Getting off the never-ending ride – CCUC Pastoral Letter

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ

Well, the rollercoaster that we call life continues to roll on. It sometimes feels like a never-ending-ride, one day blends or even collides with the next, one moment you are doing okay and then yet another twist or turn enters your life.

For some of us we have not yet found the off switch for our ‘fight or flight mode’ that was triggered by the traumatic season we are living in. Marie and I have the pleasure of being in on a webinar (seminar delivered via the web) on this very topic of trauma. It is very interesting because Sandra Sellmer-Kersten made this very point – “that some of us have had the part of our brain that protects us from danger, the amygdala, triggered in this season and its still firing”. So, she says, we will find ourselves in either fight, flight, freeze, or fawn (become ultra compliant) mode, or a mixture of all of the above, until we can find a way to ‘deal with’ the trauma that has triggered us. You might say this is some psychological mumbo-jumbo but I regret to say its a well attested ‘fact of life’, like death and taxes. Continue reading “Getting off the never-ending ride – CCUC Pastoral Letter”

Weekly Pastoral Letter 4th April 2020

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ. Once again I borrow a greeting from the apostle Paul, but I do so in the full knowledge of the power of such a blessing.

Grace has many definitions, but the one I mean for this letter is ‘ may the power of God that transforms us from sinner to saint be upon you’ and peace, the wholeness of God the abundance of God revealed in and through Jesus Christ also be with you. So I say again ‘grace and peace to you’.

I also want to commend you. I have been deeply moved and encouraged by the way we are being church while we are scattered. Thank you for the way you are without prompting caring for one another, sharing encouraging words, praying, engaging with the scriptures in pairs over the phone, and meeting face-to-face-online. What a blessings! Continue reading “Weekly Pastoral Letter 4th April 2020”


“Do not be afraid to fail ~ be afraid to not try”