Family

As part of my sabbatical, I've had the chance to spend 10 days in Israel and Palestine. I'd highly recommend it.

In my earlier post, I outlined my plans for a sabbatical next month. Part of the plan is for study. I said I'd explain what I plan to study.

In brief, I want to study two things, and they interrelate.

From the middle of May, I'm taking sabbatical for 3 months. This is something that the Church of England encourages all its ordained ministers to do, somewhere between every 7 and 10 years. It's an opportunity to recharge, to refresh, to wind down, to have new ideas, to study, to rekindle the love for the Lord that so easily fades with the pressures of ministry day-in day-out.

I have a number of things planned.

It is a great privilege indeed to belong to a Christian church, and so to the Christian church.

This last weekend, I reached the milestone of 10 years serving the churches here in Kemsing and Woodlands, also a great privilege.

That gives me cause to look back on the many churches I have belonged to over the years. Each made its mark in different ways, and the person I am today is undoubtedly shaped by the time spent in those churches.

On Sunday February 29th, 1948, the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Mombasa, preached a sermon in the school chapel of St Andrew's School, Turi, Kenya. According to Wikipedia, the Bishop of Mombasa at the time was the Rt Revd Reginald Percy Crabbe. It does not look like it was the best sermon ever preached, but as a piece of the school's history it is certainly interesting. He made a number of really very good points, that are as relevant today as they were then.

Two weeks ago, I posted about my former school, St Andrew's Turi, and the fire there in 1944.

Last week, I followed this with the account, "After the Fire", of what happened next.

Finally, the school was re-opened. The governor, Sir Philip Mitchell, tells of the events on Saturday 28th February 1948 when the school was formally re-opened.

Last week, I posted about my former school, St Andrew's Turi, and the fire there in 1944.

The school magazine also contains another section, entitled "After the fire", which depicts the blitz spirit under which the school came to terms with what had happened, and in due course re-opened.

From 1984 to 1988 I was fortunate to attend St Andrew's School, Turi, in the highlands of Kenya. The school had a pleasant climate. At an altitude of c. 8,000 ft, it was often still very warm, but the cooler nights meant that the school had what we used to call "real grass". Contrast much of the lower lying parts of Kenya, where the grass is brown in the dry season and so always has a wiry texture. The school aimed for an admission that was a third African, a third European and a third Asian, making for a thoroughly cosmopolitan education.

God willing (* see James 4:15) I will be speaking on an "Unlocking the Bible" weekend at Otford Manor, the fine home of the fine Oak Hall Expeditions, next weekend (November 18-20).

Now everything is formally announced, I can post this on here.