A Bermondsey weekend

Friday night and it was our men's night in the upper room at the Angel, with its spectacular views of the river and Tower Bridge.

Paul Brown, from City Hope Church in Bermondsey, was our guest speaker. It was the day that his wife completely out of the blue said 'I am going to go to church tomorrow' that started the sceptical and definitely non-believing bricklayer Paul on a journey that led him not only to embrace the Christian faith himself, but becoming a full-time sharer of the good news - which is what he does today.

It was a great evening, aided by the excellent food and drink served by the staff at the Angel.

Next day the sun was still shining and it was the St Anne's Summer Fair in the church gardens in Thorburn Square.

Here's bookstall supremo Ken, part of the St Anne's team who faithfully make the fair possible each summer. He's just sold me three books to read on my summer hols.

Next day was Sunday, and at St James, there was the chance to hear from Theophilia Shaw from the Centre for Theology and Community who had been at St Anne's the previous week.

We had previously heard Theo speak to the deanery synod and we were delighted that she could come to our two churches to speak to us about money management, debt, credit and what the churches can do about these important matters, all in the framework of Christian teaching about money.

Theo is a great speaker. She communicated well to our congregation. She got people working in small groups for discussion, and, after she has written a report on her Sunday visits, she will be coming back to speak to the two church councils in September.

After that it was our Ministry Team social in the vicarage garden - here's picture of the gang waiting for lunch to arrive: