Sunday at Little St. Mary's

On Sunday (Jan 18) I have been invited to preach at Little St. Mary's, Cambridge which is (as you would expect) smaller than the university church - Great St. Mary's - though much 'higher' in its worship practice.  Worshipers have been on its site since at least the twelfth century and it was originally the chapel used for the first Cambridge college - Peterhouse - which was founded in 1284.


It's a gracious invitation for a dissenting Baptist! It's humbling to remember that I used to be minister of St. Andrew's St. (down the road) which was only founded in 1721 (and some leaders in the university tried to place it out of bounds for students of the exclusively Anglican university).  But, in this week of Prayers for Christian Unity I am welcome!  I was given the lectionary readings for this Sunday and have engaged in the unusual (for me) exercise of reflecting on four rather different texts: 1 Sam 3: 1-10; Psalm 139: 1-5,12-18; Rev. 5: 1-10; John 1:43-end.  The length of my homily must be no more than ten minutes in order to give adequate time for celebrating eucharist!


So, this week I have been preparing in a rather different way - and it has done me good.  Perhaps, you can read through the passages above and see if there is a theme that runs through for you!  This week I have also been in early stages of sermon planning for Oundle (Jan 25th) and at Histon Baptist Church (for all February Sundays).  Each opportunity is very different and keeps me on my toes and knees!  I'll let you know how it all goes.  Many thanks for your interest and prayers.