Tempting me back to Perth

Following Anne's comment an earlier post, I came across a post by Olive & John Drane, about the Christmas Eve service at  St Matthew’s. 

Scott came to St Matthews round about the time that we were preparing to leave Perth but we have heard some very positive and encouraging  reports about him and the direction the church is heading.  I passed the church regularly on my way to the coffee shop, and it  always stood out for me in its combination of  ecumenical spirit and practical intentions.  They always seemed to be working hard to raise support for Christian Aid, in particular.

Bu this is just great! St Matthew's Special Ale.  I’m looking forward to heading back up to Perth at some point.

We had a little wander down Carnaby Street ...

the other day and came across the snowmen.  If this doesn't remind you of Ghostbusters, then you're from a different era than me!

I'm loving London

So I nipped out for something to eat and a bit of a wander, and it turns out that they are filming the new Sherlock Holmes film outside the office in Clerkenwell.  The fans (presumably of Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr) and the paparazzi were all gathering around a caravan presumably to catch a glimpse of the great ones. 

It was quite impressive being in the midst of it all, but I was most impressed by their catering facilities.  They seemed to have about 3 lorries dedicated to catering and food.  About 25 % of the total number.

I can now relax for a month or so

I have just sent the last assignment for my Masters away which means that I have now managed to complete all 18 of my assignments, at a grand total of over 300 pages.  It has taken me about three years to get to this stage.  I still have my thesis to do (it's only about 150 pages long so I should be pretty quick in knocking that one off!)

I know I'm not exactly Karl Barth, with his 10,000 page Church Dogmatics, but I'm feeling quite pleased with myself.

Just back from the pub...

The church was invited by the local pub to have a Carol Service with them, so we all went  to the John Baird pub and had a bit of a sing-song.

The landlord gave us the freedom to do whatever we thought appropriate so we had some songs, readings, and Will, one of our Vicars, gave a small talk.

It was an odd, but very interesting, night.  I'm not sure the church has done anything like it before and it certainly was a "slight" variation on the nine lessons and carols format.  But we met some very interesting people, took a little bit of Christmas out into the community and, on the whole, it seemed to go down with the regulars well.

The tree is up...

and has stayed up so far, although it is a wee bit crooked.

I wasn't allowed to add any tinsel though.  Apparently when I start to put tinsel on the tree I get a bit overexcited, so the wife tells me, and she has subsequently banned me from using tinsel not just on the tree but within a radius of 6ft from the tree.

That leaves me the kitchen and the bathroom ...

I am detecting that the anti-tinsel feeling is not just limited to my wife!  There's a lot of negative attitude about which I don't understand.  Surely all it's trying to do is make the tree look like it has a bit of snow!

Anyway, not going to get all "Scroogey" about it, the tree is up and the endless cycle of John Rutter CD's begins.

Friday Morning

Yes, I know things have been very, very quiet here for some time but I was walking toward Highgate this morning and saw this sunrise over London. You can't make it out but the towers in the distance are Canary Wharf.

I have an assignment due on Monday and, once that is out of the way, I have promised myself to update and re-arrange this blog. I may even start posting to it a bit!