Busy May

Frederick Leighton, Flaming June

And, at the beginning of June, I can say I've settled in with pleasure.

I'm pretty regular at Christ Church, Walker, and at Common Ground where I've become volunteer volunteer co-ordinator (any enquiries, offers?).

I've been to the Cluny, more than once, the Tyne, and the Free Trade; to the Laing Art Gallery; to Northern Stage (twice) and to the re-opening of the Tyneside Cinema, though not yet to a film. Newcastle is a good place to be.

And I've done my first freelance funeral, to the annoyance of the Anglican Diocese who wish to protect the Anglican brand from boundary crossers.

Specifically I think the diocesan authorities do not want people who are Anglican priests taking non-religious funerals, or people who are not priests claiming to to be so as they take a funeral. From my self-interested perspective it seems to me that the brand they are protecting is not the kind of (and certainly not the quality of) the funeral but is the capacity of the Bishop to control who may and who may not claim to be Anglican. It's about episcopal power.

And I've finished a pamphlet for the MCU about the proposed Anglican Covenant (we're against it). It's been a busy month.