Whalley Methodist Church

02/06/2026

Link to this week's meditation, picking up the theme of the living spirit of God, following Pentecost Sunday last week

https://youtu.be/CEwE9jKtnCc

All the scriptural images of the Spirit are dynamic—flowing water, descending dove or fire, and rushing wind. If there’s rarely any movement, energy, excitement, deep love, service, forgiveness, or surrender, we can be pretty sure we aren’t living out of the Spirit. Father Richard envisions the Holy Spirit as the "loving immensity of God’s presence within us".

To span the gap between Divine and human, God plants a little bit of God—the Holy Spirit—right inside us (John 14, 16 – 26); ‘the spirit of truth…you know him for he lives with you and will be in you’.

Music from Taize: Holy Spirit, come to us

Spirit of the Great Winds,
help me to hear your voice in the midst of the whirlwind of my life.
Grant me the trust to hold on while I am being buffeted by life’s storms.

Blessings of wind be upon me.
May my sails billow wide,
May I breathe deeply the gift of inspiration,
May I be carried to the place of my resurrection,
May I be fully free.

St Peter's Parish Church, Burnley Whalley Abbey Churches Together in Lancashire Trinity Methodist Church and Community Hub, Clitheroe Peter Lumsden Lancaster RC Diocese Blackburn Cathedral Diocese of Blackburn North West England Methodist District Building Bridges in Burnley Hyndburn and Ribble Valley

All the scriptural images of the Spirit are dynamic—flowing water, ...

01/06/2026

Monday evening meditation at 7pm with Peter Lumsden with thoughts on pentecost and the spirit of God. Contact Peter for details of Zoom login

27/05/2026

Link to this week's meditation, on Julian of Norwich, with a nod also to the feast of Pentecost
https://youtu.be/9oLgMxmzmlw

Julian lived in tumultuous times, and had some telling things to say about fear.

In no uncertain terms, Julian advises us not to go about in fear of what might happen, but rather to concentrate all our energies on loving and trusting God "mightily" in all that we think and do and say, here and now. "In God's love for us is our truest security and most reliable protection. And in our reverent fear of God -- and only God -- is our courage to live in freedom.

Love and [reverent] dread are brothers, and they are rooted in us by the goodness of our maker, and they shall never be taken from us without end".

Music from Taize 'veni sancte spiritus'

St Peter's Parish Church, Burnley Whalley Abbey Churches Together in Lancashire Trinity Methodist Church and Community Hub, Clitheroe Lancaster RC Diocese Diocese of Blackburn Blackburn Cathedral Hyndburn and Ribble Valley CVS North West England Methodist District

Julian lived in tumultuous times, and had some telling things to say about fear.In no uncertain terms, Julian advises us not to go about in fear of what migh...

22/05/2026

Peter Lumsden

22/05/2026

Link to this week's meditation: 'fear can keep you from hearing what's really being said'
https://youtu.be/XOosMnZsRMA

The opening chapter of Luke’s Gospel presents Mary as the archetypal Christian because God comes into her life and proclaims the divine presence within her, immediately telling her through the angel, “Do not be afraid” (Luke 1:30). Through the same divine Spirit, God comes into our lives and announces the divine presence within each of us. All we are asked to do is be present and open. Only after God calls Mary beyond her fear does God give the message of her calling.

Poem - Rumi, the Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

Music from Taize (Swedish)

Kristus, din Ande i oss
är en källa med porlande vatten.

Jesus, your Spirit in us
is a wellspring of life everlasting.

SSt Peter's Parish Church, BurnleyWWhalley AbbeyCChurches Together in LancashireTTrinity Methodist Church and Community Hub, ClitheroeNNorth West England Methodist DistrictDDiocese of BlackburnHHyndburn and Ribble Valley CVSBBlackburn Cathedral

The opening chapter of Luke’s Gospel presents Mary as the archetypal Christian because God comes into her life and proclaims the divine presence within her, ...

14/05/2026

“And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25

(Breathe in) Fill us with abundant love.
(Breathe out) That we might build each other up.

A contemplative breath prayer, from the The Methodist Church prayer handbook

14/05/2026

Today, Thursday the 14th of May, is the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, in the sixth week of Easter.

A morning chant, from the monks of Glenstal Abbey, who here sing Viri Galilei, the Antiphon for the Feast of the Ascension. “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? The Lord will return, just as you have seen him ascend. Alleluia.”

https://prayasyougo.org/prayer/i-am-with-you-always-12687

Churches Together in Lancashire Trinity Methodist Church and Community Hub, Clitheroe Whalley Abbey St Peter's Parish Church, Burnley Lancaster Methodist Church LMC Whalley Parish Church Building Bridges in Burnley English Martyrs, Whalley in Lancashire Peter Lumsden

Today is Thursday the 14th of May, the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, in the sixth week of Easter. The monks of Glenstal Abbey sing Viri Galilei, the Antiphon for the Feast of the Ascension. “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking ...

12/05/2026

Link to this week's meditation, Do not be afraid

https://youtu.be/85F8nv7ZVbI

‘Do not be afraid’ – a phrase repeated countless times in the Hebrew scriptures and in the NT. Clearly this is important, to be said so often. There must then be something within us that defers to fear. But, we can’t simply say to ourselves, “Don’t be afraid” because that in itself doesn't work. We have to go deeper, be curious about where the fear is coming from, and trust God with it.

Where might it be manifested? In the body, as a tenseness, a constriction; can we relieve this through our breath work? Sacred breath...breathe in peace, breathe out love.
In the mind, by the stories that we tell ourselves. The ego survives, protects itself, by contraction, self-protection, and refusal, by saying no. Can we challenge these thoughts; what am I afraid of? Is it worth holding on to? Is it even true?
Do we need to move from the mind to the heart, to the soul, to the true self, from the ‘no’ of fear to the ‘yes’ of love. The soul or the True Self does not proceed by contraction but by expansion. It moves forward, not by exclusion, but by inclusion.

Richard Rohr suggests that we use our practice of contemplation to carry us into the “Big River” of God’s love, enabling us to release our fears; trusting its visible embodiment (the Christ), the flow (the Holy Spirit), and the source itself (the Creator).

Music from Salt of the Sound: Overflow
https://saltofthesound.bandcamp.com/track/overflow for full video version

Beyond these walls is where my heart lies
As I walk help me to overflow in love
For love

Tear down these walls we built with our lives
That I would walk, that I would overflow to be loved
And to love

Hyndburn and Ribble Valley CVS Diocese of Blackburn Trinity Methodist Church and Community Hub, Clitheroe Lancaster Methodist Church LMC North West England Methodist District Churches Together in Lancashire Whalley Abbey Blackburn Cathedral Building Bridges in Burnley St Peter's Parish Church, Burnley

‘Do not be afraid’ – a phrase repeated countless times in the Hebrew scriptures and in the NT. Clearly this is important, to be said so often. There must the...

06/05/2026

Link to this week's meditation, with more on hospitality, combined with attitude to 'the stranger'

https://youtu.be/bxkZ1brXxbQ

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them.

At its root, hospitality means, most literally, welcoming the stranger, and the stranger in the ancient world was as often as not an enemy. The word for hospitality in the Greek New Testament is philoxenia, love of the stranger. Its opposite is xenophobia, hatred of the stranger. Philoxenia turns strangers into friends.

The core of Benedictine hospitality isn’t the material offerings. It’s the listening, presence and prayer that a guest encounters during their stay. The rule states “Keep in mind, a guest isn’t just a visitor. They may be seeking rest, healing or a deeper connection with God”. St. Benedict wrote “All guests are to be welcomed as Christ.”

Diocese of Blackburn John Atherton St Peter's Parish Church, Burnley Churches Together in Lancashire Trinity Methodist Church and Community Hub, Clitheroe Lancaster Methodist Church LMC Hyndburn and Ribble Valley CVS Blackburn Cathedral Whalley Abbey Peter Lumsden Building Bridges in Burnley

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near...