Episodes
Ruth Keggin-Gell is the Manx Language Development Officer with Culture Vannin - dedicated to encouraging people to get interested and involved in wider use of the Manx language. When she thought of using Manx in our church services, she found an enthusiastic supporter in Pioneer Minister Rev'd Alex Brown.
On AT YOUR SERVICE today they discuss how this could be done, and Ruth has details of the half-day workshop she's leading - CREE AS ANNYM (Heart and Soul) using Manx for worship in easy and accessible ways. It's on Friday 25 March from 9:30am to 12:30pm with hot drinks served on arriv...
The Season of Lent - six weeks of preparation for the celebration of Easter - started last week, on Ash Wednesday. But what are its origins - and what does it offer us today? We eavesdrop on a conversation between Patrick Woodward and Russ Bravo `
And this week's special guest is Manx-born Ruth Rice, founder of Renew Wellbeing, the charity which runs simple cafe-style spaces attached to a quiet room - where it's OK to not be OK.
Ruth's latest book - The A to Z of Wellbeing - is an accessible introduction to help us care for our own individual wellbeing and live out our own 'alphabet of...
Friday March 4 is WORLD PRAYER DAY - there'll be services around the Island at different times on that day, which will link the Isle of Man with praying people all over the world, using the same theme "I know the plans I have for you".
The service this year has been prepared by the Christian women of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. But, in the light of recent developments, the services will also include special prayers for Ukraine, and for the peaceful resolution of the present international crisis.
Some wording in the order of service has caused a problem for certain Christian d...
Ways to pray is the theme that links three guests on today's programme. Reverend Alex Brown has been a Pioneer Minister in Douglas for the last couple of years, having conversations with people of all ages who have either never had any contact with a church, or have tried it, and left. What has he learned? And what is the significance of his commissioning service taking place later today?
Richard Gamble describes himself as 'an ordinary bloke' but he's got an astonishing vision to create a huge and permanent piece of artwork, rising up over the landscape in the Midlands, made up of a mil...
Love is in the air today!
Ahead of the day when a billion cards will be exchanged world-wide, Saint Valentine tells his story - and Louise Timmins tells her story of patience, prayer and total trust in God's guidance, which eventually led to her chance to adopt two children.
Russ Bravo reflects on the nature of another kind of love, and there's music from the Jane Lilley Singers, and from Aled Jones and Russell Watson.
Plus there's all our usual notice board news.
If you have items for the notice board, or you'd like to hear a favourite hymn in a future programme, do please email me: judi...
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Lord of Man, is the first British Monarch to reach a Platinum Jubilee - on this day - the 6th of February 2022, she completes 70 years of devoted service to the United Kingdom, the Realms and the Commonwealth. This morning we pause for a moment of reflection, and pray God's blessing on her.
Sunday 30th January was World Leprosy Day. Sadly, this crippling disease is not confined to the pages of the Bible, but continues to destroy lives today. But the new campaign just launched by The Leprosy Mission - called "Greater Heights" could well mark the beginni...
The theme for National Holocaust Memorial Day 2022 was 'One Day' - a stark reminder that life can fatally change for ever in the space of just one day. On today's programme we hear stories from three Holocaust survivors, and reflect on the horrifying fact that genocide can still happen today.
Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald is a Roman Catholic priest belonging to the Missionaries of Africa - also known as the White Fathers. After studying psychology and theology, becoming fluent in Arabic, leading courses on Islam for Muslims as well as Christian students, living and working in the Middle...
Philip Longworth is a 'glass half full' person!
Partially sighted all his life, Philip has faced every challenge with courage and positivity - and has dedicated his working life to reaching out with compassion and understanding to other people with their own challenges to face.
Now he's living on the Island and has just started a new job with the Anglican Diocese of Sodor and Man - which has the potential to benefit everyone. Philip is our special guest today, talking about everything from going to boarding school, playing music on the Cavern stage, and getting us to look at our churches...
Open Doors UK, and Kintsugi Hope are just two of around 90 charitable organisations who last year each received a share of around £2 million which AFD Software, the Postcode people based in Ramsey, gave away from their company profits during 2021. On this week's programme, I talk with Diane Regan of Kintsugi Hope and Henrietta Blyth from Open Doors UK - Kintsugi Hope is dedicated to promoting mental health through largely church-based wellbeing groups - 'Discovering treasure in life's scars' and Open Doors supports some of the millions of Christians around the world who face extreme perse...
The 6th of January is the official end of the Christmas season - it finishes with the Epiphany - a feast that is celebrated in different ways, according to local customs, all around the world. In the Christian church, it is the day when we recall the 3 Kings, or Magi, following a star to find the Christ child, and is a reminder that the Son of God came to offer fullness of life to everyone - whoever and wherever you are. It's this gift of love that we must never let go - and indeed the true work of Christmas only starts when the festivities end.
This is the theme of today's programme - ex...
Traditionally, the sound of Big Ben heralds the start of a New Year - so our first At Your Service programme for 2022 takes bells and their traditions for its main theme. Anglican Priest, Father Michael Brydon, is Chaplain to the Rt Rev'd Peter Eagles, Bishop of Sodor and Man - but joins in the programme today with a wealth of stories and bell-ringing legends to share. Plus there's some great seasonal music - Ding Dong Merrily on High, I Saw Three Ships a-Sailing, and a beautiful reflective piece by Margaret Rizza - The Lord is my Light and My Salvation.
There's notice board news too - i...
Celebrating the second day of Christmas in words, music and reflections.
The children of Marown Primary School, assisted by their teacher Mrs Jacqueline Shirtliff, share a selection of poems on different aspects of the Christmas story.
Church leaders - Anglican Bishop Peter and senior priest in the Roman Catholic Church on the Island, Monsignor John Devine - both reflect on celebrating Christmas at the end of a particularly challenging year - and there's great music, too!
As this is the Feast of St Stephen, when good King Wenceslas went out in the winter weather to give alms to a beggar, t...
Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, with an hour of carols, Christmas songs, Bible readings and reflections. The music is :
Angel Tidings (Rutter)
Once in Royal David's City
Mary Did You Know? (Peter Hollens version)
Gabriel's Message (Matt Creer version)
Away in a Manger (Kings College Cambridge Live Recording
In the Stillness (Kings College Cambridge - composer Sally Beamish)
What Sweeter Music? (Choirboys)
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
The Shepherd's Pipe Carol (Rutter)
The Little Road to Bethlehem (Adult Aled Jones and young Aled)
The Nativity Carol (Rutter)
Christmas Hallelu...
Two very different Carol Services held this week provide words and music to help us prepare to celebrate the deeper significance of Christmas - that lies beyond gifts and gatherings.
We have two carols - "Gabriel's Message" and "Jesus Christ, The Apple Tree" - sung by the Choir of King William's College, Castletown, conducted by their Director of Music, Mr Steve Daykin, and recorded during their recent Carol Service.
The programme also features music and prayers recorded at the Tynwald Carol Service in St Mary's Roman Catholic Church earlier this week. The service was led jointly by Bi...
Welcome to Week 3 of Advent - the time which the Christian church uses to prepare for the great celebration of Christmas.
The coming of Jesus Christ as a helpless baby - a human like us - sharing our earthly life, but leading us to an everlasting life - is often likened to the darkness of our world being driven out by the light of Christ. So it's appropriate that, at this time, we celebrate the Feast of St Lucy - Sankta Lucia - which falls on 13th December. We do this with a short Service of Light - a partnership between Birmingham Cathedral, and the Church of Sweden - with some glorious ...
Pioneer Minister Reverend Alex Brown is constantly looking for ways to offer the powerful and life-changing Christian message in ways that will speak to the many people who don't feel drawn to formal, organised religion and attending church services.
He's also passionate about keeping Christ at the very centre of everything about Christmas - and once again he's leading a re-telling of the Christmas story, on a grand scale, outdoors in central Douglas on 16 December.
Listen to the full story here - and get your free tickets via the website - christmaslive.im
Plus there's an exceptiona...
A nostalgia podcast to celebrate the start of the season of Advent - the four weeks of preparation for the great feast of Christmas.
We go back to the year 2006 when Oliver King and Nigel Pemberton led the music in the Cathedral in Peel - as Musical Director and Organist respectively, and Canon Brian Kelly was at the helm!
There's a lovely piece by the Manx Children's Choir, directed by Adele Parsons, and Bible readings from members of the Cathedral and wider community, including Dr Fenella Bazin, Mrs Betty Deans and Mrs Helen Parry.
There's also a Manx carval from Sarah Hewson and J...
It's an Inter Faith Special on At Your Service this week, as we explore the Baha'i Faith in conversation with Dr Tim Anglin and David Joughin.
Deborah Taubman, of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, has composed a prayer specially for Her Majesty the Queen, our Lord of Mann, and in our second feature today, I'm starting my Christmas shopping - in Churches Bookshop in its new home, in one of the rooms that form part of St Thomas's Church in Finch Road, Douglas. The Bookshop is open Monday - Saturday from 11am to 5pm with limited-time parking in the lane immediately outside the shop d...
A special programme for this Remembrance Sunday - words and music for reflection and for hope - hope for better, peaceful world.
Singer/songwriter Ralph McTell (of Streets of London fame) has always been interested in the First World War but it was a visit to the Menin Gate that compelled him to write his latest song - Unknown Soldier. On today's programme he not only sings the song, but talks in detail about his inspiration for it, and is moved to tears at the thought of the 50,000+ men who could never be identified, or went missing in action.
Reverend Eddie Cubbon will long be rememb...
On the programme this week ..... the similarities between Southwark Cathedral on the South Bank of the Thames and Cathedral Isle of Man in Peel might not seem instantly apparent - but they're there - and we explore them this morning in conversation with the Dean of Southwark Cathedral, the Very Reverend Andrew Nunn.
We'll also discover why he and two colleagues are here on the Island for a few days, and discover the powerful lessons to be learned from two cats, playing an important part in the ministry of Southwark Cathedral!
World Alzheimer's Month seeks to raise awareness and dispel t...
Chine McDonald is Christian Aid's Head of Community Fundraising and Public Engagement. Ahead of the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow, she spent a day on the Island, meeting Government officials and fulfilling speaking engagements - she also recorded today's conversation about her own faith journey that led from her home in Lagos, Nigeria to London in the UK - where she found inspiration for her newly-published book - God Is Not A White Man, and Other Revelations.
We might want to think that slavery belongs to the Victorian era - but Dan's story is a chilling reminder that it is still ...
Author, broadcaster and Head of Community Fundraising and Public Engagement at Christian Aid, Chine McDonald will be visiting the Island on Tuesday 26 October to host an evening at the Manx Museum talking about COP26 and the impact of our changing climate, and after a networking break, an 'in conversation' session will explore Chine's own experiences of racial injustice and inequality. The evening - at the Manx Museum in Kingswood Grove, Douglas - is on Tuesday 26 October, starting at 7pm - to get your FREE tickets, register with Eventbrite using this link https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/......
Manx-born Baptist minister Ruth Rice knows at first-hand how it feels to completely burn out.
But from a personal crisis came a formula for wellbeing that's spread all over the UK.
On this week's AT YOUR SERVICE Ruth tells her inspirational and searingly honest story - including the birth of Renew Wellbeing - quiet shared spaces where its okay not to be okay.
There are two Renew Spaces developing on the Island, in Peel Methodist Church and at The Well at Broadway Baptist Church in Douglas. If you'd like more information or to contact Ruth herself, you can do so via the main websit...
Today is the start of Prisons Week - it's a call to pray for all those affected by crime and imprisonment - prisoners and their families, victims of crime, their families and their communities, those working in the criminal justice system, and the many people involved in caring for those affected by crime - inside and outside our prisons.
Today's guest is Reverend Helen Dearnley, an Anglican priest and an experienced Prison Chaplain based in Leicestershire, who shares some views on her present role and the opportunities it offers for ministry in places of fear, loneliness and conflict.
You...
Just a few weeks ago, Roman Catholic priest Canon Thomas Neylon was ordained bishop by Archbishop Malcolm McMahon, in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King in Liverpool. Warrington-born Bishop Tom is now an Auxiliary Bishop, ministering in the Archdiocese of Liverpool which covers a large area of the North West, and includes the Isle of Man.
Immediately after his episcopal ordination, Bishop Tom spent a few days on the Island, meeting the Catholic communities, our ecumenical partners, and members of Government. He also recorded a conversation, looking back over his priestly min...
The Annual Isle of Man Charity Challenge - sponsored by AFD Software of Ramsey - invites teams of 6th form students from the Island's secondary schools to select a Manx-registered charity, then learn about it, raise funds for it, engage in advocacy work to present its message to others, and then prepare an original presentation summarising its aims, achievements and objectives in the most compelling way possible.
The presentations are judged by an independent panel, and the one judged best is awarded £5,000 - to be given to advance the work of the featured charity.
The winning team thi...
Songwriters Noel Robinson, Andy Flannagan and Graham Hunter took a familiar hymn tune and added words to inspire us all to understand that, wherever we are, and whatever we're doing, we can see our daily tasks through God's eyes, and through our very presence bring His kingdom here on earth - as in Heaven.
Anne De Leyser believes we are all able to bless our community, our family, our colleagues and our friends, by allowing God to work through us - wherever we are. Anne travels the world, talking to people about establishing Local Houses of Prayer (you can do it with just 2 people!) an...
This year marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11 - a series of airline hijackings and suicide attacks on targets in the United States - over 3,000 people were killed in New York, when two planes were flown into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Centre; 184 people died when another plane hit the Pentagon, and a further 40 people died in Pennsylvania, where another hijacked plane crashed in a field after passengers attempted to retake control - that plane was believed to be heading to the Capitol building in Washington DC. In New York, more than 400 police and firefighters were kil...
3Generate is the children's and youth assembly of the Methodist Church, and it aims to create an inclusive and diverse space for the voice of children and young people to emerge and be heard. It enables them to speak courageously, and listen to God and each other. Through 3Generate, children and young people are equipped to understand and handle change and growth, and so have a positive impact in their local Christian communities. 3Generate calls the Church to listen to, and form relationships with and amongst children and young people, so that change can happen together, as a flourishing ...
Manx-born Reverend Dr Janet Corlett is the new leader of the Methodist Church on the Island.
We bring a flavour of her Service of Welcome held in Trinity Methodist Church at Rosemount, Douglas, on Saturday 28th August, as she becomes Chair of District, Superintendent of the Circuit and Minister of Trinity and Promenade Methodist Churches.
Artist Anne House has been inspired to create a series of 34 silk paintings which tell the story of the Gospel from a fresh and unique perspective. The exhibition is opening in Onchan Methodist Church on 4th September, and it will be curated by Onch...