Povey Prattle

So there I was at aged 20, a pious Plymouth Brother preacher. The “Peebs” had no ordained ministers, but they had full time workers who were missionaries, evangelists, or bible teachers. They were not salaried, and lived “by faith” as they would say, depending on monetary gifts from the faithful. I decided to become a “full time evangelist” (big tents in my future!) and would therefore take myself to Bible College. For that I would need money, so I left my low pay job at the Westminster Bank to earn more money. I took a job at a small manufacturing company by the Feeder Canal. The company made small metal components for the emerging and primitive electronics industry. My job was to collect the “swarf” (metal shavings) from under the lathes, and put them into huge centrifuges which would separate the metal from the lubricating oil. Soon I was promoted to inspect the components, using hand tools. Then fate, or God, or my ego intervened. A “big time” evangelist Eric Hutchins decided...

I'd started a blog in January, but then forgot all about it! I've been (happily) busy today, to busy to be creative, so here is my first (January) blog entry. Philip Appleman O Karma Dharma, pudding and pie Gimme a break before I die Grant me wisdom, will and wit Purity, probity, pluck and grit Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind Gimme great abs and a steel trap mind And forgive, ye Gods, some humble advice These little blessings would suffice To beget an earthly paradise Make the bad people good And the good people nice And before our world goes over the brink Teach the believers how to think

The homeless in Sarasota have a choice at night. Sleep out. or sleep at the Salvation Army Night Shelter for $10 per night . That’s a lot of money if you are homeless and destitute. The Salvation Army is known as the “Sally”. I volunteer at Resurrection House which homeless people call “Res House”. Res House during the day. The Sally at night if you can find the $10, and if you choose to sleep there. Some people sleep out, either because they have no money, or because they hate the Sally, or because they cannot or will not keep the Sally’s rules, or because they choose to “live free”. (Some wealthy people also choose to “live free”, but they are more skilled in covering their traces). Sleeping out, or sleeping at the Sally , homeless people come to Res Hous e during the day, Mondays through Fridays. Please meet some of them. M is in her late seventies. She receives Social Security payments. She is estranged from her son. M could afford to sleep at the Sally, but she chooses t...

I was feeling a bit out of sorts today. I overslept, and as a creature of habit, that set me off on the wrong foot. For once I was finding it hard to be relaxed and patient at Resurrection House. The House was mobbed, partly because this was “‘bus pass day” when subsidised weekly ‘bus passes are sold for $2. That always draws a crowd. Another agency was in the House, offering free AIDS tests, with a bonus of a $10 supermarket gift token for those willing to be tested. That drew another large crowd. Anxiety levels were high, no one wanting to miss out on the ‘bus passes or the supermarket gift tokens. (Would I queue for 2 hours to get a $10 voucher?) One guest became verbally abusive when I caught him “jumping the shower line”. And my dear B, a woman in her seventies was asked to leave as she was breaking one of the rules - an important rule. But I hated to see her leave in tears. I came home quite “grumped out”. I’d been invited to a Hallowe’en party, but I wanted to stay home. ...

In 1971 I was “approved for training” as a Church of England Priest. The Bishop of Bristol, my home Diocese, was the Rt. Revd. Oliver Tomkins, a distinguished ecumenist. Bristol was, and is thought of as a second rate Diocese, and this appointment was not considered a plum. I never met Dr. Tomkins as all his “discernment” work was handled by a Diocesan Director or Ordinands. My first D.D.O was Geoffrey Paul, later to become Bishop of Hull. (His daughter Jane is the wife of the present Archbishop of Canterbury). Canon Paul left Bristol, and I was now supervised by Canon Peter Coleman. He was a straightforward Priest, and a fine theologian. He later became Bishop of Crediton. So off I went to Seminary in 1972, having never met my Bishop. In 1973 Bishop Tomkins hosted the first South West Ecumenical Congress in Bristol. All his seminarians were drafted into service, and as a car owner I was designated as a chauffeur. On a Saturday morning I was sent to the Bishop’s House to drive a ...

A frequent reader of this blog asked me by e-mail if I had ever met Archbishop Desmond Tutu (see “Silence equals “Consent - below). I heard him speak when I was a Deputy to the General Convention of 1985 in Anaheim, CA. (I roomed with my recently deceased friend Bruce Wirtz at that Convention). Bishop Tutu was electrifying. There was a large crowd in a Hotel Ballroom, and he stood us on our heads. About three years ago the Archbishop was in residence for a semester at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, just down the road from my parish, St. James’s. I was at lunch at E.D.S. one day with one of the Professors, my friend the Revd. Dr. Andrew McGowan. Archbishop Tutu came into the refectory, and I said to Andrew “would it be gauche of me to ask you to introduce me to the Archbishop”. “Of course not” replied Andrew, and he walked me over and introduced me to +Desmond. After a bit of chit-chat I did the customary thing, and asked Archbishop Tutu to give me his blessing. I kne...

Bristol, England people have always taken great pride in their City. It has an old maritime and trading history and was so prosperous by 1373 that it was made a County. Hence I grew up not in Gloucestershire, nor in Somerset, (the adjoining historic Counties) but in the “City and County of Bristol”. Nonetheless, the Gloucestershire County Cricket Club played its home games on the “County Ground” in Bristol, and the Gloucestershire Regiment (the “Glorious Glosters”)had their chief Barracks in Bristol. There are at least 10 "Bristols"in the U.S.A, one indeed in Florida! Bristol was a slaving port, and Massachusetts State Representative Byron Rushing (an expert on the slave trade) tells me that “Bristol Shackles” were highly prized. Bristol was an entrepot for wines, tobacco and cacao: hence the Bristol of my youth was famous for Wills’ Tobacco, Fry’s Chocolate, and Harvey’s “Bristol Cream” Sherry. (Bristol, believe it or not, still has ancient wine cellars on Denmark Street...