The nomination of Abbot Hugh Gilbert of Pluscarden as bishop-elect has raised many expectations and hopes among the clergy and lay people of the diocese. The problem is that because they are so many and so different it’s not possible to fulfil all of them. The new bishop like every new boss will have to make up his mind and…

Once a man in his twenties appeared at the door of a parish house asking for money. He didn’t look ill, disabled or handicapped in any way. But because I’m a good and helpful man I wanted to know something about his needs. I don’t remember his story but I do remember it sounded like a made up one. He…

He was the last prophet faithful to God in a kingdom with a weak and indecisive king influenced by the cunning queen Jezebel. The Pagan religion introduced by the queen had spread widely; the people of Israel had left the faith of their fathers. Elijah the prophet offered a kind of competition between himself and the pagan priests. The sacrifice…

I had some brilliant ideas for this weekend’s sermon. But when yesterday at six in the morning my alarm clock automatically turned on the radio I was petrified by the news from Norway. Since the attack on New York in 2001 somehow we’ve got used to news about bombings. In some ways all those bomb attacks were dehumanised because of…

Some time ago the ‘voicemail hacking’ scandal started as the rather seemingly bizarre allegations from various celebrities. Revelations about so-called super-injunction – a legal way of covering up private matters of well-off people – didn’t help to take the scandal seriously, but rather as the peculiar moaning of some famous individuals. Everything changed with the news about hacking the phone…