Incredible but true: this year sees us celebrating our 15th Wedding Anniversary... and whilst Phil's been busy losing his teeth and going bald, Sue doesn't look a day older. Good news for teeth, however: Phil's had his front tooth gap fixed! (No joy with the hair-restorer, though).
In Print Again
Last summer we reported the publication of Sue's contribution to the Concise Encyclopedia of Language and Religion — but this year we're thrilled to announce the imminent publication of Linguistic Analysis of Biblical Hebrew, from Paternoster Press at the much more reasonable price of £19.99!
Reserve your copy now via the LBC Bookshop, email bookshop@londonbiblecollege.ac.uk
Also available from Amazon UK or Wesley Owen or any other good bookshop.
Into Hospital
On September 9th Sue returns to the Nuffield Orthopaedic Hospital in Oxford for an operation to remove the pins & plates from her left leg prior to a planned hip replacement in a few years time.
The Church have responded very positively with various folk willing to look after things in her absence. One of Sue's emphases has been training and encouraging people to think for themselves and be less dependent upon the priest!
Further afield...
Leicester
Thank you to everyone who's been praying for Linda, Phil's sister-in-law, and her family. Please continue to pray: the remission we referred to in our last newsletter didn't last long and the battle between cancer and chemotherapy continues.
Fetlar
With the phenomenal success of Island Song behind her, Mother Mary Agnes is now working on her fourth book.
The community are having a very busy summer with visitors, a sharp contrast to last year when the travel restrictions imposed due to the Foot & Mouth crisis kept most folk away. Sister Mary Cuthbert is making the most of the fine weather to bring her garden under control. The latest additions to the community are several chickens.
UK Christian Bookshops Directory
With more than 400 Christian Bookshops listed across the length and breadth of the country and its own web address — www.christianbookshops.org.uk — the UK Christian Bookshops Directory has become firmly established as the leading search site for anyone looking for their nearest Christian Bookshop.
The site is now financed by voluntary subscriptions from the shops and sponsorships from various Christian companies, but registration and listing remain completely free of charge. If your local Christian Bookshop isn't listed, please tell them about it and encourage them to register: it's an ideal way to get online if they haven't got a website already or to get some free publicity if they have.
St Matthew's Online
Phil's other web projects have been reconstructing the St. Matthew's website,
www.stmatthews-yiewsley.org.uk and creating a website for our local branch of the Council of Christians & Jews, www.ccj-hillingdon.org.uk
You'll always find our latest news on the St Matthew's site, with details of what the church has been up to and has planned — don't forget to sign the online Visitors' Book when you visit!
As we've said before, feel free to give Phil a shout if you need any help setting up a website for your church. It's a superb resource for the church community, both for keeping in touch with members who've moved away and as a window for folks who might want to take a look before committing themselves. No church in the 21st Century should be without one.
Holiday Time
Have you booked your holidays yet? We went to sunny Brighton for the day at the end of July, a very pleasant day out before the rains came back for August. Next on the agenda is a trip up the Grand Union in September — just before Sue's operation — to explore the Aylesbury Arm.
Look out for us on Almost in September if you live along the Grand Union — feel free to flag us down and hitch a ride for a day (though you'll need to find your own way back to wherever you intercept us at the end of the day!).
With our love, prayers and best wishes,
