Christianity
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What was the bishop doing in Ilfracombe?
Lord William Cecil was the second son of the former Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury. His time at Oxford, which he enjoyed, suggested that he may not have inherited his father’s brains since he only managed a third class degree in...
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The power of love
What were you doing on Saturday 19 May this year? I think it’s quite likely that you were one of apparently two billion people throughout the world who watched on TV the wedding of Harry and Meghan in St...
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The mystery of time, space and God
When Rev. Michael Rogers moved earlier this year he told me that he needed to get rid of many books as there wouldn’t be room for them in his new home. So I decided to pop round to the...
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The genius of Henry Francis Lyte
Last month I wrote that Devon hasn’t produced many well-known hymn writers. But one of the greatest arrived in Devon from Hampshire early in 1822 at the age of 29 and, with his family, moved to Bramble Torr, a...
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The Devon hymn-writer who prepared a lantern for Christ
Next month sees the Ilfracombe Victorian Celebration from 13-17 June, with Victorian Songs of Praise at Pip and Jim’s on Sunday 17 June. Devon hasn’t produced many well-known hymn writers but Sabine Baring-Gould was an interesting and remarkable exception...
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Stories with the ring of truth
Every Easter when I re-read the stories of Jesus appearing to his disciples on the first Easter Sunday, I am convinced that no one could have made them up. Perhaps the most touching is the account of Jesus appearing...
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The secret of George Müller’s happiness
When I was young we used to sing a quaint hymn which began, ‘With harps and with viols there stand a great throng in the presence of Jesus, and sing this new song …’ It had a catchy tune...
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Boniface and the story of the Christmas tree
St Boniface, who was born in or near Crediton around the year 675, went on to play a central role in the conversion to Christianity of what we now call Germany. But he is also important as we think about...
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Richard Hooker and the Anglican way to worship
Heavitree, when I grew up there, had been for many years a suburb of Exeter. But when Richard Hooker (1554-1600) was born there, Heavitree was separated from Devon’s county town by fields and meadows. Richard Hooker proved to be an...
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From Devon to Canterbury
In the entire history of the Church of England there has only been one father and son who have both become Archbishop of Canterbury – and they have a strong Devon connection. The father was Frederick Temple, one of whose...
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