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Minister’s Message – October 11, 2026

Bible reading: Philippians 4:1-9.

Message.

I’ve now been a Minister for well over 30 years. And one of the things which I’ve found most frustrating has been the amount of time I’ve spent soothing the ruffled feathers of folk who have become disgruntled by some aspect of church life or fallen out with someone else (I hasten to add that such incidents have been rare in this church, where we seem to rub along together pretty well). Those situations have always meant cautious conversations, difficult phone calls or diplomatic letters, together with sleepless nights and desperate prayer. There have also been times when I’ve seen a potential “blow-up” looming and I’ve wanted to avert it. I’m sure that every Minister has similar experiences which are both wearing and time-consuming.

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Minister’s Message – September 27, 2026

Bible reading: Matthew 21:28-32.

Message.

Moira and I had a minor tiff (and it was minor!) last Saturday. It arose because we both enjoy reading. Although some of our books come from the library, we also buy many. That then leaves us with a problem: what should we do with the books once we’ve read them? Obviously there’s not much point hanging on to a murder mystery once you know who the killer is! Although a few, usually non-fiction, books get kept, most end up in an ever-growing pile, destined either for the book stall at our church fair or (sorry Ian) the Oxfam shop in town.

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Minister’s Message – September 20, 2026

Message (Matthew 20:1-16).

The working conditions of the London dock labourers 140 years ago were appalling. The men and their families lived in overcrowded and insanitary slums and their life was a constant struggle against heavy odds. At the root of this was the casual and uncertain nature of dock labour which produced bitterness and desperation.

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Minister’s Message – September 6, 2026

Readings – Luke 4:31-32.     Luke 19:46-47.

Message.

There has been a lot more traffic on the roads this week. Morning and afternoon buses have been crowded with young people. Parents have been chivvying their children to get up earlier in the morning. New clothes have been brought out of wardrobes. Timetables have been pinned up on kitchen noticeboards or stuck to fridges. Memories of happy holidays have been to the back of our minds. Why are all these things happening? You know the answer to that question as well as I do: it’s the beginning of the new academic year. For many of us, that means an end to the free-flowing days of summer and a return to our normal daily routines. However some parents, who have been trying to entertain their children and juggle their work routines during the summer, will be very grateful that life has got back to normal!

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Minister’s Message – August 23, 2026

Message.

The summer of 1540 was extraordinarily hot and dry across Europe. Temperatures reached heights which would not be repeated for over 400 years while only 2025 saw less rain. France, south-east England, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Poland, Slovenia, northern Italy and southern Spain were all affected. It was the worst climate event of the 16^th century.

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Minister’s Message – August 16, 2026

Bible reading: Genesis 45:1-15.

Message.

Dartmouth is a pretty and much visited town in south Devon. It is famous for many things: its picturesque narrow streets climbing up the hillside, its beautiful location on the River Dart, its castle, and the Britannia Naval College. You can take boat trips up the river on a vintage paddle steamer, or cross to Kingswear for a ride on a steam train with, perhaps, a visit to Agatha Christie’s house. For many years, too, Dartmouth was home to a bookshop owned by Christopher Robin Milne, who hid when people asked him about Winnie-the-Pooh.

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Minister’s Message – August 9, 2026

Message.

I’ve never seen Shakespeare’s play “Othello”, recently described as a “tragedy of shattered passion, revenge and psychological warfare”. It is considered one of his finest plays. Three of its key characters are Othello himself, Desdemona his wife, and Iago, a soldier who has fought beside Othello for several years. However he believes that Othello has unfairly passed him over for promotion and seeks ways of getting revenge. Matters come to a head in the final act which is full of violence: Desdemona is smothered by her husband, Iago is injured and Othello commits suicide – and that’s by no means the whole story!

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Minister’s Message – July 5, 2026

Bible reading: Matthew 11:1, 25-30.

Message.

I was brought up in the Church of England; we weren’t regular church-goers but we attended the Parish Communion service once or twice a month. In those days the traditional 1662 Prayer Book, compiled by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and reckoned to be one of the greatest influences of the English language reigned supreme, although (little do we know it) modern-language versions were lurking just around the corner. And of course the Prayer Book, being old, contained words which were archaic or which had changed their meaning over time.

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Minister’s Message – June 28, 2026

Bible reading: Genesis 22:1-14.

Message.

There are a number of Bible stories which, when one starts to think about them seriously, are deeply unpleasant. Just last week Ruth told us that Junior Church had been learning about Cain and Abel – a story which ends with murder. That tale still gets told to children, but there are others which we might shy away from these days (although I certainly heard them when I was quite young). So we have David not only sleeping with Bathsheba but getting her soldier husband moved so that he will face a certain death, and we have Jael killing Sisera by hammering a tent-peg through his eye socket. We’re also picky about other stories: we love to hear about Moses crossing the Red Sea but seem unconcerned at the death of many Egyptians, we enjoy hearing of the animals going into Noah’s Ark but we’re not so keen to think of the hapless people who were drowned; we rejoice in Elijah’s victory over the pagan prophets on Mount Carmel but forget that he then killed all 450 of them. I could go on, but you’ll see what I’m getting at.

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Minister’s Message – June 21, 2026

Bible reading: Matthew 10:26-39.

Message.

I’d guess that most of us would think of Jesus as a peace-loving person, and the Gospels seem to bear this out. For instance, in the Sermon on the Mount, he commends peace-makers, saying that they will be known as God’s children. In the same sermon he tells his followers not to take revenge on someone who wrongs them; if they are slapped on one cheek, they should turn round so they can be slapped on the other one as well. Jesus also calls on his hearers to replace the old adage, “Love your friends and hate your enemies” with, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”.

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