From the Rector - February 2026

Rector for Slate and Connect - April 2026

Good News at Easter

The news has been relentlessly bleak since the start of the year, and changing fast. If you watch or listen to news broadcasts regularly, the world seems like a very dangerous and unhappy place. The effect of war and conflict, poverty and oppression is undeniably awful. People are suffering, and the environment and natural world suffers too. Sometimes I find it helps to rebalance my intake of news by using other sources with different perspectives, and especially to read the excellent news magazine called ‘Positive News’, which presents stories which rarely make the headlines about the many good things happening in our world, and the people who are motivated to create change for the better. Current conflicts aside, the trends around the world are positive, with less absolute poverty, higher literacy, and longer life expectancy, as well as the rapid movement towards greener sources of energy. We should not loose sight of this.

The Christian celebration of Easter recognises both the good and the bad which make up human experience, and boldly proclaims the victory of love and life over hatred and death. The experience of Jesus which we remember in Holy Week is of threat, betrayal, torture and execution. This leaves us in no doubt about the reality of evil and wrong, which still blight the lives of so many. But Christian faith is built on the assertion that after three days Jesus rose from the dead, and is forever alive. Through baptism and faith in him we receive God’s promise of eternal life in Jesus Christ too.

The resurrection of Christ which we celebrate at Easter, this year on the 5th of April, is the reason for our conviction that whatever may happen in the world, or in our own lives, God’s love is always victorious. Come what may, life is triumphant, and we are invited to live in the power of this good news. The calling of the Christian is to make the victory of love present, even in the most troubled situations, and in our own times of loss or challenge. Come and celebrate the Resurrection with us this Easter!

Revd Ralph Williamson - Rector