The Ponderings of a Meandering Minister…
This morning, our local church expressed their thanks for our ministry amongst them over the last five years. It’s a bit of a weird transition – I’ve been on compassionate leave since Christmas, and the lovely Ruth Craig has been the minister since July, but we still live in Ballynahinch and consider the Methodist Church … Read moreA Word for Ballynahinch Methodist Church
Earlier today I posted thirty-five tweets, telling our family’s story of the last seven months and saying thanks to lots of people. But not everyone is on Twitter, so here they are for your delectation in one post, thirty-five chunks of 140 characters or less (unless I’ve changed the Twitter handle to an organisation’s real … Read moreMyelodysplasia Thank Yous
Last Friday night, as I lay down in a sleeping bag and on an airbed in a church hall, knowing I’d have to get up several times to quieten the boys in the next room, I found my heart and head simply filled with praise to God for the privilege of being there. [‘There’ was … Read moreSoul Mates Weekend 2016
I just signed a few petitions and sent a letter to our MP regarding the mounting crisis facing people attempting to escape war, persecution and poverty in their own countries, by travelling to Europe. What if every church in the UK and Ireland took in just one family? Here’s the letter:————————————— Dear Mr Shannon, My … Read moreRefugees
There have been a number of suicides in our area recently, a tragedy that has reared its head before but had been more calm for a while. Our church is connected to one of the grieving families and so I was present for the funeral of a beautiful young woman the other day. The depth … Read moreHelp and Hope
You may have heard of ‘Back to Church Sunday‘ – it started in England about ten years ago, encouraging local churches to have one Sunday a year where every member had the chance to be an evangelist in a low-intensity manner: invite a friend to go to church with them. There was an initial flurry … Read moreInvite, Welcome, Befriend
At the encouragement of the Methodist Church in Ireland, we operated a prayer room for 24 hours on 25-26 January 2014. While the emphasis was put on helping as many people as possible to pray in a focused way during that time, rather than specifically covering every hour, only four hours went without cover – … Read moreNight and Day Prayer