He is Risen indeed. Alleluia!
After worship this morning myself and members of the congregation walked the 100 yards or so to Crow Road, to wait in the cold for the Annual Easter Egg Run - Thousands of Bikers in convoy throughout the city. An Amazing sight!
Much preparation and planning in the Run up to Diocesan Synod, so very little time for blogging.
However, at Synod we (the Information and Communication Network) for Glasgow Diocese unveiled the new diocesan website, which can be found here. The reaction was fantastic - ooh’s and ahh’s from the gathered throng.
Following the brief from the Bishop’s staff group we made the conscious decision to have it tied in with, and styled alongside the Provincial website.
Now the content is up to others - training will be provided for all who need to know how to use the content management system in place (expressionengine), and networks, regions and diocesan staff will be able to update content as required or desired. This will hopefully prevent “webmaster gridlock”, and end the torrent of concerns that content is out of date. Its all good stuff.
None of this would have been possible without the support of the Provincial Communications officer and the hard work of Justin Reynolds - the man behind the provincial site, and who has worked so hard on the design and detail for our diocesan site.
Hope you like it.
Brilliant sunshine streaming through the window, but it was below freezing and the car looked like a frozen chicken on the driveway
Don’t be fooled!
Starting today, readings, thoughts and comments for the journey through lent can be found at Beauty From Chaos. Pay a vist!
It will certainly be an odd day for some today - we say goodby to M in All Saints this morning. She’s a lifelong member of the church, former vestry secretary, church florist, friend to many and in her day could be life and soul of the party! Funerals of congregation members always seem to get to me these days - the longer I have known someone, the more I feel it personally. It will be a celebration to be sure, but one lacking for one simple reason - M is not alive and well to be a part of it. Therein lies the sadness of this day, and the dual-edged sword of grief. Trusting in Gods love and grace for M and for all those who have gone before, doesnt make the fact that they are no longer with us any easier!
Then tonight, a complete switch of pace - the mania and madness of the Rectory pancake party (7pm if you’re nearby and want to join us - bring a topping and a drink to share!)
I hate email hoaxes - all they do is clog up the net and slow down connection speeds, and court a little controversy.
Whilst I was in my bed suffering the flu, I recieved an email regarding one that’s been doing the rounds - this time about the Royal Mail supposedly being encouraged to stop printing religious stamps at Christmas, and telling staff not to issue them unless specifically asked. This is not the case, except in some sad little person’s fantasy world.
Royal mail issued this statement in response:
‘We have become aware of an incorrect assertion being made about the motives behind the sales of our Christmas stamps. There is absolutely no intention on our part to suppress sales of the Madonna and Child stamps in order to be able to claim there is low demand for religious stamps in future years. Indeed, we have produced tens of millions of them, and we want to sell them!! We have given publicity to both types of Christmas stamps, and the availability of both has been widely covered in the national and local press. Furthermore we plan to have the Madonna and Child stamps available every Christmas in future, alongside each year’s “special” set, which will continue to alternate between religious and secular themes.
Any help you can give in restoring the balance would be much appreciated.
Jonathan Evans OBE, Company Secretary, Royal Mail Group
and this one (via Dave Walkers Cartoon Blog)
The rumour that the Royal Mail may be encouraged to stop printing religious stamps at Christmas is completely unfounded; and the request to circulate it has been extraordinarily unhelpful. I and other colleagues involved with the Church have now received copies of the ‘offending para’ from outside of St Albans diocese; (I don’t know where it started from but it is doing the rounds). And it has probably taken the best part of the the last 48 hours to contain this - as the Mail on Sunday got hold of it too. …
I think what concerns me most is that the email came from and was circulated to Christians/ ministerial colleagues - and until [names] got in touch, there was an assumption that the note was true. No-one in Royal Mail group gets up in the morning with the negative motivation implied - and certainly not the directors who take these decisions. You would not believe the contortions we go through to try to support and to please the particular community we are trying to serve - in this case the Christian one. (Many of us are Christians and our faith is critical to the way we do business.)
What follows below this note, is our response statement. We took a decision after last year, to have Christian stamps every year at Christmas (see below for a brief explanation). It is difficult to ensure that our external communications reach all audiences and so I would be happy to answer any queries on this; and time permitting, come along and speak to the diocese, if you feel people may like to know more about the Christmas/ postage or community impacts (Post Office closures, etc) of the Post Office/ Royal Mail Group.
But in the meantime, as we say below, any help you can give in restoring the balance would be much appreciated. I don’t have all the addresses of those who received [the] original mail …… Please could you pass on the statement below (and this note if it helps) to anyone you or they may have copied the original mail to.
Thank you in anticipation of your support and best wishes for a very Christian Christmas!
The Revd Paula Vennells, Network Director, The Post Office
When you get an email warning you of a virus, a scandal or some other issue, and states it should be forwarded to everyone in your address list - please check first. Have a look on Snopes or Symantec. Whatever you do - dont send it to me. I dont want your junk mail.
