Have a go at our next caption competition (above) and win a prize of Fairtrade chocolate!
Email your entries to: captioncompetition@churchtimes.co.uk
or send by post (postcards only) to:
Caption Competition
Church Times
108-114 Golden Lane
London EC1Y 0TG
Entries must be received by Friday 11 May.
Here is the winner from our last caption-competition photo:
The Revd Mark HewerdineThe Archdeacon was cutting down on his phone bill - Eric Lishman
EVERY so often, we like the caption competition to nod in the direction of the liturgical year. This week’s picture was something of a gift:
- The Holy Spirit always conducted a reconnaissance before Pentecost (Patrick Irwin)
- OK, it’s a deal, you can stay if you promise to be my visual aid on Whit Sunday (John Saxbee)
- This was the curate’s first encounter with the Holy Spirit, and he wasn’t sure how to react (Rosemary Maskell)
Some readers’ thoughts turned immediately to cleanliness:
- OK, I’m going to have to wash the altar linens now, as well (Bridget Swan)
- It was going to be a wipe-clean chasuble day (David Powell)
- Mark was thinking if he didn’t act soon there would be a new meaning to ‘Messy Church’ (Daphne Foster)
Perhaps it is time that attendance statistics took account of all of God’s creation, others appeared to suggest:
- As a Third Order Franciscan, Jeremy took preaching to the birds very seriously (Alexander Faludy)
- A quick rendition of ‘O for the wings of a dove’ by the Vicar emptied the church of people, but not of avian life forms (John Radford)
Stretching the concept of the pet service somewhat:
- You’re too early: the pet service is next week (Sue Chick)
- ‘Why is there always one damned leftover after every pet service,’ thought Graham (Vicky Lundberg).
Could this be a new form of evangelism?
- Mark realised there was a gap in his post-ordination training: wildlife capture (Sue Chick)
- Mmm . . . perhaps there is something to be said for the Alpha Course after all? (Ian Barge)
The digital-communications revolution emanating from Church House might have passed this parish by, it seems:
- The Vicar was relieved to see he hadn’t missed the last post. Carrier pigeon — it’s the way we’ve always done it, why would we change? (Jennie Willson)
- Following a serious data breach, the diocese was now resorting to different methods of message delivery (Alexander Faludy)
A couple of readers’ eyes were drawn to the cushions, not the bird:
- Next Chapter meeting’s game of one-upmanship was going to be a slam-dunk: ‘Well, last Sunday I had only a pair of cushions at morning mass, and I was grateful’ (Tom Brazier)
- Better check: could the red one be a whoopee cushion? (Claire Wilson)
Some other entries that we enjoyed:
- Me and my family have always perched on this pew, and I’m not moving now (John Saxbee)
- Oh no, it’s the Flying Bishop (Eric Lishman)
- Funny how the churchwardens are never around when you need them (Chris Coupe)
- Mark and his companion here, live in the same town, and they are both collared. For some dating sites, that would be enough to make them a match. . . (Andrew Greenhough)
- The collared dove and the collared guv (Bridget Swan)
- He’d fallen for the ‘clocks forward another hour’ April Fools’ trick (Richard Barnes)
- The pigeon had heard that there were always ungathered crumbs under the table in the church (Mervyn Cox)
- St Francis’s is just down the road (Valerie Budd)
- Honestly, it’s OK. We gave up blood sacrifice a couple of thousand years ago (Stephen Disley)
Our winner once again receives a prize of Fairtrade chocolate, courtesy of Divine: divinechocolate.com.