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Do it your way

 —  James Oakley

Each quarter for the past 12 years, I've written a one-page article at the front of The Well, the magazine our church produces for the whole village community and distributes free of charge to every household.

Here is the "vicar's letter" from the most recent Summer 2021 edition.


Dear Friends

“And now the end is near, so I face the final curtain.” So begins one of Elvis’s most well-known songs, “My Way”.

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Leaving the Church of England in Kemsing for AMiE in Scarborough

 —  James Oakley

This coming Sunday, 11th July 2021, will be my last serving the people of Kemsing and Woodlands as their "vicar". When I announced in January that I would be leaving, I gave a presentation to explain my reasons for leaving the Church of England, and where I was going instead. This is that presentation.

Helpless at the hands of the majority

 —  James Oakley

As part of my sabbatical study, I've been reading the late Mike Ovey's book, Your Will Be Done: Exploring Eternal Subordination, Divine Monarchy and Divine Humility.

I'd forgotten Mike's love of the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville, and his concept of "the tyranny of the majority".

On page 119, Mike has a pertinent quotation from De Tocqueville's Democracy in America, I.xv:

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Appropriating Attributes to Persons of the Trinity

 —  James Oakley

My sabbatical study project concerns a specific aspect of Trinitarian theology. (See my earlier post outlining what I planned to study).

Before reading books on this specific topic, I've been reading some more general works on the Trinity. My thinking is very rusty, and I need to enter the world of Trinitarian thought again at greater detail.

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Travel Tips

 —  James Oakley

This blog post is part of a series jotting through my trip to Israel in June 2019. For contents page for the posts see the Introductory Post. If I've reported something incorrectly, please let me know via post comments (below) or my contact page. All photographs are Copyright © James Oakley, June 2019, unless indicated otherwise.


To round off, a few simple travel tips for those planning to visit Israel themselves.

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Plant Life

 —  James Oakley

This blog post is part of a series jotting through my trip to Israel in June 2019. For contents page for the posts see the Introductory Post. If I've reported something incorrectly, please let me know via post comments (below) or my contact page. All photographs are Copyright © James Oakley, June 2019, unless indicated otherwise.


I'm nearly done with Israel. But not quite.

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Food and Drink

 —  James Oakley

This blog post is part of a series jotting through my trip to Israel in June 2019. For contents page for the posts see the Introductory Post. If I've reported something incorrectly, please let me know via post comments (below) or my contact page. All photographs are Copyright © James Oakley, June 2019, unless indicated otherwise.

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Day 10, Megiddo

 —  James Oakley

This blog post is part of a series jotting through my trip to Israel in June 2019. For contents page for the posts see the Introductory Post. If I've reported something incorrectly, please let me know via post comments (below) or my contact page. All photographs are Copyright © James Oakley, June 2019, unless indicated otherwise.


Day 10 was leave-Israel day.

Time to say goodbye to the Sea of Galilee

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