Transitions and the Lifecourse Challenging the Constructions of ‘Growing Old’
Amanda Greener
256 pages, pbk £26.99,
Policy Press 2012, ISBN 978 1 84742 691 8.
I have been glad to revisit this book that explores the way we narrate age. I
Patience
Posted on by James Woodward
An absolute
patience.
Trees stand
up to their knees in
fog. The fog
slowly flows
uphill.
White
cobwebs, the grass
leaning where deer
have looked for apples.
The woods
from brook to where
the top of the hill looks
over the fog, send up
not one bird.
So ab
The Shrine Church of Saint Melangell
Posted on by James Woodward
Some places are etched into our lives in a way that draws us back. The Pennant Melangell valley is one of those spaces that has drawn me back for over two and a half decades. It is a liminal space with a tangible sense of the other and the spiritual. In all weathers and
What kind of leadership ?
Posted on by James Woodward
In the unchartered waters in which the Church finds itself a key responsibility of any leader is to be one who questions; a person who asks questions – of God, the Church and of the wider community.
Any leader at this time, but perhaps especially in t
Does Belief change in Old Age?
Posted on by James Woodward
On re-reading - Belief and Ageing :Spiritual pathways in later life
Peter G. Coleman (Editor) Paperback, 192 pages Policy Press Bristol 2011
I agreed to offering a session at this years Sarum Centre for Formation in Ministry on what the Bible might show
Seeing beyond the immediate: listening and learning alongside older people
Posted on by James Woodward
From 1998 through to 2009, I had the privilege of working with many hundreds of older people in an Almshouse charity. We lived together in rather splendid seventeenth-century buildings which were surprisingly adaptable for modern use. It was an intentional c
Space, Colour and Form in Kettles Yard : Reading Ways of Life by Laura Freeman
Posted on by James Woodward
This book was a present from a friend who had seen that I had visited Kettles Yard some few months ago. I have been hanging onto to it so that I can read slowly and carefully without interruption. What a treat it is ! I should say that I need no convincing of this space
Tell Me the Good Things : On Love, Death and Marriage by James Runcie
Posted on by James Woodward
There are, I confess, on my bookshelves a number of books that have been waiting to be read for some time. I bought this book last year after a rather arresting radio interview with James Runcie. There were a couple of connections that moved me into 'I don't need an
Reading Scripture : On seeing and not seeing ?
Posted on by James Woodward
Do Small Groups Work?
Biblical
The Shaping of a Soul by Richard Harries
Posted on by James Woodward
The Shaping of a Soul: A life taken by surprise
Richard Harries
John Hunt Publishing £18.99
(9781803411620)
I have read and now write about a man and his story from a privileged position. I worked with Richard as his first domestic chaplai
Resourcing Ministry with Older Adults : BRF and Sarum College
Posted on by James Woodward
If I have time on a Sunday morning it is (usually) good to catch up with the religious news of the week with the Sunday Programme. This was followed by a superb act of morning worship that marked the music of William Byrd on the 400th anniversary of his death. Just as I m
To Rest or not to Rest : Reading Alex Sooting-Kim Pang
Posted on by James Woodward
I was introduced to the book by Gillian Strain ( do take a look at her work www.gohealth.co.uk) and so ( albeit) reluctantly picked it up - mainly on Gillians recommendation rather than an enthusiasm to explore my own patterns of work/life balance. It is a
What does it mean to Age Well : Reading Ian Knox Finishing Well
Posted on by James Woodward
Ian S. Knox Finishing Well: A God’s-Eye View of Ageing
London: SPCK, 2020. Pp. xiv, 283. Pb. £9.99. ISBN 978-0-281-08349-7
Ian Knox is an experienced, wise and creative priest and evangelist. His love of people, life, scripture and learnin
The Lessons of Life ? Inciting Joy by Ross Gay
Posted on by James Woodward
What do you think holds us together ? What should be our attitude to these moments of living? What are we struggling with? Where is 2023 taking us - these moments of 'post pandemic weariness' ? Is the future welcoming ?
Space and Time : Heschel on The Sabbath
Posted on by James Woodward
Many books that we buy or borrow age. They have a shelf life. I have aways been interested in other peoples shelves - how they organise their books. This becomes especially acute when we age - which inevitably, for most means downsizing. What remain on that small booksh
Burkeman on the lessons of Time
Posted on by James Woodward
Four Thousand Weeks: Embrace your limits. Change your life. Make your four thousand weeks count Vintage 2022
What is your relationship to time ? How long is that To Do list ? And what about those good intentions we start any day with? This Saturday started quite
From the Shores of Silence – Learning from feminist voices in Practical Theology
Posted on by James Woodward
From the Shores of Silence
Conversations in Feminist Practical Theology
Edited by Ashley Cocksworth, Rachel Starr and Stephen Burns with Nicola Slee
SCM Press £30.00
(ISBN 9780334060963)
Practical theology has had a slow journey into securing some
Transgressive Devotion : radical, original, unsettling theology at its honest best
Posted on by James Woodward
I remember one of my university teachers sitting in on a seminar that I was leading some 20 years ago. He was attentive and appeared to be making careful notes. On the feedback form his only comment was, ‘clearly expressed and excellent engagement with the group, but
Close ( Film 2022)
Posted on by James Woodward
Gustav De Waele and Eden Dambrine as Rémi and Léo
On my post Easter travels I was glad to reaquaint myself with The Midland Arts Centre (https://macbirmingham.co.uk/) - a place of regular visits over twenty years of living in Birmingham.Based in Canon Hill Park
Reading David Whyte – Consolations
Posted on by James Woodward
We live in strange times. Listening to this mornings news adds to the complexity and anxiety. The junior doctors strike which informs us to avoid being ill this week. The advance of AI and its implications for our knowing and understanding. The preparations for the