Purple magnolia

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward at the Church of All Saints, Orpington Sunday 13 December 2009, the third Sunday of Advent, year C Readings: Zephaniah 3.14-20; Philippians 4.4-7; Luke 3.7-18 Advent is a time of expectation. Our lives and relationships are full of expectations. I heard on the radio the other day the story of a daughter who didn’t fulfil her father’s expectations. The daughter is Patricia Scotland, who, after coming from the Caribbean at the age of 3, grew up as one of 12 brothers and sisters in Walthamstow. She became a lawyer, at 35 the youngest person to become a QC since William Pitt the younger. She is currently the chief government lawyer – and leaving aside a recent scandal when she failed to photocopy a document – throughout her career she has done a great deal of good for all sorts of people, work particularly inspired by her Christian faith, and which has resulted in a long list of awards and accolades. She did not, however meet her father

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Natasha Woodward at the Church of All Saints and the Church of Unity Orpington Sunday 22 Novembe 2009, Christ the King year B Readings: Daniel 7.9-10, 13-14; Revelation 1.4b-8; John 18.33-37 Here we are now in the last Sunday of the year, this feast of Christ the King. This feast doesn’t just come on its own, but it fits with some themes of the last month or so, this is one of those times when the natural world and the church world and the secular world come together. November starts with All Saints – the day after Halloween – All Hallows’ Eve – which is a celebration but also a time for thinking of those who have died and have lived especially holy lives. All Saints’ is followed by All Souls – traditionally 2 November, in this church marked on Remembrance Day in the afternoon with a memorial service – a service of mourning, for those who have died recently. And Remembrance Day is another occasion for thinking of those who have died, especially in war