Imagine holding a party which no-one wants to come to.... like the king’s wedding banquet in the parable of Jesus which the people resisted so strongly because this king is a despot whose subjects are starting to resist. He’s losing his authority. 

Following  the publication this week of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in the Anglican Church in England and Wales, which said the church had protected its own reputation above its “explicit moral purpose”, I suggest that the church is a party which no-one wants to come to, having lost all moral authority. Is there hope? How can we rebuild trust?

A talk for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity, 11 October 2020.

Find the text to this and all my talks at bit.ly/johndavies-talks.

From Revd John Davies, priest in charge 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: Sunday 11 October 2020, The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity. 

Featuring 'Be still, for the presence of the Lord' (David J Evans) performed by Kathryn Crosweller from the album 'Can You Hear My Heart?', 'Psalm 23' arranged and performed by Roland Fudge with soloist Grace Guthrie, and 'Make Me a Channel of Your Peace' (St Francis; Johann Sebastian von Tempelhoff) performed by Katherine Jenkins from the album 'Guiding Light'.

Including my talk for the day, 'The Church is the party no-one wants to come to: a lament', also available here as a stand-alone podcast. 

The parable of the tenants and the vineyard owner (Matthew 21.33-46)  is a parable about a dispute over property and land. What might our world look like if we lost our desire to possess and protect our own property, how would life be if we stopped building walls to exclude and control others, and learned to live together with others peaceably? How are we, individuals and communities, using our properties to serve the purposes of our God? If the gospel of Jesus works itself out through people building a common life together, what could we do to encourage and shape that today?

A talk for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity, 4 October 2020. Find the text to this and all my talks at bit.ly/johndavies-talks.

From Revd John Davies, priest in charge 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: Sunday 4 October 2020, The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity.

Featuring 'There's a quiet understanding' (Tedd Smith) performed by Lisbé Visser from the album 'Uit Genade', and 'How deep the Father's love for us' (Stuart Townend) performed by Kathryn Crosweller from the album 'How deep the Father's love for us'.

Including my talk for the day, 'When we put property before providence: a parable of violence in the vineyard', also available here as a stand-alone podcast.

From Revd John Davies, priest in charge 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: Sunday 27 September 2020, The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity.

This is a Harvest Festival service on the theme of 'Jubilee'. Featuring the Laestadian Lutheran Church performing 'Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation', 'I'm amazed at God's Creation' and 'We plow the fields and scatter', from the collection 'The Fields with Music Flooding'; and 'Fill Your Hearts With Joy and Gladness' (Timothy Dudley-Smith) performed by Sarah Quartel, Commotio Chamber Choir, Timothy Dudley-Smith & Griselda Sherlaw-Johnson from the album 'The Oxford Book of Easy Flexible Anthems'. Readings by Diana Davies.

Thank you for joining in the Austwick Harvest Takeaway Supper - I hope you enjoy it! This is a short 'grace' to start the meal.

Ours is a society which judges some people as being undeserving: these homeless ones, they must have brought it on themselves, why should we house them? These unemployed, how much tax have they paid, and do they deserve to benefit?

But in God’s economy where there is absolute gain for all. 

We must reflect on these things in the knowledge of this week’s news reports that if coronavirus job and income support schemes are wound down this autumn then twice as many people will become destitute by Christmas, in other words, unable to meet their basic needs for food, shelter or clothing. What does this say to us, we who seek to walk with Jesus’ and follow his teaching? What might it provoke us to do in response?

Are you envious because God is generous? Or are you inspired by the thought that there is room at his table for us all?

A talk for the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, 20 September 2020.

Find the text to this and all my talks at bit.ly/johndavies-talks.

From Revd John Davies, priest in charge 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: Sunday 20 September 2020, The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity.

Featuring 'How Great Thou Art' (Traditional) performed by Aled Jones, Russell Watson, Iain Brandram-Adams, Tomas Hurnik, John Robinson, Tom Rainey, Ross Radford, Anthony Ferner, Millie Jackson, Alice Yang, Ian Tilley, Jenny Johnson, Cam Lee, Boris Campbell, Thomas Eves, Iselte Allison, Pippa Mills, Sharon Baylis from the album 'In Harmony', and 'In Heavenly Love Abiding' (Anna Letitia Waring‎) performed by The Jubilee Choir from the album 'You'll Never Walk Alone'.

Including my talk for the day, 'Good news? The least deserving get the best reward', also available here as a stand-alone podcast.

The parables of Jesus are practical tales drawn from everyday experiences. But we 'spiritualise' them. What if Jesus meant us to take his parables at face value so we can take direct lessons from them about our everyday behaviour towards others? What if Jesus' parable of the unforgiving servant is a morality tale about debt forgiveness, how we deal with those who owe us?

A talk for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, 13 September 2020. Find the text to this and all my talks at bit.ly/johndavies-talks.

Imagine a world where there is no debt. Imagine a world of absolute forgiveness. You don’t need to imagine it. It already exists.

A talk for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, 13 September 2020. Find the text to this and all my talks at bit.ly/johndavies-talks.