Today at Christ Church

I was preaching at the 8am spoken communion.  You can read the text here.

The bishops have re-iterated their advice on Swine Flu - as the number of cases increase during the Autumn - we are still restricted to bread, and prevented from taking wine.  They have now underlined the fact that the restriction is more about protecting others than it is about (not?) protecting yourself.  I said some time ago to the congregation that the restrictions should be seen as a sacrifice to protect others.  I'm still confused though.  Even the individual cups are banned - because the virus can survive on them.  Are they not washed?  Can the virus survive washing and alcohol?   It does seem to survive alcohol, otherwise there wouldn't be a problem with the shared cup.  In that case what is the alcohol hand gel for?

Breakfast was served between the services as is now the tradition on the third Sunday.  Different people prepared and cooked this week.  The breakfasts at Christ Church remain wonderful. 

Liz lead the 10am family service (all age I should say, but family sounds better to me) very well despite being unwell herself (probably not swine flu), and Jane spoke to us about growth from the parables.  At the end we were given an Iris bulb to plant and watch grow.  Can Irises be forced like Amaryllises?  - I may give it a try.