John Davies: Notes from a small vicar

From Revd John Davies, vicar of Clapham with Keasden and Austwick with Eldroth in the Diocese of Leeds. Prayers and reflections from the Churches Weekly Newsletter in a time of the coronavirus: 9 May 2021, The Sixth Sunday of Easter and the start of Christian Aid Week Featuring 'For the beauty of the earth' by Folliott Sandford Pierpoint (1864), performed by Joslin Grove Choral Society from 100 Be...

What makes a good shepherd? When I asked a local farmer that question he replied, “A well serviced quad bike and a really good faithful collie.” There's also the gifts of character and dedication which the farmer brings to their task. Jesus's take on shepherding is characteristically surprising, reversing the normal practice by saying that "the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep", and...

Nancy Eiesland was born with a congenital bone defect in her hips. By the time she was 13 years old, she had had eleven operations, and realised that pain was always going to be with her. She was a Christian; and as she matured she developed a remarkable ‘take’ on her faith and destiny. She said that she hoped that when she went to heaven she would still be disabled. Her conception of the risen, w...

From Revd John Davies, vicar of Clapham with Keasden and Austwick with Eldroth in the Diocese of Leeds. Prayers and reflections from the Churches Weekly Newsletter in a time of the coronavirus: 18 April 2021, The Third Sunday of Easter. Featuring 'My song is love unknown' (Samuel Crossman, 1664), performed by the Easter Hymns Band from ‘20 Favourite Easter Hymns’ (2005), and 'The Servant King' (Gr...

Today let us give thanks for those who ask questions. For those whose curiosity is unbounded by decorum; who follow hunches to reveal wonders; who dare to bridge the gap between their doubts and a truth they are keen to uncover.  A talk dedicated to the late John Polkinghorne, 'one of the most influential figures in the field of science and religion' who recently died, to the young woman whos...

A reflection for Easter Day 2021. The resurrection of Jesus introduces into the world a new power which opens for us the possibility to imagine new ways, a new life, for ourselves and the world. 'There will be a day of resurrection' is a vision reimagining North West England from the vantage point of Ingleborough's peak. My reworking of 'The Prophet's Speech', in ‘Words From The Late Late Service’...

Palm Sunday is perhaps Jesus’ finest moment of comic genius. It is pure political pantomime, in which Jesus on his donkey poked fun at the pomp of Pilate who was entering Jerusalem himself that same day in all the ostentation of a full military ceremony. Jesus’ burlesque backstreet performance made a very clear statement about his very different take on power and leadership. It’s joyful to see how...

From Revd John Davies, vicar of Clapham with Keasden and Austwick with Eldroth in the Diocese of Leeds. Prayers and reflections from the Churches Weekly Newsletter in a time of the coronavirus: 28 March 2021, Palm Sunday. Featuring 'Ride on, ride on in majesty!' (Henry Hart Milman, 1827) performed by Harry Secombe from the collection ‘Titanium Hits’, 2014, and 'The King of glory comes' (Willard F....

Jesus is teaching how the cross heralds the judgement of the world. At Calvary, the light of the crucified Christ shines brightly on the powers of darkness in the world. This event opens the eyes of more and more people to see the weakness and emptiness of evil in comparison to the strength and completeness of good, and in this way the Crucified One gradually draws all of humanity to himself. As R...

From Revd John Davies, vicar of Clapham with Keasden and Austwick with Eldroth in the Diocese of Leeds. Prayers and reflections from the Churches Weekly Newsletter in a time of the coronavirus: 21 March 2021, The Fifth Sunday of Lent. Featuring 'Lord of the Dance' (Sydney Carter © 1963 Stainer & Bell). Performed by Shusha, Maddy Prior, Melanie Harrold, John Kirkpatrick, Robert Johnson, Sydney...

From Revd John Davies, vicar of Clapham with Keasden and Austwick with Eldroth in the Diocese of Leeds. Prayers and reflections from the Churches Weekly Newsletter in a time of the coronavirus: 14 March 2021, Mothering Sunday (The Fourth Sunday of Lent). Featuring 'Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord!' (Timothy Dudley-Smith, 1962) Performed by Huddersfield Choral Society & Joseph Cull...

The cartoonist Michael Leunig notices it: that in this day and age it seems like ‘Everyone is offended. Everyone is irritable, disagreeable, cranky and nervous. Everybody is jumping at shadows, jumping at conclusions. Everyone is in a bad mood.’ What do we do with our anger? Need it always be destructive? The force of moral outrage which drove Jesus to expel the moneychangers from The Temple has p...

From Revd John Davies, vicar of Clapham with Keasden and Austwick with Eldroth in the Diocese of Leeds. Prayers and reflections from the Churches Weekly Newsletter in a time of the coronavirus: 4 March 2021, The Third Sunday of Lent. Featuring 'Jesus shall reign where’er the sun' (Isaac Watts, Music: John Warrington Hatton), performed by The Coventry Singers from the collection ‘The Hymn Writers:...

Have you ever noticed how in the gospels the only people who called Jesus the Messiah were devils ? You’d think we’d have given up on messiahs by now. For they always fail us. But we do persist in looking to these people to save us. How “the offence of the cross” resources our resistance to the Messiah complex. A talk for The Second Sunday of Lent, 28 February 2021. Find the text to this and all m...

"... This has been our wilderness year - and as we now approach the second year of this pandemic we also enter Lent. In this time, let not the Satan lead us into temptation, let us not be paralysed by fear of the wild place we find ourselves in. Rather, let us keep watch and every day ask, Where is the Spirit who can drive us through? Where are the angels who will attend us?" A talk for The First...

From Revd John Davies, vicar of Clapham with Keasden and Austwick with Eldroth in the Diocese of Leeds. Prayers and reflections from the Churches Weekly Newsletter in a time of the coronavirus: 21 February 2021, The First Sunday of Lent. Featuring 'Forty Days and Forty Nights' (George H Smyttan), performed by Sam, Sara & Ella Hargreaves for engageworship © Jubilate Hymns Ltd, and 'The light of...

From Revd John Davies, vicar of Clapham with Keasden and Austwick with Eldroth in the Diocese of Leeds. Prayers and reflections from the Churches Weekly Newsletter in a time of the coronavirus: 14 February 2021, The Sunday Next Before Lent. Featuring 'The light of Christ has come into the world' by Donald Fishel © 1974 International Liturgy Publications, performed by Divine Hymns  (sourced fr...

It’s good to stop and think about the story of creation from time to time, because our life story is part of the life story of creation itself. Yes, wake up to this wonderful notion - that your humble life story is an integral and essential part of the life story of creation which we comprehend through the Word of God in the bible and the life of Jesus Christ. Paul in the Colossians asserts that a...

From Revd John Davies, vicar of Clapham with Keasden and Austwick with Eldroth in the Diocese of Leeds. Prayers and reflections from the Churches Weekly Newsletter in a time of the coronavirus: 7 February 2021, The Second Sunday Before Lent. Featuring 'O praise ye the Lord! Praise him in the height' (H. W. Baker, C. Hubert H. Parry) performed by Christopher Stokes, Huddersfield Choral Society &amp...

... We give thanks for those things which God does offstage. The almost unnoticed intrusions into our daily lives, which we may realise in time, change everything . And we give thanks for those eccentric and stubborn enough to hold on to their hopes in a world which has forgotten how to imagine a different future.  We give thanks for the old ones who stubbornly insist that despite all evidenc...

What happens when we notice that our wine is running out? When, with our glasses quarter-full, we find ourselves shaking the last drops from our bottles, looking around for fresh supplies but seeing only other glasses emptying, every other bottle being drained? And it dawning on us that there is no more wine to be found….? A metaphor for us, ageing, for our religion, failing, or our world, hitting...

From Revd John Davies, vicar of Clapham with Keasden and Austwick with Eldroth in the Diocese of Leeds. Prayers and reflections from the Churches Weekly Newsletter in a time of the coronavirus: 24 January 2021, The Third Sunday of Epiphany. Featuring 'The King of Love my Shepherd is' (Henry Williams Baker, John Bacchus Dykes) performed by Utah State University Chorale, Cory Evans, Ellie Evans, Ame...

‘Follow me’, says Jesus. ‘Come and see’, say his followers to their friends. That’s the way the Christian faith grows. And, if you look deep into the well of your own faith you may be able to identify who it was who first invited you to ‘Come and see’; and you may be able to recall a moment or moments in your life when you heard Jesus saying ‘Follow me’. ... Who is it that we follow? What are we i...

From Revd John Davies, vicar of Clapham with Keasden and Austwick with Eldroth in the Diocese of Leeds. Prayers and reflections from the Churches Weekly Newsletter in a time of the coronavirus: 10 January 2021, The Baptism of Christ. Featuring 'I heard the voice of Jesus Say' (Horatius Bonar) performed by Kathryn Crosweller from her collection 'How Deep the Father's Love for Us' and 'How Firm a Fo...

An extraordinary FA Cup tie - between the team I supported from childhood, non-league Marine, and the mighty glamorous Tottenham Hotspur, prompts this reflection on the 'deep wells' from which we can draw - and in particular the 'deep wells' of our faith tradition from which the baptised can draw to sustain us in challenging times. A talk for The Baptism of Christ,  Sunday 10 January 2021. Fi...