‘I believe in angels/ Something good in everything I see.’
‘I sit and wait/ Does an angel contemplate my fate?’
‘I’m no angel, but please don’t think that I won’t try and try.’
‘Heaven must be missin’ an angel/ Missin’ one angel, child/ ‘Cause you’re here with me right now.’
‘Baby, you’re my angel/ Come and save me tonight.’....................

On July 22nd the Church celebrates the Feast of Mary Magdalene, possibly one of the best-known figures of the New Testament; but what, in fact, do we really know about her? Also known as Mary of Magdala, and probably from the town of that name, by the Sea of Galilee, Mary Magdalene has become famous as the prototype of the reformed prostitute and a principal witness of the resurrection. Portrayed by several classical artists in various stages of undress, she has become a somewhat notorious figure, presented by some as the lover of Christ and even as the wife he married after “coming to” in the tomb and escaping to lead a full and natural life. Leaving aside these later myths, the first part of this claim to fame is also very insecure......

As a curate, I was on the governing body of one of the local primary schools and chaired the teaching and learning committee. We were reviewing the Year 6 SATs papers, which newly included a test on Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPAG). It was the only time the deputy head ever let me near that particular paper, following my detailed rant against it, but he failed to regain control of it before I came across a question on fronted adverbials. I realised that I had no idea what a fronted adverbial was. Surely, I reasoned, if I had worked through various degrees and learned (to some extent) several foreign languages, never needing to know about fronted adverbials, this fell into the category of advanced linguistics rather than essential grammar?.....

​“The road is long, with many a winding turn, that takes us to who knows where ….” is the opening line of one of my favourite songs and it takes very little effort or imagination to apply it to my present situation. The road to Ordination is a long and often winding road strewn with “Pot-holes” to avoid and diversions to negotiate but some great “view-points” along the way too. Ordination, though, was not the final destination, only an important landmark and then the road led me on to St Johns where I served my curacy and loved every minute of it – certainly for the first two and a half years anyway. ......

Rev Phil Bradford was licensed as Priest in Charge of St John in Bedwardine in Worcester on 25th Feb 2018.

Another successful Community Breakfast was held in St John's.