NEWSLETTER   JUNE/JULY 2026 MY WRITING LIFE

Writing Nicaea

It’s not altogether surprising I forgot the newsletter for June and, up till now, for July.  I have been working and thinking and writing very hard about the big story in Christian theology – the Council of Nicaea and the nature of God. A surprising and sometimes scandalous story 

 In May I had written about the pre-history of the Council.  Church schisms over discipline of those who had crumbled under the threat of persecution were as destructive as quarrels about the nature of God.  Here are the chapters I completed in these last two months: 

Constantine   Brilliant general, extraordinary administrator, (he built Constantinople in 6 years) and      (I believe) a sincere Christian.

The Council of Nicaea. The surprising fact is that the phrase which the bishops accepted, ‘homo-ousios’ of the same substance, was suggested by an unbaptised layman – the emperor, who did not speak good Greek.  Did it settle the matter?

An Imperial Tragedy.  The awful deaths of Constantine’s eldest son and wife.  Just what happened?

The Aftermath.  Who got pardoned, who got banished, who survived?

Powerful prelates. Have you heard of the Councils of Antioch and Serdica?  No?  It’s because they have been erased from the story by the Orthodox winners.  In an argument it is good to hear both sides.  The years 338 to 361 were dominated by bishops like Eusebius of Nicomedia/Constantinople, and Valens of Mursa and by the three sons of Constantine, who were anti-Nicaea.

Julian. The nephew who survived the family massacre and turned pagan secretly.  For one year the empire suddenly became pagan and the Church lost all its privileges.

Picking up the Pieces. What happened in Rome, Antioch, Constantinople and Alexandria?  A lot of disgraceful events. 

Basil.  An amazing man.  Converted by his sister, he founded Orthodox monasticism, created a city of social help and support for the poor, and wrote theology which squared the circle of undivided essence and individual realities in the Trinity.

Ulfila. The greatest missionary bishop in the history of the Church.  But he was against Nicaea and, at the end of his life, was sacked.

The Council of Constantinople.  How did the Council in 381 create our present creed?  Ir didn’t!  There is absolutely no contemporary evidence.  The chapter of ‘Beyond 381’, next month, explains.

Was Nicaea a Mistake? It pushed the Church down three unfortunate paths:  The Lure of Power; Making Shibboleths (who’s out and who’s in); and the ridiculous habit of Defining God.

Freezing

A problem I had throughout was the ‘spinning ball of death’, when my computer froze and kept on stalling.  Eventually I went to a John Lewis store and they explained the problem was not in my hard drive, but that my computer’s short-term memory was over-full.  Now I shut down the computer overnight.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.  Today it’s working.

Church

My normal church routine continued:  I am not supporting any interregnums on Sunday so am back to going to HTB Queensgate and St Mary Abbot’s on alternate weeks.  My last sermon was on 2nd June at the United Reformed Church in Kensington.

Informal lunchtime communion on Mondays at St Mary Abbots are a fixture.

So is celebrating a saint each Wednesday mornings on Zoom, with bread and wine and coffee.  We remembered Justin Martyr, Bernard Mizeki, Barbabas (the nicest person in the Bible), John the Baptist, Benedict of Nursia, and Mary Magdalene.

The Thursday Bible discussions on Zoom changed from fortnightly to weekly, with a strict time limit, so we discuss only as far as we want. It makes it all much more personal. At the moment we are going through Hebrews.  

Away

At the start of June I spent a weekend in Brockenhurst, the New Forest, specifically to spend time with two of my oldest friends, Dave from Rugby days (65 years) and Pam who I have known for 50 years.  

Linda invited me to two Friday afternoons at the Royal Festival Hall, first to learn Bollywood dancing and then to enjoy Reggae. She also arranged for me to have a yoga session with a tour of the Chelsea Physic Garden – a fascinating place.

In July we took Peter out for a birthday lunch at Box Hill.  While Peter and Linda drove back, I walked to Leatherhead, some 7.5 miles of quite rough walking.  It was a bit of a  test about whether I could do the five-day walk of the Camino to Santiago de Compostella in support of St Raphael’s Hospice next year. The answer is yes!  I did it in 3.5 hours!  The next step is to practice doing 15 miles.

I gave Linda a surprise for her birthday, five days at an unknown destination.  It was not until we reached Paris that I told he that we were staying at Amiens, a fantastic little city in Northern France.  It has the largest Gothic cathedral in France, the river Somme running in canals along the mediaeval streets and an enormous area of semi-drained marsh called ‘les hortillonages’. 

And free deckchairs in  Place Gambetta!

Film, Theatre & Music

The outstanding film was ‘Köln 75’.  A young woman of 18 decided to hire Cologne Opera House to put on a one night concert by Keith Jarret, the iconic jazz pianist.  The concert very nearly collapsed at the end because they were not given the right piano.  Linda was away when I saw the Premiere so I took her to it when she returned.  It made me smile throughout.  See it!

We saw three excellent plays:

‘Soldiers of Tomorrow’ in our very own pub theatre, the Finborough, see left.

  A one man play about his experiences in the IDF (Israeli Defence Force).  Eye-openng stuff.  The second part was an open discussion with the audience.  

‘Black Comedy’ at the Orange Tree.  A hilarious farce played out in total darkness – except that the audience can see everything.

‘Othello’, played by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men in a garden near the British Museum.  So dramatic and convincing.

My first Prom of the season was John Wilson conducting all three of Respieghi’s Roman tone poems.  Unmissable, including the encore.  It will be on TV some time.  

I also saw the last concert of Music-at-Hill’s Bach Festival.  It included J S Bach’s Coffee Cantata – hilarious! It is all about coffee.  The Dutch semi-staging on Youtube is great, even without subtitles. 

So, have a great August.  And, unfashionably, let’s pray for rain.

God bless

Andy