sermons

sermon archive
Recent sermon texts are available here to download as PDF files

OPEN SOURCE SERMONS We used to say that the texts of sermons and addresses from St James's were copyright protected and that if you wished to use them in anyway you had to ask the author. We have woken up to our mistake, and now practice 'open source sermons'. 'All things come from you, and of your own do we give you' is a phrase in our liturgy, which underlines that all we possess, create, produce and think arises only because of what we have freely received in the first place. We are advised to still show the copyright claim but want readers to feel free to use whatever they find in our sermon texts as they wish. Should you choose to let us know of any use you put them to, we would be delighted to hear from you - but that is not obligatory. The St James's Clergy.

The above is what wordle made of a recent sermon preached at St James's

2008

2009/10

6 January 2008
He went that way...
(Hugh Valentine)

13 January 2008
The grace of submergence
(Charles Hedley)

20 January 2008
The funny side of Lambeth,
an untimely loss and a gig
(Lindsay Meader)

27 January 2008
Turning round the ship
(Charles Hedley)

3 February 2008
Presentation and purification
(Charles Hedley)

10 February 2008 |Lent 1
Breath in and Exile
(Meg Johnson)

17 February 2008 | Lent 2
The Point of No Return
(Lindsay Meader)

24 February 2008 | Lent 3
The experience of
'exile through theology'
(Charles Hedley)

3 March 2008 | Lent 4
Are we nearly there yet?
(Lindsay Meader)

21 March 2008 | Good Friday
Four addresses given during
The Three Hours Service

23 March 2008 | Easter Day
Charles Hedley

30 March 2008 | Easter 2
The Nature of Believing
(Charles Hedley)

6 April 2008 | Easter 3
Telling Tales
(the sharing of stories)
(Lindsay Meader)

13 April 2008 | Easter 4
Always choice
(Hugh Valentine)

20 April 2008 | Easter 5
The dangers in reading Gospels
(Charles Hedley)

27 April 2008 | Easter 6
If you love me
(Lindsay Meader)

1 May 2008 | Feast of the Ascension
The thing about feet
(Lindsay Meader)

4 May 2008 | Easter 7
Which way is up?
(Meg Johnson)

11 May 2008 | Feast of Pentecost (11am)
Pentecost - a celebration of our
liberation (not birthday)
(Hugh Valentine)

11 May 2008 | Churches Together
in Westminster Service (6.30pm)
Pentecost and Tectonics
(Charles Hedley)

18 May 2008
Dates and Dances for Trinity
(Charles Hedley)

25 May 2008
Doormats need not apply
(Lindsay Meader)

1 June 2008
Parable of the Building Regs
(Hugh Valentine)

8 June 2008
Mercy!
(Lindsay Meader)

15 June 2008
Starting Simply
(Charles Hedley)

22 June 2008
Looking for a Jam Sandwich
(Meg Johnson)

29 June 2008
The subtle precursors of
our violence
(Hugh Valentine)

6 July 2008 | Gay Pride
We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance
(Charles Hedley)

13 July 2008 | 324th Anniversary
of the consecration of the church
A barbarous brick-cased
and ill-shaped pile
(Hugh Valentine)

20 July 2008 | Trinity 9
The gnashing of teeth
and the Kingdom of God today
(Charles Hedley)

27 July 2008 | Feast of St James's
St James's Day
(Meg Johnson)

3 August 2008
The Final Countdown
(Lindsay Meader)

10 August 2008
Deconstructing the Gospel -
what would Jesus do?
(Charles Hedley)

17 August 2008
You have lifted up my head
(Hugh Valentine)

24 August 2008
St Bartholm-who?
(Lindsay Meader)

31 August 2008
Incorrectly corseted
(Hugh Valentine)

7 September 2008
A Baptism and a Difficult Gospel
(Charles Hedley)

14 September 2008
Forgiveness is good
for your health
(Meg Johnson)

21 September 2008/Feast of S Matthew
Credit Crunch:
"revenue better than gold"
(Lindsay Meader)

5 October
(Celebration of Harvest and the Creation)
Contexts and connections
(Hugh Valentine)

12 October 2008
Dressed for a marriage
made in heaven
(Meg Johnson)

19 October 2008
How to deal with rules
and live life as gift
(Charles Hedley)

26 October 2008
Layng down the law
(Lindsay Meader)

2 November 2008
Assume sainthood unless
otherwise notified...
(Hugh Valentine)

16 November 2008
Teething troubles
(Lindsay Meader)

23 November 2008
A New Year's resolution
(Meg Johnson)

30 November 2008
Three years on: the view from here
(Lindsay Meader)

7 December 2008
Evil One, you're nicked
(Hugh Valentine)

14 December 2008
The one where John
testifies to the Light
(Lindsay Meader)

21 December 2008
Fear not, and the power of myth
(Meg Johnson)

25 December 2008
Unto us a Chiles is born...
(Lindsay Meader)

28 December 2008
the Innocents: geogrpahy,
mayhem and the wisdom of God
(Charles Hedley)

4 January 2009
Matthew's epiphany
Lindsay Meader

10 January 2009
The Baptism of Christ: tearing
the sky open for Londoners
Charles Hedley

18 January 2009
Lesson from the fig tree
Meg Johnson

25 January 2009
Underground conversions
Hugh Valentine

1 February 2009
Presentation and pervasion
Charles Hedley

8 February 2009
Have you not heard?
Hugh Valentine

15 February 2009
The divine feminine:
speaking God's language
Lindsay Meader

22 February 2009
The Transfiguration of
Jesus and Church Meetings
Charles Hedley

LENT 2009 SERMONS: Voyages
The preachers will speak about
the uncertainties and the possibilities
that arise from going beyond boundaries.

1 March 2009 | Lent 1
With your feet off solid ground
Lindsay Meader

8 March 2009 | Lent 2
Beyond sentimentality
Hugh Valentine

15 March 2009 | Lent 3
My spiritual journey
Ian Lawton

22 March 2009 | Lent 4
Riding the tide in the sea of faith
Charles Hedley

29 March 2009 | Lent 5
Breaking through our own barriers
Meg Johnson

12 April 2009 | Easter Day
Easter Day Sermon
Charles Hedley

19 April 2009 | Easter 2
Believing beyond seeing
Meg Johnson

26 April 2009 | Easter 3
Sharing the stories and meals
that refesh us
Lindsay Meader

3 May 2009 | Easter 4
Alive to the Cornerstone of life
Meg Johnson

10 May 2009 | Easter 5
Abide in me as I abide in you
Adrian Alker

17 May 2009 | Easter 6
Honourable Members...
Hugh Valentine

24 May 2009 | Easter 7
Change, continuity and the church
in the world
Charles Hedley

31 May 2009 | Pentecost
Pentecost - the Great Awakening
Meg Johnson

7 June 2009 | Trinity
God as threefold
Charles Hedley

14 June 2009
Parable Farming
Lindsay Meader

21 June 2009
Father's Day
Andrew Teal

28 June 2009
Stonewall and our liberty in Christ
Hugh Valentine

19 July 2009
Orthona
Meg Johnson

26 July 2009
Patronal Festival & Valedictory
Charles Hedley

2 August
Living in the moment
Lindsay Meader

8 August 2009
Makeover mirage
Hugh Valentine

16 August 2009
Ashley Ashworth - text awaited

23 August 2009
Between a loaf and a 'thin place'
Lindsay Meader

6 September 2009
A Question of Perspective (1)
Hugh Valentine

13 September 2009
A Question of Perspective (2)
Lindsay Meader

20 September 2009
Another sermon about sex (the second
in a series preached by members
of our community under the general
title of Fumbling in the Dark: Faith and Sex)
Diane Crocker

27 September 2009
Rough Seas: No Refund for Motion Sickness
Hugh Valentine

4 October 2009
Francis, Harvest and the Giving of Our Lives
Hugh Valentine

11 October 2009
Visiting preacher - no text available

18 October 2009
Be careful what you ask for
Meg Johnson

25 October 2009
David Cox - Another sermon about sex (part of a series preached by members of our community under the general title of Fumbling in the Dark: Faith and Sex). Preacher's notes.

1 November 2009 | All Saints
Relics belong in museums
Hugh Valentine

15 November 2009
Entrances, exits and the bits in between
Meg Johnson

29 November 2009
That astonishing compliment
Hugh Valentine

6 December 2009
Advent: a time of hues and cries
Lindsay Meader

13 December 2009 | Advent 3
Puncturing our accustomed perceptions
Hugh Valentine

20 December 2009 | Advent 4
A tale of two Nicks
Lindsay Meader

24 December 2009
God favours particularities, not generalities
Hugh Valentine

25 December 2009
Christmas Day Sermon
Lindsay Meader

27 December 2009 | Feast of St John
It is possible, progressively, to
live truthfully
Hugh Valentine

3 January 2010
A season to savour
Lindsay Meader

10 January 2010
One epiphany and a skinny latte to go,
please
Hugh Valentine

17 January 2010
Transformation
Simon Parke