Someone I was visiting recently said wistfully, ‘We don't have many of my favourite hymns in church these days.' Of course, I immediately invited them to send me their favourites. Thankfully, they've taken me at my word; while I obviously can't promise to put everyone's favourites into every service - we might end up having Christmas carols every Sunday of the year!

It's three years since I began my work at St Andrew's, so I'm going round catching up with people who aren't in crisis, so if you hear my voice on the phone asking whether you'd like me to drop in, don't panic - you're not in trouble! As I expected, I've experienced wonderful hospitality. But one thing I didn't expect bothers me: people's reaction when I've mentioned prayer.

Several times over recent months, people have asked me: ‘What exactly is it you do?' If you want to know the highlights of my work from month to month, just look at the Minister's Report in the Eldership minutes displayed on the church notice board outside the kitchen. However, in a more general way it's a very good question: for I am accountable, to God and to you, for how I spend my time.

Three years ago this month you and I began our partnership at St Andrew's. I don't know what you think of what's happened since then (and I'd love it if you told me, whether or not your views are complimentary!), but for me the time has flown by: getting to know you; becoming known in the local area; starting to find out something of what God's doing here and how we can join in.
Three years down the line, we're not quite the same as we were three years ago - and I don't just mean by that the material differences: new chairs in the sanctuary, a new church boiler and a new toilet for people with disabilities! The most important changes in St Andrew's have, as ever, been in our church community, as we've said farewell to some longstanding members of our congregation, and as new people and groups have joined us, adding their own skills and stories to our number.

APRIL, April,
Laugh thy girlish laughter;
Then, the moment after,
Weep thy girlish tears!

April, that mine ears
Like a lover greetest,
If I tell thee, sweetest,
All my hopes and fears,

April, April,
Laugh thy golden laughter,
But, the moment after,
Weep thy golden tears!

One interesting side-effect of Lent and Easter being so early this year is that right at the beginning of March we come to Mothering Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent, when traditionally in churches we look at - you've guessed it - the role of mother: as played by God, by the church, by our own female parent or even by anyone and everyone, male or female, who displays nurturing and caring qualities.
On Mothering Sunday we have almost too much to think about; and it isn't always an easy day, for a variety of reasons. Though Jesus frequently called God father - and we all know that God isn't a man, any more than God is a woman! - we may not be used to thinking about God as our mother, and for some it can be uncomfortable thinking of our ultimate authority figure as having feminine qualities: just look at the difficulties some of our fellow Anglican Christians have in seeing women as bishops.

In the first generation of Christians, this was not an issue. They thought that before there was a next generation, Jesus would return to usher in the end of the world and God's judgment. However, they were wrong. The world did not end, and if the Jesus movement were not itself to die out, the good news about him would have to be passed onto the next generation. The first way Christians did this was to write down the stories about what Jesus said and did, before those eyewitnesses who could attest to their truth had all died. That way, people who had never known Jesus in the flesh could find out why he was so important. They collected these Gospels or good news stories together with letters written by Christian leaders to churches all over the Mediterranean area and added them to the Scriptures of the Hebrew Bible.

I was very glad when Dr Yussef suggested this title for our dialogue this month. But I was also aware that in choosing this topic we are treading on holy ground, the ground of one another's deepest beliefs. Just as I understand Muslims treat the Qur'an as God's revelation, whole and perfect, so Christians treat Jesus. And the Christian understanding of Jesus is based on our firm belief that the Bible as we have it is not corrupted or inadequate but a record of God's dealings, first with the Jewish people and then with Jews and others at the time of Jesus, through which we can recognise divine truth. I hope, therefore, that we will be able to maintain the respect for one another's beliefs, even when we disagree, that has been such a feature of our dialogues so far.

In a joint letter, twelve senior British church leaders have called on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to "redouble" its efforts to ensure fair elections in Zimbabwe, where people are due to vote on 27 June in a second round to elect a president.

Since December 2007, churches and agencies in Britain with partners or projects in Zimbabwe have been meeting at a Roundtable to take counsel on how they might best work together in support of their partners. The joint letter is a fruit of their discussions.

Writing to President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia, who is president of SADC, the church leaders express their, "grave concerns about the deteriorating situation" in Zimbabwe, where violence and killings have followed the first round of presidential elections in March.

In these dialogues so far, the question has often been asked from the Muslim side: your scriptures say such-and-such - so why don't you do it?