Blog: Pictures-Books-Reflections | James Woodward

Seeing beyond the immediate: listening and learning alongside older people

Posted on 6 August 2023 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 community with a Church, primary school and a community of older adults living together. I […]

Space, Colour and Form in Kettles Yard : Reading Ways of Life by Laura Freeman

Posted on 30 July 2023 by James Woodward

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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 23 July 2023 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 any more books, but this one […]

Reading Scripture : On seeing and not seeing ?

Posted on 15 July 2023 by James Woodward

Do Small Groups Work? Biblical engagement and transformation Anna Creedon SCM Press 2021 The 2023 July Session of the Church of England […]

The Shaping of a Soul by Richard Harries

Posted on 14 July 2023 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 chaplain from 1987 to 1990 and now my life is enriched […]

Resourcing Ministry with Older Adults : BRF and Sarum College

Posted on 9 July 2023 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 moved towards […]

To Rest or not to Rest : Reading Alex Sooting-Kim Pang

Posted on 9 July 20239 July 2023 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 clear, persuasive and challenging book. It was like being […]

What does it mean to Age Well : Reading Ian Knox Finishing Well

Posted on 20 June 2023 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 learning are all present in the fourteen chap- ters of this book. His scope of reading […]

The Lessons of Life ? Inciting Joy by Ross Gay

Posted on 1 June 2023 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 ? Jurgen Moltmann, in Theology and Joy wrote “We may have fun, […]

Space and Time : Heschel on The Sabbath

Posted on 28 May 202321 May 2023 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 bookshelf that fits so well between table and […]

Burkeman on the lessons of Time

Posted on 20 May 2023 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 well – an early start and off to […]

From the Shores of Silence – Learning from feminist voices in Practical Theology

Posted on 17 April 202313 April 2023 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 significance in the academy. There have been landmark books, institutions and academics who have contributed to its […]

Transgressive Devotion : radical, original, unsettling theology at its honest best

Posted on 16 April 2023 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 I wanted to hear and learn something arresting […]

Close ( Film 2022)

Posted on 12 April 2023 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, Edgbaston and opposite the Warwickshire Cricket ground it was a happy […]

Reading David Whyte – Consolations

Posted on 11 April 2023 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 visit of President Biden to Ireland as they mark the […]

‘Bedtime’ Reading : Super- Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne

Posted on 30 March 2023 by James Woodward

Being confined to quarters while a bout of flu ( or something – I have never been very good at diagnosis ) and amidst cancelling appointments ( sorry ) and searching for paracetemol brings some gifts. Determined to leave the e mails to answer themselves ( wouldn’t that be nice) I decided to have a deep […]

In Praise of Living

Posted on 20 March 2023 by James Woodward

From time to time most of us, wonder how our lives might be brought to an end. This isn’t morbid or odd, but part of what it means to think about being human and reflecting on the shape and possible end of this one life of ours. Of course, I don’t feel particularly old, […]

Listening to your Soul Julia Mourant

Posted on 29 December 20225 January 2023 by James Woodward

Canterbury Press 2022 ISBN-13 9781786223364 Pb 144pp In these strange and unpredictable post lockdown days of uncertainty and weariness who do you turn to for support? Who listens to us ? How do we listen to ourselves ? At any point on our life journey how might we ‘make meaning’? This book opens up […]

Leslie Houlden 1929- 2022 : Sacerdos, amator Dei, Quaerēns

Posted on 22 December 2022 by James Woodward

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A Sermon delivered at the Funeral Eucharist of Leslie Houlden at the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin Temple Balsall 21st December 2022 at 12.30pm Leslie left clear and detailed instructions for his funeral. From time to time, they were updated – always with the heading: LH Funeral – no date assigned. It was […]