Curate Conundrums

  When did you decide to become a Christian? Have you decided to become one? Or has it always been a part of your life? I was baptised when I was a baby, like many people. I was brought up in the Church of England. I spent some time away from Church when I was a teenager and I was confirmed when I was twenty. For me that was a big moment, I decided that I would try to follow Jesus for the rest of my life. I had made my decision about what I believe. I was a Christian. You may have noticed, but Christians awh man do they love to disagree and get in fights about stuff. From who is saved, to what colour should the candles on an Advent wreath should be. We are a divided bunch as a faith. There are literally thousands of denominations of Christianity, and that’s not an exaggeration. We disagree with   each other on stuff, but there’s one thing we all agree on, Baptism. In order to fully be a Christian you need to be baptised. All of the mainstream denominations agree that...

  Trying to get Jay Hulme to do what he’s told is like trying to get a cat into a bath. There’s a lot of screaming and scratching and crying. Hopefully that won’t happen at the font. In fact it would take the power and love of almighty God to get him to do as he’s told, but even getting him here was difficult. I can imagine the Lord rolling their eyes saying ‘Sweet me!’ Jay tried to ignore God, to get away from Her, to then try to abuse Him so that He’d give up and leave Jay alone. But no, they wouldn’t. You could call it a miracle and speaking of miracles… Jay and I first met at a cheese table at Alice and Coral’s Civil Partnership. What a day that was. Now from the first moment meeting Jay I realised two things. Firstly, oh man, he has opinions. Secondly, that he was a very spiritual person. We also spoke about Jay’s intolerance to cheese, and how he’d eaten a vast amount of it, of course, and how he would, let’s just say, regret it later. So I said a prayer of blessing on ...

Today is a special and exciting day. I mean, I know every Sunday at St Peter Mancroft is a whirlwind of excitement, but this is a special occasion. In case you haven’t noticed, Today three people are being baptised, Emily, Tim and Theo. It is amazing to have them here, and I’m pretty sure that God thinks it’s great that many friends and family have come from far and wide to share this special spiritual moment with us, welcome to all of you too. Theo, Emily and Tim are being brought in, and welcomed into this Church. Into God’s worldwide church which has so many amazing and varied expressions. Today they are being baptised not as Church of England, or Anglican, but as a Christian. There’s no such thing as an Anglican baptism, only a Christian one. Today is a celebration and Thanksgiving for the gift of Theo too, it’s a celebration of the love that created Theo, both Stuart and Becca’s love for one another, and God’s love for Theo, Emily and Tim, and God’s love for each and eve...