John Wynburne

By Sharon Comment Closed
It is with great sadness that we have to report that Rev John Wynburne, a well-loved vicar of this benefice from 2009 to 2015, passed away last Friday.  Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Anna, their children and grandchildren....
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Classical Concert

By Sharon Comment Closed
As you may know, each Harvest our gifts go to The Porch in Oxford to help feed the homeless. They are holding a fund raising Classical Concert.  By buying a ticket for the performance you will be supporting their work with those who want to move forward with their lives. (more…)...
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Musing on Mark – outrageous behaviour

By Sharon Comment Closed
Musing on Mark 7, 24 to the end More outrageous behaviour from our saviour! Was Jesus really so rude? This weeks reports tell of Jesus venturing north from Capernaum into the region of Tyre for a secret holiday. The people of this area were formerly bitter enemies of Israel. It seems there is nowhere he can escape from the publics’ attention, though, for He is sought out by a non-Israelite/non-Jewish woman who comes to him seeking healing for her daughter. No Jewish rabbi would allow himself to talk to any women other than a close relative let alone a woman who is 100% Gentile, a foreigner, a pagan, a worshiper of idols (Matthew describes her as a Canaanite, which is a description of her religious beliefs, not her ethnicity). Outrageous behaviour at the time. And pretty brave of the woman to approach a foreigner, a Jew, a former enemy, of a different religion, too. She must have been desperate. (So many come to...
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Musing on Mark – Facing the truth of our true selves

By Sharon Comment Closed
Musing on Mark 7, 1 to 8 then 14 to 15 and 21 to 23 Facing the truth of our true selves I don’t know about you, but I know I can be really good at finding excuses for not challenging my less-than-perfect behaviour. I too find it easy to slip into doing, thinking, saying as everyone else does, fitting in to the culture of our social circle and times. It was no different in Jesus day. People thought that conforming to the religious practices and cultural norms of the times kept them in Gods favour (v8). In this weeks passage we have Jesus telling them (and us) that they were wrong. We all like to wear a metaphorical mask to hide who we truly are, so as not to reveal our inner thoughts – even from those with whom we are most intimate (the wearing of masks in Greek theatre is the origin of our word hypocrite). The hard truth is that...
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