Ruth Greenaway-Robbins

An Anglican Priest sharing sermons, musings and thoughts

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about

I’m an Anglican priest, an Associate Vicar in Diocese of London. I’ve lived across the UK and spent nearly a decade in Vancouver, Canada — places and people who have shaped my heart for welcome, justice, and the boundless love of God. Before ordination, I was a professional musician, voice teacher, and educator — music still threads through my life, alongside liturgy, liberation theologies, and the wisdom of Lady Julian of Norwich. I believe deeply in living a self-compassionate life rooted in the love of God — where all are welcome and no one is left outside. Here you’ll find sermons, thoughts, prayers, and glimpses of my life as a priest, Mum, wife, musician, swimmer, and lover of books, fashion, and rescue animals. This is a space where imperfection is welcome — dyslexia and all — and where my hope is that you might find good news, belonging, and reminders that you, too, are God’s beloved.

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  • God is nearer than we dare to imagine

    It is no accident that Christians gather at night to begin our celebration of Christmas. For Christmas does not begin in the full light of day, but in the quiet hours when most of the world is asleep. In scripture, night is never simply the absence of light. Night is where things happen. Night is…

  • 23 December – O Emmanuel (God with us)

    “Come and save us, O Lord our God” O Emmanuel, our King and our lawgiver,the hope of the nations and their Saviour:Come and save us, O Lord our God. After all the titles, Wisdom.Lord.Root.Key.Dawn.King. We arrive at a name. Each has drawn us closer, narrowing the focus, sharpening the longing. And now, on the final…

  • 22 December – O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations)

    “The cornerstone making both one” “O King of the nations, and their desire, the cornerstone, who makes both one: Come and save man, whom you formed from clay.“ For many of us, it carries the weight of disappointment: leaders who divide rather than unite, systems that privilege some and crush others, voices that grow louder…

  • 21 December – O Oriens (O Dayspring)

    “Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness” O Morning Star,splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:Come and enlighten those who dwell in darknessand the shadow of death. On this day, the light turns. Today, the 21st of December, marks the winter solstice – the longest night, the deepest dark. From here, almost imperceptibly…

  • 20 December – O Clavis David (O Key of David)

    “You open, and no one can shut” O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;you open and no one can shut;you shut and no one can open:Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. Keys are small things, but they can carry…

  • 19 December – O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)

    “Come and deliver us, and delay no longer” O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;before you kings will shut their mouths;to you the nations will make their prayer:Come and deliver us, and delay no longer. Roots are usually hidden.They work quietly beneath the surface – anchoring, feeding, holding fast. We tend…

  • 18 December – O Adonai (O Lord)

    “Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm” O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel,who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bushand gave him the law on Sinai:Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm. Adonai is not a word we use lightly. Hence, my translation might appear clumsy as…

  • 17 December – O Sapientia (O Wisdom)

    Each year, in the final days of Advent, the Church slows its breathing and begins to pray differently. From 17–23 December, we sing or speak the ancient O Antiphons before and after the Magnificat at Evening Prayer, names addressed to Christ, drawn from the deep well of the Old Testament scriptures. The names are not…

  • What’s in a Name? The O Antiphons

    Every year I get to about this point in the Advent season and I feel exhausted, almost as though the “reason for the season” is slipping by. Before I was a priest, I was a professional musician, and the old adage that December pays for January and February’s rent is not really an adage at all, it…

  • Joy in the Desert Places

    A Sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Advent The Third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday.Gaudete means Rejoice! A moment of rose-coloured light in the deep purples of waiting. A day when the Church invites us to loosen our shoulders just a little, to breathe, to notice joy even when the candles are still surrounded by night. Joy…