Author Archives: Avril Hannah-Jones

Sermon: Christ is Risen!

Posted on April 11, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Today, Easter Sunday, is a day of celebration. It is a story of apparent defeat turning into a great victory; of sorrow becoming joy. It is about the triumph of life over death; love over hate. This year, of all years, in the midst of a pandemic, unable to gather together to celebrate, we need to hear this message. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Palm Sunday Protests

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

There can be no ‘Walk for Justice for Refugees’, which churches and community groups have held on this Sunday for years as our government’s attacks on people seeking asylum have got worse. We are seeing a very different Palm Sunday, a much more subdued one than we would normally experience. But its importance, its message, remains the same. Continue reading →

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Covid19 Diary 3

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Samuel Pepys: April 1, 1665 … to see how my Lord Treasurer did bless himself, crying he could do no more than he could, nor give more money than he had, if the occasion and the expense were never so … Continue reading →

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Sermon: Life and death and Lazarus

Posted on March 28, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

It is a story about death and darkness and mourning; about life and light and rejoicing; and so it is an almost uncannily suitable story for us to hear during this pandemic, as the world faces the prospect of thousands upon thousands of deaths from COVID19. Continue reading →

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Prayer for Western Heights Uniting Church

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Loving God,
we know that ‘we, who are many, are one body in Christ,
and individually we are members one of another’.
Help us to continue to be that ‘one body’ in this difficult time. Continue reading →

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Covid19 Diary 2

Posted on March 23, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Of course, in a crisis, people now think they can only rely on themselves. Of course people don’t believe they can trust the government. The government has deliberately created the conditions in which hoarding happens; it’s a bit disingenuous for them to condemn it. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Who is welcome? The doubters; the faithful; the rule-breakers

Posted on March 21, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Ultimately we can have faith that one day, like the man born blind, Jesus will find us and that, with our blindness cured, we will be able to see him face to face. Continue reading →

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For the newsletter

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

The supposedly-Chinese (but probably really English) curse is: “May you live in interesting times”. Times have certainly become interesting! We do not know how COVID19 will affect us; we have already had to make changes to the way we live; … Continue reading →

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Covid19 Diary 1

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

There are so many other parts of my ministry, and of the life of the church, that would actually be dangerous at the moment. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Who is welcome? Foreigners and women

Posted on March 14, 2020 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Why is the story read this way? Because if this is not the story of a mincing and coy harlot who is trying to distract Jesus from her sins, then what we have here is a story of Jesus seriously engaging with a foreign woman who asks a theological question. Continue reading →

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