So what will we be apologising for in 50 years' time, even 100 years? I’m hugely proud of my grandmother, Edith Vaughan, who died of hyperthyroidism 20 years before I was born; she was just 39 years old. During the Great War she worked as a munitions worker and, although a staunch Wesleyan Methodist, she became pregnant at just 19 years of age. We have little information as to the father – except that he was probably a married man. For the birth she was sent 40 miles away to

“When the Chapter heard that he had been made a bishop, everyone groaned.” I’m not saying which Chapter—that is, the group of Anglican clergy serving a particular area of parishes—except that it was nowhere near here and not one I have ever attended. Nor am I saying which bishop. I occasionally chatted with him at various conferences, but he belonged to another diocese and was someone with whom I have never worked. So there is no way you can work out whom I am talking about.

Keir Starmer's biggest problem is not the 24,927 votes cast for his rival Andy Burnham in yesterday's by-election at Makerfield, but the number 174—Labour's majority in the House of Commons, the second largest of the past fifty years. Large majorities create their own dangers, and not just in politics. As the former Conservative politician Michael Heseltine warned many years ago, overwhelming parliamentary majorities can breed arrogance, poor decision-making and a growing sen

What quality does Jesus most desire in his servants? Well, Bill had it in abundance. This Monday, my good friend and co-worker Bill Evans—in the words of the apostle Paul—fell asleep in the Lord. We will miss him deeply: his humour and loyalty, his kindness and friendship. Over the last few years he showed remarkable resilience in facing significant health challenges. Bill was extraordinarily fit. An avid cyclist, he played football well into his late seventies and even ran a

What does it mean to pray for someone? Clearly this was a key priority for the apostle Paul, who seems to be praying for lots of people all the time. For example, he writes to Timothy: “I am grateful to God ... when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.” (2 Timothy 1:3) But he also expected others to pray for him. So he asks the Christians in Thessalonica: “Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be

I thought it was about time I did some serious culture, so on the recommendation of a glowing review in the New York Times, I bought Daniel Kraus’s novel Angel Down, winner of this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The subject matter appealed to me: a novel set on the bloody battlefields of the First World War. I thought it would tie in rather neatly with the current series of The Rest Is History podcast. However, as soon as I started reading, I realised that this was no ord

So, we wait anxiously to discover who Thomas Tuchel has selected for England’s World Cup squad, just as the tournament prepares to take over our lives. One player not going is Manchester United’s centre-half, Harry Maguire. Apparently, he’s gutted. “I was confident I could have [sic] played a major part this summer for my country after the season I’ve had,” Maguire tweeted. “I’ve been left shocked and gutted by the decision.” Not mildly disappointed. Not philosophical. Not “t

Who was the first person in recorded history to condemn slavery as an institution? Chances are, you have never heard of him. So let’s hear it for Gregory of Nyssa — 335–394 — who argued: “You are condemning to slavery human beings whose nature is free.” Radical stuff for the fourth century. Gregory was a bishop in what is now central Turkey. I had a vague understanding of him as one of the so-called Cappadocian Fathers — those three great theologians who helped shape ou

As I write this blog, one of our neighbours is anxiously awaiting the vote count at the Burscough Wellbeing and Leisure Hub. This is her first foray into local politics, and I called round last week simply to thank her for standing as our local councillor. For to stand for public office today is to raise your head well above the parapet. It can mean facing abuse, hostility, and even the threat of physical violence. As Security Minister Dan Jarvis has warned, harassment and in

Nowadays, I’ll wear anything. It wasn’t always the case. Nearly fifty years ago — gosh — we were being rehearsed for our ordination in Liverpool Cathedral when the Dean, the redoubtable Edward Patey, strolled past. Hearing us discussing our robes, and what we would be wearing on our big day, he exclaimed that this was where the Church of England was at its most exciting. You may need some background here. In those far-off days, what you wore said a great deal about ho

“Will you still need me, will you still feed me When I’m sixty-four?” A song for its time, written by the 14-year-old Paul McCartney in 1956. In those now distant days, 64 seemed positively old. Just twelve years later I was doing Health Economics under the redoubtable Dorothy Hahn. Our working assumption then was that on average men in the UK died at 68 and women two years later. And I recall, as a young curate in the late 1970s, when taking the funeral of someone who had di

Greetings from the city of the one-armed lady! This blog comes from one of the oldest cities in the world, founded by the Phoenicians around 770 BC. We’re in Málaga, in Andalusia, at the bottom right of Spain. Just down the road, Calle Alcazabilla stands the Cathedral, built on the site of a former mosque after the Reconquista, the period in which Christian kingdoms gradually took back control of Spain and Portugal from Muslim rule. Locals call it La Manquita , the one

Fifty years ago, practically to this very minute, I was reading Psalm 66 as my daily discipline. It’s what I still do – working through all 150 psalms, and then starting all over again. But this Saturday morning, it was different. It was 1976: I was a final year theological student at Durham with Jacqui pregnant with our second child. It had been a difficult few months. She had had blood pressure problems in having Deborah two years earlier but this time it was worse, requiri

“It was so casual for them—just a joke, just a post—but for me it stayed, long after they’d moved on.” Bullying through social media can be both casual and cruel, especially for young people. What feels like a fleeting moment for one can linger painfully for another. It is no surprise, then, that governments around the world—Australia being the first—are beginning to explore ways of offering greater protection to this vulnerable age group. And yet, this is not a new phenomeno

Dungeon Lane is a dump, merely a dreary track. I’ve passed over it many times, always at about 20 metres – it runs alongside the southern boundary fence of John Lennon airport over which planes land. It goes nowhere, except to the airport viewing area #2. Beyond that, just some scrubland and a boggy shoreline. That’s all. And yet, no doubt, it will be pulling in the crowds from all over the world, just like Penny Lane. Paul McCartney is about to release his 18th so

, It’s 1985. We’re visiting friends in central London, staying in their vicarage. Their curate is about to move—but to where? An idea is beginning to take shape, even a fresh way of doing ministry: what if he didn’t go alone? What if a whole group went with him, to breathe life into a struggling church? My response? “Great idea, Sandy!” And that, as it turns out, may be my principal contribution to the Church of England. I know this because I have just read a long article in

To believe in God inevitably raises difficulties. “It isn’t just that I don’t believe in God,” mused the American philosopher Thomas Nagel, “and naturally hope that I’m right in that belief. It’s that I hope there is no God! I don’t want there to be a God. I don’t want the universe to be like that.” Yet whatever Nagel may wish, the universe is as it is. We cannot construct our own version of reality, except in our imagination — and that doesn’t really count. The world is

You just never know. In about 45 minutes I’ll press the SEND button and this blog will go out into the world. Very occasionally I think I may be sending a masterpiece, but more often than not it is simply the best I can manage at the time. No one is paying for it , I tell myself, so they can’t complain! That was certainly the case a few weeks ago. By any reckoning it wasn’t one of my best efforts. But it was the best I could produce that morning. Amazingly, a few days lat

As tabloid headlines go, it’s cruel and unsparing: 1m kids stuck on scrapheap , with the byline “ Lost generation fear for 16 to 24-year-olds . The astonishing result of the Gorton and Denton by-election was too late for the Metro , the free daily handed out to commuters, and so it directed its focus on the astonishing number of NEETS, young people "Not in Education, Employment, or Training," now edging towards one million according to the Office for National Statistics.

“From the very outset of his career, he appeared calmly indifferent to blame or praise. Those who knew him well believed that this was no pose but wholly genuine.” So reports Wikipedia of my favourite composer, Maurice Ravel. Last night I took the train to the Philharmonic Hall to hear my favourite Ravel masterpiece, Ma mère l’Oye (The Mother Goose Suite), performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the Venezuelan maestro Domingo Hindoyan. I know th