Welcome to my favourite season of the year, and this month's blogpost. Last Sunday, I was able to robe and join clergy colleagues as we took part in the Advent Carol Service, a procession from darkness to light. This was my first ministerial duty for several months, as I have had to set aside this aspect of my public ministry since the summer, in order to focus on catching up with icon commissions, alongside a new academic year for my Masters in Fine Art. On the Monday (the f

These three words have held significance for me for many years. They were prompted by a study module when I was at theological college: in order to broaden our practical experience of church and ministry, we were asked to organise a placement in an "unfamiliar context". For many students, that meant spending time in a neighbouring parish where the tradition was somewhat different from what they were used to; for others, it was about exploring chaplaincy and spending time work

As I write this, there is a definite chill in the air, the rain is (at last!) watering the earth and our small patch of grass is littered...

It is no secret that I love good liturgy. There is something deeply creative about crafting a service from a sensitive combination of...

Ten trains and four ferries. Seven different places to sleep across sixteen days. My time since I last wrote my blog post from ONE of...

I’ve been reflecting recently on silence - what it is, what qualities it has and, as an artist, how that might be represented visually....

Are you a "glass half full" kind of a person, or a "glass half empty" one? So the question goes, if you are trying to identify tendencies...

One of the joys of good liturgy, for me, is the ability of the ever-changing words to draw us more deeply into a particular feast day or...

This blog post is going to be a first for me. Although there will be some news later on regarding what I'm up to at the moment, I want to...

My social media feeds have been filled with memes lamenting the interminable greyness of January, the month that regularly wins votes for...

A happy new year to you all! My festive break was somewhat extended into this past week so I am only now getting to write this blog post...

Thank you for your patience as you waited for this, my Advent blog for December. Of course, the world about us doesn't really view...

With the arrival of the first Friday of the month, it should be time for another blog, right? Except that this month, I am going to...

For Orthodox Christians, the centrality of icons to the worship of the Church is celebrated each year at the feast known as "The Triumph...

This past month has seen me make a start on studying for a Masters in Fine Art at Oxford Brookes University. Over the past year, I was...

This month's title does not suggest some Hamlet-esque existential crisis over whether I should write this blog post. Rather, it hints at...

Spend enough time around clergy and other churchy folk and someone will inevitably come out with that quotation from St Francis. Indeed,...

(from Matthew, chapter 2, verse 15) Back in 2008, I wrote a personal reflection on the occasion of my first visit to Egypt. I had been...

Last month, I wrote of how I had been drawn back to the spiritual discipline of the Rule of Benedict. I haven't managed to read the Rule...

As part of my spiritual journey since being ordained to the priesthood, I have been inspired by the Rule of St Benedict. With various...