Minister’s Message – May 17, 2026

Bible reading: Matthew 25:35-40.

Message.

I doubt very much if any of us have ever been ticked off by angels! But, if we take the Ascension story at face value, that was precisely the experience of the eleven disciples. For there they were at Bethany, feeling bereft, disappointed, awestruck, puzzled (feel free to add your own appropriate adjectives) at Jesus’s departure. Then, we are told, two men in Persil-white robes appeared from nowhere and said, “Galileans, why are you standing there looking up at the sky?”. To me they sound like a teacher upbraiding a child who is gazing out of the window when it should be getting on with its work. (At least angels couldn’t throw a board rubber or chalk to get the disciples’ attention; nor can – or should – teachers these days!).

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Minister’s Message – May 10, 2026

Bible reading: John 14:15-21.

Message.

There are times – many times in fact – when Moira and I are sitting at home, watching television or reading, and she says, “Can I ask you a favour?” As we’ve been married for a long time, I have a pretty good idea of what’s coming next. Either she’ll say, “Can you rub my back?”, which means that I must get up from my chair and gently massage her shoulders and spine (she may also ask me to rub in some sticky ointment); or she may say, “Can you rub my feet?”, which involves me sitting on the floor and massaging not just the main part of her foot but her toes and ankles as well. (Then comes the challenge of getting back up again!). When I ask Moira why I do these actions, which ease her discomfort but which I don’t much enjoy doing, she’ll say, “You do them because you love me”. Well, perhaps she’s right – or perhaps, like all husbands, I’m terrified of the consequences were I to refuse!

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Minister’s Message – May 3, 2026

Message.

Next Thursday is an important day in the life of our country, as we’ll vote in Senedd elections for the first time in five years. One of the parties standing (I won’t say which one!) has said that these are the most important elections in 27 years and that Wales “stands at a crossroads”. Although the opinion polls have been predicting a neck-and-neck race between Plaid Cymru and Reform, no-one (except God) actually knows what will happen as an increase in the size of the Senedd, the new super-constituencies, a different way of counting votes, and the probability of so-called “tactical voting” all make the result impossible to foretell – we’ll have to wait till Friday to find out.

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