoration of the Priory building, the vision, confidence and ministry of Maurice Slaughter in the later 1970s and early 1980s must I think be feeling a new excitement for the coming […]
The Churchwardens Bolton Abbey Parish Magazine November 2018 Right – we just carry on! The early weeks of the interregnum have not been easy. There has been a ‘Perfect Storm’ of the two departures, the road closure, and Tim Raymond’s enforced absence owing to Margaret’s illness. Nevertheless, the Priory pulls together in such times. We […]
Revd Barry Overend Bolton Abbey Parish Magazine October 2018 Ears to Hear An American goes into a drug store to buy a hearing aid. He’s told that they cost anything from two dollars to two hundred dollars. ‘What’s the two dollar one like?’, he asks. The storeman opens a tin and pulls out a button […]
Trinity 15 9 September 2018 10.30 Sung Eucharist Rt Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, Bishop of Ripon Mark 7.24-end James 2,1-10, 14-17 ‘My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favouritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, […]
Trinity 16 16 September 2018 10.30 Sung Eucharist Revd Jonathan Cain James 3: 1-12, Mark 8: 27-end I’m not a big reality-TV fan, but I am a very occasional watcher of who do you think you are? on the BBC. This is the series in which celebrities trace their ancestry, discovering secrets and surprises from […]
Trinity 14 02 September 2018 10.30 Sung Eucharist Revd Jonathan Cain James 1: 17-end, Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15 & 21-23 “Germs and Jesus,” shouted the seven year old to her parents. “Germs and Jesus! You keep telling me they’re important, and yet I can’t see any of them.” What this little exchange illustrates is that […]
Revd Jonathan Cain Bolton Abbey Parish Magazine September 2018 Change and Unchanging ‘We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul’. Hebrews 6.19 If we engage with the Biblical narrative we come to appreciate that change is woven into the very fabric of creation. The second day is not like the first […]