Priest of the Church of England. Historian. Liverpudlian. Rector of Liverpool.
Liverpool, England
Joined February 2012
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An article I wrote, based on my doctoral research, kindly published in 'Faith & Worship', Trinity 2018. It's about the birth of English Protestantism, and the relationship between a Reformed liturgy, almsgiving, & the deep foundations of our Welfare State: scribd.com/document/40057963…
Liverpool Clergy votes for the General Synod published today.
Proctors in Convocation are elected by a Single Transferable Vote system, with voters encouraged to list all candidates in order of preference.
Eliminated candidates' voters thereby still influence the final results.
It was a very good day to go for a walk up Caldy Hill, with some of the younger members of @LiverpoolParish.
We met at West Kirby Station, and a member of the church who lives nearby volunteered to guide us through a maze of paths that cross the common land, down to the seashore.
"we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out"
Humbled to be elected by Liverpool's clergy to represent them as Proctor in the Convocation of York, i.e. General Synod, on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Latimer & Ridley.
Big news about would be Roman emperor, Magnus Maximus, confirming details of later Welsh literature - re his presence in Pembrokeshire.
He became a crucial figure in the medieval Welsh imagination, as last a bastion of Roman civilisation vs the barbarians.
theguardian.com/uk-news/2026…
The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity 2026
"he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” And he was speechless."
Sermon on Matt. 24's Parable of the Wedding Feast, with apologies to the people of Edinburgh,
"you'll have had your tea".
@LiverpoolParish
Returning to England, from China, my way back to Liverpool takes a circuitous route, by way of Greensted Church, Essex: the oldest surviving wooden church in the world.
Here the remains of St Edmund, the martyr King of East Anglia, rested overnight, in the early eleventh century.
A delight to be able to meet up with former Head Chorister of @LivCathedral, Cyrus, and his mum, in Hong Kong this evening.
Life's course has moved us all on from our time with @LivCathChoir, but we shared how proud we were to be part of its extended and very far-reaching family.
Ghosts of British Hong Kong today, summoned by Evensong at the Cathedral yesterday. The colony was defended in 1941 by British troops from round the world. So many graves tended to by @CWGC
On Victoria Peak I paused in the evocative gardens of the Governor's old summer residence.
Visiting friends in Hong Kong - Sunday hike up High Junk Peak, overlooking the city and harbour. Evensong at St John's Cathedral later.
Today the church architect made his Quinquennial Inspection of @LiverpoolParish, a great excuse to climb the tower spiral staircase, up to some glorious views of the Mersey.
I've prayed for years for a new settlement for Adult Social Care, which is eating up local government budgets; and an end to the precarious young paying for Triple Locked pensions.
Maybe, just maybe, it was in my Liverpool parish that a tide turned, today:
nursingtimes.net/policies-an…
Fairford Church has some of the best and most complete medieval stained glass in the country, including a Last Judgement.
Perhaps the arrested men will turn out to be Betjeman fans, touring churches - like those Russians who went to Salisbury to admire the famous Cathedral spire.
ALT Detail from the Last Judgement window, Fairford Parish Church.
Today's inaugural voyage of the new Mersey Ferry, built in our local shipyard,was heralded as a triumph of devolution as a policy.
I was delighted to bless her.
As a frequent visitor to the Hebrides, I couldn't help but recall Scotland's ferries' troubles:
lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n18/…
Philip Anderson retweeted
Great to be at the launch today of Merseyside’s new ferry, The Royal Daffodil. Over 50 years since my first ferry ’cross the Mersey from Liverpool to Wallasey. Great speeches included those from the shipbuilders at Birkenhead’s Cammell Lairds (Balaena) - which I visited while the ship was being built - Metro Mayor Steve Rotherham @MetroMayorSteve whose team have excelled themselves, and a beautiful traditional blessing from Dr.Philip Anderson, the Rector of Liverpool Parish and seafarers church, Our Lady’s and St. Nick’s @P_G_Anderson
Good to be with my @UKHouseofLords colleagues, Michael Heseltine, Patrick McLoughlin and Simon Stevens - Chair of the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
Full Report from @marcgaier BBC @merseyside41958 bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c38x…
The Royal Daffodil launch comes after the Royal Iris, which featured in the 1965 Ferry Cross the Mersey film, was decommissioned earlier this year after 66 years.
Maritime Minister and Hull MP @KeirMathermp said today : "Gerry and the Pacemakers made the Mersey Ferry famous around the world, generations of dockyard workers made it part of Liverpool's story, and today the Liverpool City Region is writing the next chapter."
The ferries are an indelible part of the city’s story with Benedictine monks operating the first regular ferry from Birkenhead to Liverpool, rowing across the river on market days.
Listen again to the
iconic song from Gerry Marsden and the Pacemakers
youtu.be/08083BNaYcA sung again today by local children as fireworks were launched to herald a joyful new chapter in a great city’s story.
As a descendent of a Cammel Lairds shipwright it was a particular honour to be asked to bless MV Royal Daffodil, built in Birkenhead, for @MerseyFerries, today, before her inaugural voyage on the Mersey.
I offered the traditional reading - Mark 4.35-41 - Christ calming the storm.
Gerard Manley Hopkins is still so vivid a poet. And as all true Liverpolitans know, one of ours, from his days as a young Jesuit in the melee of Victorian Everton, post-Famine.
Down on sourdough, obviously, as a man of taste.
After the crowds have left the Sunday liturgy, having filled the body of the church, this quiet side chapel of @LiverpoolParish is where the rhythm of prayer is sustained, and through the week Morning and Evening Prayer are offered, in the name of God, from the heart of the city.
On Monday elections to the General Synod open. This year, for the first time, I'm standing, as a candidate for the Convocation of York - The House of Clergy.
Friends of different stripes are standing too.
"Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart"
liverpoolcofe.org/about-our-…
