Michael Sadgrove 🇪🇺
@MichaelSadgrove
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Pilgrim, priest & ponderer. Former cathedral dean. European in North East England.
Northumberland.
Joined December 2011
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I am being admitted to hospital tomorrow for cardiac surgery on Monday. So I won’t be posting here for a while. I look forward to being back before too long.
Your thoughts, and maybe a lighted candle, will mean a lot to me. Thank you. Pax et bonum.
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Dr Ian Paul
@Psephizo
asks: “What is the Bishop of Oxford
@Steven_Croft
thinking?”
I guess it’s something like this.
“For the love of God is broader
Than the measures of man’s mind;
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.”
Profoundly simple & simply profound.
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Something very moving about
#GarethSouthgate
as he goes round his team tenderly embracing his disconsolate players. Gentle, dignified, humane.
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“Like cold water to a thirsty soul,
so is good news from a far country.”
(Proverbs 25.25)
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Just seen responses to a post from a woman who has just been ordained an Anglican priest.
Most send blessings & good wishes.
But so many spit out rancour, sarcasm & vitriol.
Dissenters: your shameful hate speech does you no credit.
Female priests & bishops: do not lose heart!
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The diseased theology that inspires these homophobic messages is beyond belief. Prayers & affection for
@RevRichardColes
in his loss.
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So the UK is going into exile. I must accept
#Brexit
& live with it. It will be bitter for me personally &, I think, the nation collectively. Good people of all faiths & political views must come together for the sake of the planet, for peace & for the poor, & keep hope alive.
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Hello everyone, I’m now home again after 3 weeks in hospital. First of all, *thank you* so much for all the kind messages you’ve been sending, and for all your thoughts, prayers, lighted candles and good wishes. They have meant more than I can say. I have felt truly “held”. 1/
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One more week in the EU. When I’m given 50p
#Brexit
coins in my change I shall donate them to
@RefugeeAction
.
I am only alive because my Jewish mother escaped from the Nazis & found safety in the UK.
The UK must always be a European sanctuary for refugees & asylum seekers.
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Outclasses every other
#Christmas
message I’ve heard. She shares her Christian faith journey in a way that’s both contemporary & inclusive. Personal, empathic & humane with not a word wasted. A model for preachers.
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On
#BenjaminBritten
’s birthday, here’s an example of his kindness & musical encouragement to young people. Never expected a reply from the great composer!
#StCeciliasDay
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I've been involved in leading such a service all my ministry. It's called *choral evensong*.
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Very sorry to read this from
@Traidcraft
. A visionary, far-sighted enterprise that not only made a difference in fair trade practice but has helped shape western Christian attitudes to global poverty.
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Installed as dean on this day 2003. Always grateful for nearly 13 years at
@durhamcathedral
.
#StCuthbertsDay
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“The Eucharist is not a cheerful gathering of nice people who sing songs & feel good. It is an outrageous expression of hope in defiance of everything that could destroy it.”
Timothy Radcliffe in
@The_Tablet
.
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The conclusion to today’s open letter from
#SamWells
to
@pritipatel
about her plans for
#AsylumSeekers
arriving in the UK.
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The world is an emptier place for the death of the marvellous
@Digitalnun
Sr Catherine Wybourne, spiritual guide & friend to so many around the world who followed her online. Farewell in God. Rest in peace. And thank you.
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Farewell pretty bluebird. Welcome X.
When I saw you, do you know what you reminded me of? The Greek letter χ. Which as everyone knows, is the initial letter of Χριστός, Christ, and one of the most ancient of Christian symbols.
A thought to cheer up Twitterati of faith?
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Hope churches of all denominations will be kept unlocked during the
#RedWeatherWarning
period. Their cooler interiors could be places of safety for anyone at risk from the heat. They may save lives!
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Most cloying sentiment of the year heard on
#Christmas
#SongsOfPraise
:
“Home for Christmas you should be,
Home with friends and family.”
New lyrics to the tune of Hark the Herald as sung by Katherine Jenkins.
I felt for the lonely, the bereaved & the homeless at Christmas.
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Thank you for kind wishes, thoughts & prayers. I’m to have open-heart surgery to replace my failing aortic valve, reconstruct the aortic root and do a coronary artery bypass. At the Freeman I’m in good hands. Surgery scheduled for the end of May. Thank you again for your care. x
Day long pre-op assessment at the
@FreemanHospital
yesterday. So many interviews & tests, all managed extremely efficiently. Staff couldn’t have been more professional & friendly. A caring, hospitable institution. Thank you.
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Dear Secretary of State
@trussliz
, there may be more than 2,500 signatories to this letter but they do not speak for me. Nor, I think, for the majority of bishops, clergy & lay people in the
@churchofengland
.
#BanConversionTherapy
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News that a friend died today. I walk out into a bleak landscape. Nothing stirs except the swollen burn singing its way to the Tyne. In the wood I stop at a little bench, white now, all forlorn. But I know the words I’d see if I brushed away the snow. “Love life.” She did. RIP.
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I wish
@giles_fraser
were wrong. I really do. But as a superannuated parish priest, theological educator & dean, I share his fears about the
@churchofengland
’s direction of travel. Maybe I’m just getting old.
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In the next fortnight I shall be forced out of my family. It nurtured me, protected me, enriched me, broadened my horizons, gave me my identity. I owe so much to it. Too soon, it will be time to say farewell.
Who else feels the personal pain of
#Brexit
?
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The virus has taken my first cousin’s husband. There are no words, only thoughts & faltering prayers to hold Colin, Judith & their family at this bitter time. *Our* family.
#Covid19
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Remember winters like this?
What wouldn’t we give for a blocking high over Northern Europe to bring us a spell of crisp, clear weather instead of days without end of clarty claggy soddenness?
Here’s a beautiful memory to lift the spirits at the year’s end!
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In support of the admirable
@ShekuKM
. One of our country’s finest musicians & ambassadors for culture & the arts. The abuse of him is sick & hateful. Please RT your own support.
Replying to the barrage of racism against my son
@ShekuKM
this week. So many feel it’s ok to call for deportation, flogging, sending him ‘back to Africa’ and to use ‘Ni**er’ against someone trying to engage in a conversation about music and inclusion. Horror, rage, heartbreak.
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The
#Transfiguration
Window in
@durhamcathedral
by Tom Denny, installed in memory of Michael Ramsey, Bishop of Durham 1952-1956. The Transfiguration, the revelation of Jesus’ glory on the mountain, was a key theme in Ramsey’s theology.
Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration.
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As duty organist, chose the hymns for thus morning’s service (in consultation with the ministers). As we had not sung “Of the Father’s heart begotten” over Christmas, we had it at the offertory today. Who else thinks it’s the greatest Christmas hymn in the book?
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By dying at Balmoral,
#QueenElizabeth
has bequeathed a gift to the
#Scotland
she loved: that all of us in the UK & the world are seeing the nation & its people, its Church, Parliament & other institutions at their very best.
@churchscotland
@ScotParl
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This horrid rhetoric of
#SavingChristmas
- it’s
#Christmas
that saves us! Whatever the R number may be on 25 December.
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This sounds old-fashioned. But I do not like it when my country is brought into disrepute & made to look ridiculous to the world. It does not take an inquiry to realise the reputational damage that’s been done. Let alone the erosion of trust.
#PartyGate
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Welcome to Theo = ‘gift of God’. A 4th beloved grandchild alongside brother Gabriel & cousins Isaac and Maddie. Thank you,
@pippasadgrove
& Arriel! You have brought us a sign of hope in dark times.
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#DonaldTrump
has left the White House for the last time.
#JoeBiden
has been attending Mass. The world feels lighter already.
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Privileged to preach at his consecration last year. He is a good & wise bishop, a man of the utmost integrity.
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“Let my people go” says
#BorisJohnson
.
A better text would be, “By the waters of Babylon we sat down & wept”.
Not exodus so much as exile.
This is
#Brexit
.
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First opportunity to appreciate the newly opened up west nave porches of
@durhamcathedral
with their Romanesque decoration fully revealed. Creates a marvellous sense of occasion on crossing the threshold into this extraordinary space.
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Rumoured that
@realDonaldTrump
is planning to recognise
#Winchester
as the capital of England, as it was before the Norman Conquest.
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Read an article describing us retired ppl as “economically inactive”. I bridle. True, I’m not in paid work or seeking it. But I have a pension, consume goods & services, travel, give to charity & volunteer (which has financial value). Most importantly, I pay taxes. Inactive? Moi?
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“I don’t think anyone can feel God. Those who believe in him most are most aware of his non-feelability, as it were. God is such a total mystery. My heart sinks when the word God is bandied around glibly.” Yes!
#SisterWendyBeckett
RIP.
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Granddaughter Maddy now has eight fish in her tank. She has announced their names as Fishy, Fishy, Fishy, Fishy, Fishy, Fishy, Fishy & Tiddler.
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For every vicar with the courage to say this, there must be scores of devoted parish clergy who feel it & silently succumb to despondency & debilitation. Time to lift this Pharaonic burden.
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“I am no longer my own but yours. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing.”
Is there a prayer more scary than the Methodist New Year Covenant?
Someone said that the problem of Christianity is that it’s never really been tried yet.
@BBCRadio4
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What sustains faith at dark times like these?
The music of Bach.
The poetry of Donne.
The art of Rembrandt.
The sweetness of the coming spring.
Laughter & the love of friends.
The sheer wonder that I am alive to enjoy & speak of the beauty of things.
And so much else.
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We are in a time of high anxiety. So I’m going to tweet a daily photo to calm the spirit & give a focus for meditation.
#Coronavirus
#Covid19
#ImagesOfCalm
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Our loyal friends in the EU. Why did we treat them so badly?
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It takes courage to come out as gay in professional football, but
#JakeDaniels
will be free to marry a same-sex partner.
It takes courage to come out as gay in the ordained ministry of the
@churchofengland
, but a priest who does will not be free to marry their same-sex partner.
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In my mind, listening to BBC news just now: “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone” (John 8.7).
We must try to understand, not rush to condemn.
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Spend an hour by phone with a friend, an archdeacon. He speaks lovingly about his ministry among parish clergy & local communities. Helps restore faith (mine) in the creaking C of E. Archdeacons are the salt of the church. They should be heartily thanked. He knows who he is.
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“It’s a year since I heard a hymn sung, but it’s strange how, if we focus on it, the music we hear inwardly can almost surpass what we hear physically. It has a greater purity, as if it has acquired a new body.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer in prison, 1944.
#Lockdown
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A young man’s coffin is received into church across the road. He appears to have taken his own life. Who knows what sorrows he silently bore? What sorrow his parents & family will bear for the rest of their lives? It is hard to imagine. I can only pray: RIP.
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Well done to any vicar who did *not* welcome today’s churchgoers by congratulating them on arriving at the right time.
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27 July 1974, Hawes Parish Church, North Yorkshire.
In gratitude for 50 years of marriage to
@JennySadgrove
.
“Love is strong as death.”
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Am awaiting surgery. Timely arrival of NHS communications is vital.
I don’t understand why they can’t be sent by email, text or WhatsApp (where patients are willing). Would mean instant delivery & huge savings.
Is there a good reason, in a digital age?
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#MikeBarton
was Chief Constable of
@DurhamPolice
. His outstanding leadership was admired nationally. When he calls the proposed new
#ProtestLaws
a retrograde & repressive step, the Govt should pay attention.
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“This lamb is not dumb, as 19th-century restorers made it seem. Now it is revealed as God, man and sacrifice; a medieval idea painted in a modern & uneasy way. What the restorers have done is to recover the weird & wonderful genius of Jan van Eyck.” Yes!
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“They use words like swarm and invasion, criminals, rapists. They say ‘stop the boats’ but there are people on those boats. Those are human beings and it seems we have to remind ourselves of that sometimes.”
@GaryLineker
is a national treasure.
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Today I begin a new role in retirement: volunteering one afternoon a week in a charity shop. My mother did this to the age of 90. If spared, this could keep me occupied till 2030.
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As a fellow C of E priest I urge
#PaulaVennells
to do the right thing & acknowledge, without qualification, “I’m accountable. I’m sorry for what I allowed to happen on my watch”. It’s not the CBE that matters but the words the sub-postmasters long to hear.
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The best religious broadcast of the day, the wonderful
#ThreeVicarsTalking
@BBCRadio4
. Wisdom, laughter, candour, spirituality & kindness - all this is gospel. Listen on
@BBCSounds
.
@revkatebottley
@RevRichardColes
@giles_fraser
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“If I were in parish ministry now, I would not be wanting to implement big plans or shiny new initiatives. I would be hoping for a gentle
#HolyWeek
, a modest Triduum, an
#Easter
joy no less real because restrained.”
Well said
@AngelaTilby
(in
@ChurchTimes
this week).
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Not sure this quite captures the spirit of
#HolyWeek
for me.
This Holy Week, we're inviting you to church. ⛪
With many services and events happening in your area, find one that's right for you at .
#WatchAndPray
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An
@LNER
London-Edinburgh Azuma at
#HaydonBridge
yesterday on a weekend of East Coast diversions along the Tyne Valley Line.
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Is
@PetrocTrelawny
a new
#Dimbleby
? His TV commentary from
#WestminsterHall
is pitch-perfect: humane, sensitive, respectful, well-observed, warm, yet avoiding the clichés of deference. Thank you
@BBCNews
.
#QueenElizabeth
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Gathering the night before a family funeral, we discuss the readings at the service. One is Hardy’s Darkling Thrush. “Read it to us, Michael.” The book is put into my hand. I begin, but can’t get beyond the 2nd stanza. My wife finishes it for me. Such is the power of poetry.
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Butterfield’s acknowledged masterpiece:
@ASMSLondon
(All Saints, Margaret Street). Consecrated in 1859, it is an outstanding essay in Gothic Revival. The scale, proportions & massing of the church’s entrance convey the architect’s achievement on this highly constricted site.
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“I want to see a gender-neutral marriage canon… As a necessary first step, I want to see conscientious freedom for the church’s ministers & local leaders to honour, recognise & bless same sex unions.” Courageous affirmation. Thank you
@paulbayes
.
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We who care about the parish system of the
@churchofengland
& want to save it are not all ‘traditionalists’! Engaging seriously with place, geography, nation, society & locality are all aspects of what we value in the idea of ‘parish’.
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This thought came to me after surgery.
While I was asleep, other human beings looked right inside me, saw parts of my body I have never seen for myself & shall never see. They set eyes on what I know only by inference, that I am “fearfully & wonderfully made”.
Such miracles!
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The shrine of St Cuthbert at
@durhamcathedral
. 20 years ago on
#StCuthbertsDay
I was installed as Dean. It was the day the
#IraqWar
began. All day I was rewriting my sermon as events unfolded. We prayed in this holy place for peace & reconciliation. As we continue to do.
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Not a bishop suddenly finding his voice on retiring.
@paulbayes
has been consistent in speaking out courageously for years. The nation & the
@churchofengland
are all the better for his episcopate. Thank you & farewell.
@LivDiocese
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‘Cowardice asks, is it safe? Expediency asks, is it politic? Vanity asks, is it popular? But conscience asks, *is it right*? And there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but because it is right.’
Martin Luther King Jr.
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Ex PM
#JohnMajor
says it all. Just don’t get how the
@Conservatives
can have sunk so low.
#OverseasAid
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Try to listen to this early in 2018. Will help us to walk into the new year with courage & hope.
@bbcradio4
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Then to Lanercost Priory, a fine Augustinian house just over the border in Cumbria.
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“It’s not often we can say we’re making history in a cathedral as old as this.” 10 years ago today
@durhamcathchoir
’s girl choristers sang evensong for the first time. One of my best days as dean at
@durhamcathedral
.
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Am I alone in being entirely happy *not* to have to sing hymns in church?
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The unfreedoms of gay clergy bring discredit to the
@churchofengland
in its quest to be a contemporary, inclusive church. Until this discriminatory injustice is put right, the Campaign for
#EqualMarriage
in the C of E deserves our wholehearted support.
@campaign_cofe
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The state of things in health & social care. The Govt knows this & we do too, so it’s not news. But it should be, every single day.
@doctor_oxford
’s new book, “Breathtaking: inside the
#NHS
in a time of pandemic” is eye-opening & moving. And hard-hitting. It needs to be.
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Uncomfortable about the Govt announcing political honours on the solemn day millions honour the Man who took his place with the despised and rejected, and was crucified between two thieves.
#GoodFriday
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Very sad to learn of the death today of
#RichardSeal
, beloved Organist & Master of the Choristers at
@SalisburyCath
1968 - 1997. A consummate musician, he was one of the kindest, most generous - & most modest - people I’ve ever known. Thankful for so many rich memories. RIP.
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Walk safely through 2023.
Walk with one another.
Walk with all humanity.
Walk with creation.
Walk with hope and joy.
Walk with God.
Happy new year!
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The
#DukeOfYork
once visited a cathedral I served in. He corrected in a peremptory way my (carefully researched) account of an aspect of its history. A senior officer later confirmed I’d been right all along. It rankled. But one does not argue with royalty.
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Beyond sorry that it has come to this. Ashamed of my nation.
EU citizens and their families will need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to continue living in the UK after 31 December 2020.
Find out more:
#Brexit
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