At Your Service

Chine McDonald is Christian Aid's Head of Community Fundraising and Public Engagement.  Ahead of the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow, she spent a day on the Island, meeting Government officials and fulfilling speaking engagements - she also recorded today's conversation about her own faith journey that led from her home in Lagos, Nigeria to London in the UK - where she found inspi...

Author, broadcaster and Head of Community Fundraising and Public Engagement at Christian Aid, Chine McDonald will be visiting the Island on Tuesday 26 October to host an evening at the Manx Museum talking about COP26 and the impact of our changing climate, and after a networking break, an 'in conversation' session will explore Chine's own experiences of racial injustice and inequality....

Manx-born Baptist minister Ruth Rice knows at first-hand how it feels to completely burn out.   But from a personal crisis came a formula for wellbeing that's spread all over the UK.   On this week's AT YOUR SERVICE Ruth tells her inspirational and searingly honest story - including the birth of Renew Wellbeing - quiet shared spaces where its okay not to be okay.   There are...

Today is the start of Prisons Week - it's a call to pray for all those affected by crime and imprisonment - prisoners and their families, victims of crime, their families and their communities, those working in the criminal justice system, and the many people involved in caring for those affected by crime - inside and outside our prisons. Today's guest is Reverend Helen Dearnley, an Anglic...

Just a few weeks ago, Roman Catholic priest Canon Thomas Neylon was ordained bishop by Archbishop Malcolm McMahon, in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King in Liverpool.  Warrington-born  Bishop Tom is now an Auxiliary Bishop, ministering in the Archdiocese of Liverpool which covers a large area of the North West, and includes the Isle of Man.   Immediately after his episcop...

The Annual Isle of Man Charity Challenge - sponsored by AFD Software of Ramsey - invites teams of 6th form students from the Island's secondary schools to select a Manx-registered charity, then learn about it, raise funds for it, engage in advocacy work to present its message to others, and then prepare an original presentation summarising its aims, achievements and objectives in the most comp...

Songwriters Noel Robinson, Andy Flannagan and  Graham Hunter took a familiar hymn tune and added words to inspire us all to understand that, wherever we are, and whatever we're doing, we can see our daily tasks through God's eyes, and through our very presence bring His kingdom here on earth - as in Heaven.   Anne De Leyser believes we are all able to bless our community, our fam...

This year marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11 - a series of airline hijackings and suicide attacks on targets in the United States - over 3,000 people were killed in New York, when two planes were flown into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Centre; 184 people died when another plane hit the Pentagon, and a further 40 people died in Pennsylvania,  where another hijacked plane crash...

3Generate is the children's and youth assembly of the Methodist Church, and it aims to create an inclusive and diverse space for the voice of children and young people to emerge and be heard. It enables them to speak courageously, and listen to God and each other. Through 3Generate, children and young people are equipped to understand and handle change and growth,  and so have a posi...

Manx-born Reverend Dr Janet Corlett is the new leader of the Methodist Church on the Island.   We bring a flavour of her Service of Welcome held in Trinity Methodist Church at Rosemount, Douglas, on Saturday 28th August, as she becomes Chair of District, Superintendent of the Circuit and Minister of Trinity and Promenade Methodist Churches.   Artist Anne House has been inspired to create...

No one could fail to be moved by the pictures and reports coming from Afghanistan this week - but local Christian Aid representative Louise Whitelegg was determined to put the despair she felt, into positive action.   So in a matter of days, she had organised, and advertised Island-wide, a 4-hour Prayer Vigil - last Thursday evening in Trinity Methodist Church at Rosemount in Douglas -  ...

After an absence of two years due to the pandemic, Canon Philip Gillespie is back, spending summer on the Island, and taking care of the churches in Ramsey and Peel whilst resident Parish Priest Fr Brian O Mahony is on holiday.    Canon Philip will be warmly remembered for his time on the Isle of Man as Parish Priest of St Mary of the Isle in Douglas,  and as senior priest with over...

On this exact weekend 15 years ago, a group of German visitors were enjoying exploring our Island and building strong bonds of friendship with their Manx hosts.   I joined them for a service of Celtic Evening Prayer when they were in Maughold, and today's programme features that recording, and the story behind the visit. There's wonderful Manx music from Emma Christian, who entertaine...

Reverend Dr Janet Corlett is the new Chair of District - leader of the Methodist Church on the Island - and will take up her post at the end of August.    In an interview first broadcast in. 2018, when she came to the Island to visit her parents, we learn something of her background, and the extensive experience she will bring to her leadership role in ministry on the Island. And Sheila...

The Venerable Andi Brown will retire in a few days' time, having completed ten years as Archdeacon of Mann and Vicar of St George and All Saints Church in Douglas.  On At Your Service today, he talks about the challenges and blessings of doing two demanding ministries at the same time, and reflects on the other experiences he's gained during 41 years as a priest in the Church of Engla...

Research has shown that we fear dementia more than we fear cancer - and we find it such a hard subject to discuss - yet most of us know a friend or family member living with the illness.   On the programme this week, three very different but hugely positive and inspirational women share their message.  Gina Shaw was diagnosed with dementia when she was in her early 50's but she refus...

New storyboards have appeared in St George's Churchyard in Douglas - Archdeacon, and Vicar of St George's, The Ven Andie Brown, explains why they're there,  saints and sinners - and if you go to St George's (Upper Church St, Douglas)  on Saturday 17 July at 2.30pm you can hear more, and enjoy a strawberry tea, too!  Tours of St George's Bell Tower will be availab...

When a Methodist Minister retires, tradition says that they are 'sitting down'.  So, having completed 9 years as Chair of the Isle of Man District of the Methodist Church, Reverend Richard Hall is 'sitting down' and he  and is wife Ruth will shortly be leaving the Island.  On today's programme, Richard reflects on his life as an ordained minister, hints at some o...

This week, we're in the bell tower in St Thomas's Church in Douglas, to talk to Tower Captain Edwin Creer as he makes the Island part of a little bit of bell ringing history.   Next, Pastor John Powell of the Elim Community Church explains why he's leading an hour of prayer for our Island on Tynwald Hill from 7pm - 8pm on Tuesday 6 July - and as the Isle of Man Flower Festival pre...

Dr Graham McCall could be enjoying a relaxing retirement in Patrick, following a varied career in medicine, as a general surgeon and a GP in inner city Sheffield.  But instead, he's reinstated his medical qualifications and works on the Covid 111 Helpline.  He's also deeply involved in the life and ministry of his local church - Kirk Patrick - and keeps his vibrant Christian...

Agneash Chapel, in the hills above Laxey village, has been a place of prayer and worship for over 1,300 years - since a monk first lived in a  keeill (a tiny chapel) built on the boundary wall of the current chapel, in AD690.  The present chapel was built in 1857 after 17 years of services being held in nearby cottages.  In the 1800's Agneash was in a mining and farming communit...

The Port St Mary Beach Mission is a firm fixture on the Manx calendar - those two weeks of fun and faith-sharing, in August each year, began in 1901 - and the outreach has only ever been completely stopped by the two World Wars.   It attracts around 400 children and teenagers, and a team of adult volunteer leaders give up their own holiday time, to help with the mission.  Even last year,...

Laxey resident Sheila Sutton is no stranger to suffering, having recently undergone major surgery to remove a cancerous tumour - yet she remains happy - and hugely hopeful! On today's programme, she explains where her hope really lies, with a reflection, a favourite poem and a few moments of prayer.   Rev'd Nicky Gumbel is an Anglican priest based in Holy Trinity Church,  Brompto...

Manxman Brendan O'Friel spent his entire working life in seven different penal institutions, including Strangeways Prison in Manchester before and during the riots of 1990.  He's just published a fascinatingly detailed and informative book which has already been acclaimed as essential reading for anyone considering a career in the prison system, and joins us on the programme to explor...

WELCOME to an AT YOUR SERVICE special podcast-only programme.   This is the full service to celebrate the Centenary of the Royal British Legion, recorded in St George's Church, Douglas, the Civic Church of the Isle of Man's Capital Town, on Sunday 16 May 2021.  The service is led by the Archdeacon of Mann, The Venerable Andi Brown, in the presence of His Excellency the Lieutenant...