I wish you all happy New Year. A few years ago, my son helped me launch a website to host the monthly articles I write and I would be grateful if readers would be so kind as to visit the website and pass the latest article on to a friend by email or from a link on the site.
I started the column over twenty years ago believing that local people have a sense of attachment to their parish church and are sympathetic to the purposes of the Christian Church. Founded by Jesus and continued by his Apostles , Its purpose is to save humankind from its own devices and give us opportunity to regain the perfection and immortality for which we were created.
I also hope that rural settings help us recognise the importance of regular worship with neighbour in local communities in local church buildings left to us by our own ancestors..
I also had a desire to help parishioners distinguish between the current centralised and hierarchal practices of large religious organisations, and the simple trust, faith, and hope of the early Christian communities..
The tension between the practices of the early Christian church and those of international Churches are frequently raised in my articles, as is the tension felt between the demands of a centralised government catering for the majority in cities, and the needs of a rural parochial minority. I also express a belief in the essential goodness of people but have my doubts as to whether those personal virtues are fully transferred to the organisations they set up.
As I have aged, I have now realised that what is not known to the human mind is far greater than that what is known. Also, that the limitations of the human brain and likewise minds render total ‘knowledge impossible,
However, I believe that there are areas of existence which are outside our normal sensory and perceptive capabilities, and so I am loathe to draw any boundary around the universe and the body of knowledge that philosophy and physical science teach.
I suspect Shakespeare was right when he had Hamlet say to the rationalist Horatio, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
The articles try to explore life from a rural perspective with humour, and I hope readers find something to stimulate, entertain, and even agree with.
Thank you and my best wishes for 2026.
http://www.viewfromthepew.co.uk or https://viewfromthepew.co.uk or Pastoral Guide, Pauntley on YouTube
View from the Pew 