Reflections from a retired rural vicar

I want to share some reflections on the run in - if that's not too strong a description - between Minette Batters, NFU President , and Evan Davis, presenter of BBC's Radio 4 "PM".  It all came about (and can be heard here about 35 minutes in to the program)  as a result of the government announcing its intention to develop a national food strat egy. PM invited Minette and restaurateur Yotam Ottolenghi into the studio.  The introduction to the discussion was bizarre! Evan introduced the item by asking if we are at a turning point in our attitude towards meat. "Is", he asked, eating less meat the "next anti smoking drive".  What makes that bizarre is the review the government is setting up has very broad terms of reference but in the 1,000 word document it makes no reference whatsoever to eating meat! It's as though Evan had decided what the outcome of the enquiry would be even before any evidence had been taken or considered!  Having liken...

The view you’re looking at is of Ullswater in the glorious Lake District.  It’s where I was on Sunday  as I joined with    4th Sunday adventures of “Tranquillity and play by the lake”. So what’s that about? Why wasn’t I doing “proper” church? Isn’t that what vicars, even retired ones, should do?   One of the things I have been thinking about has been how churches can help the faith of people for whom "proper" church doesn’t scratch where they’re itching.  Don’t misunderstand me. I think there is great benefit in “proper” church,  hymns, reading, prayers, sermons in (usually) historic buildings.   But that doesn’t do it for everyone.  John Muir, a Scottish-American environmentalist  and influential in having Yosemite set up as a National Park,  in the 19 th century said, “I’d rather be in the mountains thinking of God, than in church thinking about the mountains” and I guess that’s still true for many people t...

Hello, thanks for looking at this blog. I want to talk about a couple of different things and make a connection between them. The first is a report that came out back in February, the “State of Rural Services 2018”. The second is what I’ve been doing for the last couple of days. The report is produced   by “Rural England”   and is downloadable from their website . It looks at eight key service areas , transport, broadband and mobile phone coverage,   libraries, hospitals, public health, young people, shopping and personal advice services. It reminds us of a few key facts about rural areas and for me the statistic that jumped out at me was that 24.1% of the rural population - that's nearly a quarter-  is 65 or over. Perhaps that jumped out at me because I’m part of that statistic. That compares with only 18% of the population for the UK over all. That means there are a third more over 65s in rural areas than the national average. That, of course, h...

I’ve been reading the document from the Labour Party, Land for the Many.  It’s available off their website   It’s seventy odd pages long and its subtitle sets out what they’re trying to achieve, "Changing the way our fundamental asset is used, owned and governed.” It’s got some good stuff in it. It’s got some not so good stuff in it. And it’s got stuff that is outside my sphere of expertise and about which I hesitate to comment.  I hope that their analysis of the housing market is correct and I hope that their plans to make housing affordable work. I was interested to read that the number of dwellings in the UK has been rising faster than the number of households, even though house prices have also risen, as has overcrowding and homelessness. One of the principle themes of John’s gospel is about “abiding” and we all need a place where we can belong.  Good luck with that aspect of the policy. Good luck also with the pledge to halt the sale ...

There's a story of a lecturer who filled a glass jar with rocks. "Is it full?" he asked the students. "Yes", they replied. Then he poured gravel into the jar. "Is it full? Then sand. Then water. "What do we learn from this?" he asked. "No matter how full your life, there's always room for more", said the students. "No", was the lecturer's response. "What you learn is if you don't put the rocks in first, you'll never get them in." I'm working on what are the "rocks" that I need to put in my life.  I've recently retired from being a full time paid vicar. As a retired person it's very easy to fill the jar up with all sorts of stuff and be busy, but I'm working on what are the things that need to go in first. Family clearly is a rock. I've been working with the local (unretired!) vicar to see how my presence and role in the church will be a help not a divisive di...