Serving God in the heart of our community since 1881

St Andrew's Church, Taunton

FWIW?

So what is this 'FWIW' bit about? If you are a member of any on-line forums or chat groups you will probably know that FWIW is an acronym: for what it's worth.  In the time that the site has been up and running I have tried various content from a number of sources.  Some I have been pleased with, some I have been less than happy with. It always takes me a long time to find the content, and I would really like to increase the amount of home grown material that is published. So welcome to FWIW - a contribution intended to reflect upon the experience of being a Christian, our spiritual home - St. Andrew's - and our life together. The title reflects the fact that I am unsure how this is going to turn out, or how it will be received.

It's written by me, but it is not intended to be about me - or only in as far as it is necessary to put something in context.  As I said above It is intended to be about the experience of a Christian who struggles with the whole church and faith thing, and if anyone finds that this rings bells for them then I'll be very happy.  The important thing is that I'm not holding myself up to be anything other than a normal member of St. Andrew's.  In fact, I did think of calling it "A View from the Pew" - but it seemed a bit corny and seemed to suggest it would be all about the church rather than life as a Christian in the broader sense. If reading this encourages someone else to have a go at writing a column for this site they are more than welcome to do so.

I'm not trying to compete with the eloquence and insight of Gordon Atkinson, the 'real live preacher' whose essays I'm privileged to reproduce in our weekly Colour Supplement, although he is certainly an inspiration for starting this project. Thank you Gordon.

Nor do I place my writing on a level with that of those bright young chaps at LICC who are so switched on to current culture, and so thoughtful about what it has to say to us Christians.

No, like all the best harvest suppers, this will be home grown, home made, and probably half baked (no offence intended to the St. Andrew's catering team!)

I've really no idea how this will turn out, but something has made me start it, and if you would care to join me in the experiment I would be delighted.  You can contact me with your feedback or thoughts through the 'Get in Touch' page.

Adrian

NOTE: I am the webmaster of St. Andrew's Church, not clergy or a reader.  I write as 'a man in a pew' and so you should not assume that I necessarily know what I'm talking about, or that what I say reflects the views of other people in our church. To see an index of previous weeks' FWIWs please click here.