Always Hope

source: This is Cornwall http://bit.ly/HnxnAN A good crust and a trusty hand! A faithful heart and true! George Osborne's men shall understand what Cornish food can do! And have they fixed the budget yet? Shall pasties be served cold? Here's twenty percent VAT before it's even sold! And is your pasty warm? And was it when it sold? Here's twenty thousand Cornish men don't like to eat it cold! With apologies to R. S. Hawker

So. Farewell Then Dr Rowan Williams. You were cleverer than The Rest of us but The papers could never Understand What you were saying. In fact Some of your Ideas were quite brilliant Apart from The Anglican Covenant. And that was That. With apologies to E J Thribb 

This sermon was preached last week on the Gospel of the day: Mark 8:31-38  (NIV)   31  He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.  32  He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.   33  But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”   34  Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  35  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.  36  What good is it for someone to gain the whole worl...

Congratulations to David Ison on his appointment as the next Dean of St Paul's. Dr Ison, who is already a Dean, in Bradford, and thus labours under the title "the Very Reverend" (what a millstone to place around a man's neck) will take up his new post at the end of May. This is an absolutely key appointment, following the unfortunate departure of his predecessor, The Right Reverend Graham Knowles, who resigned suddenly in the midst of the "Occupy" crisis. His reasons for doing so are still slightly opaque, but it appeared that he simply buckled under the enormous pressure from all directions, including the media, opinion in the church, his own staff, and probably the Bishop of London. The new Dean may come with clean hands as far as that incident is concerned, but it's a safe bet that St Paul's, having featured on the radar in this way, will have other storms to weather before long. David Ison's style of leadership and his vision for St Paul...

Sorry to indulge in Schadenfreude, but if it was ever justified, this is the moment: Fraser: Richard, I'm sure you could name the full title of On the Origin of Species ? Dawkins: Yes, of course.  Fraser: Go on, then. Dawkins: On the Origin of species by, errr, selection, oh, um, (mumble, mumble), oh God, it's got quite a long subtitle [getting very cross], I, um... Justin Webb: Pretty close! Listen to the whole conversation here What's so delicious about this is that Giles Fraser was accusing Professor Dawkins of creating a whole load of ridiculous and impossible conditions that people must fulfill before he will allow them to be "Christian". His point was that we could do the same thing for atheists and it would be equally ridiculous, because nobody would be allowed to be called an atheist unless, for example, they could name the full title of the Origin. A point which Dawkins then kindly demonstrated for him.

The Mail today reports that the Ark of the Covenant is to be "revealed" in Ethiopia. It's revealed, not "found", because apparently it has always been there, it's just that nobody is allowed to look at it, it being the most holy relic on earth. But now the roof of its chapel is being repaired, it will need to be temporarily removed, exposing it to public view. The paper's source is photographer Tim Makins, who has frequently travelled to Ethiopia, and reveals a good working knowledge of the Ark by discussing the necssary means of transporting it (slung from two wooden poles). The Ark has long been a source of fascination in popular culture, a niche that was cemented for it by Raiders of the Lost Ark. It shows my ignorance, but I had no idea that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church claimed to have it in their possession. My first thought on reading that it had been there since the 1960's was to wonder where it had been between the Babylonian conquest and...

So, the Church of England's latest PR coup is to sign Jo Brand to jolly everyone to go to their local carol service this Christmas time. Jo writes: "As usual, I am looking forward to going to church this Christmas. I'm not really a churchy person but I do think Jesus was a good bloke. The singing of carols and the churches decorated with nativity scenes remind me of my childhood ..when it always seemed to be snowing". What japes! And in a Saturday exclusive, Always Hope can reveal that this is only the first of a number of celebrity endorsements secured by the C of E this year. We bring you the rest: Bruce Forsyth: "the church's Christmas special is one of the highlights of the broadcasting year. Candles twinkling, Jesus on top of the tree, it gives us a warm fuzzy feeling inside. Yes, I'd love to appear, thank you very much, no fee, it's not for the money you know." David Cameron: "I love Church, Christmas and all that kind of thing....