The science is clear. We are living in a warming world due to fossil fuel emissions. The world’s most vulnerable are already suffering...

How long, O Lord, while cities burn? How long while the earth is lowered into graves? Your disciples once said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” It is not hard to imagine asking the same. That instinct sits close to the surface — the desire to answer violence with something stronger, to call it justice, to feel certain we are right. You turned and rebuked them. And later, in a garden heavy with fear, you said, “Put your sword back in its p

There is a place for celebration. You feel it when the doors open. Music already rising, hands lifted, voices gathering strength together like fire running through dry grass. People arrive shaking rain from their coats, umbrellas stacked in the corner, latecomers slipping quietly along the rows, someone laughing too loudly near the doors. The room fills with the confidence of people who know how the story ends. God reigns. All will be well. The songs move easily in that direc

Word count: ~3,300 Estimated reading time: 16 minutes This essay is based on a talk given at St John’s Waterloo on 7 March 2026. ⸻ I am an Anglican priest in Leeds. I lead a community called Lighthouse — a church and charity for adults with multiple and complex needs, or as we often say, a family for those battered and bruised by the storms of life. Around 150 people call Lighthouse their church. It is a community of deep joy, fierce friendship, and stubborn belonging, but al