Category Archives: history

View from Yerevan in The Tablet

Posted on August 12, 2022 by Gerry Lynch

It’s good to be in print in this week’s The Tablet (11 August 2022 edition) with a “View from Yerevan” – a piece about beautiful town planning, the revival and the absence of churches, losing a war, refugees from far … Continue reading →

Posted in Global, history, Journalism, World Politics | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on View from Yerevan in The Tablet

Proclaiming Forgiveness: Sermon Preached at St John’s, Devizes, Sunday 5th December 2021 (The Second Sunday of Advent)

Posted on December 5, 2021 by Gerry Lynch

Advent is a time of waiting; so is a pandemic. But God is working his purposes out, usually where we aren’t looking. Continue reading →

Posted in history, sermon | Tagged , | Comments Off on Proclaiming Forgiveness: Sermon Preached at St John’s, Devizes, Sunday 5th December 2021 (The Second Sunday of Advent)

Crumbling Empires and Eternal Bliss: Sermon Preached at St John’s, Devizes, Sunday 21st November 2021 (Christ the King)

Posted on November 21, 2021 by Gerry Lynch

I grew up when mighty empires crumbled in a matter of years; what does that tell us about the current crisis in the West, and following Christ as our King? Continue reading →

Posted in Amateur Radio, Christianity, history, sermon, World Politics | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Crumbling Empires and Eternal Bliss: Sermon Preached at St John’s, Devizes, Sunday 21st November 2021 (Christ the King)

Ecclesiastical History Rocks: 1960s Pentecostalism and Nigerian Anglicans

Posted on October 20, 2021 by Gerry Lynch

I spotted this interesting article and follow up letter in the Church Times when exploring its coverage of the 1968 Lambeth Conference. The article notes that the number of Anglicans in “the western part of Nigeria” was declining in favour … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglicanism, Christianity, Ecclesiastical History Rocks, history | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Ecclesiastical History Rocks: 1960s Pentecostalism and Nigerian Anglicans

A Soldier Shot on the Afghan Frontier, 1889

Posted on August 30, 2021 by Gerry Lynch

In Rochester Cathedral, a cross executed in memory of Lt Archie Harris of the Royal Engineers “[s]hot while in pursuit of a Pathan robber on the Afghan frontier”, 11 October 1889. History doesn’t repeat but it does rhyme. “A scrimmage … Continue reading →

Posted in churchcrawling, history | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on A Soldier Shot on the Afghan Frontier, 1889

Afghanistan Exposes the West’s Crisis as it did the Soviets’

Posted on August 19, 2021 by Gerry Lynch

This post originally appeared on Slugger O’Toole The Soviet Empire was undone by three things – firstly, overstretching itself, especially through the acquisition of a series of Global South satrapies from Nicaragua through Ethiopia to Vietnam in the 1970s and … Continue reading →

Posted in history, World Politics | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Afghanistan Exposes the West’s Crisis as it did the Soviets’

The Strange Death of Catholic Ireland

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Gerry Lynch

This piece was published in the print edition of Prospect magazine in July 2015. In the referendum held in Ireland on 22nd May, voters chose overwhelmingly—by 62 per cent to 38 per cent—to endorse a proposal to amend the country’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, history, Ireland, Journalism | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The Strange Death of Catholic Ireland