Mark Nam

Easter is just around the corner and there's lots happening at @stjohnswoodley. If you're in the area, come and join us as we journey through Holy Week together. @oxforddiocese @churchofengland

“Per Ardua ad Astra” — a privilege to introduce the cadets of 1116 Woodley Sqn to the official motto of the @RoyalAirForce. One or two raised eyebrows when I put on my best Buzz Lightyear voice and translated the Latin as “to infinity and beyond!” — being a padre is fun.

I remember standing in a shop with my dad in 1988 when he bought Sgt. Pepper’s on cassette. Today, while shopping with my daughter, I spotted that very same 1988 recording on tape. Now I’m the parent with a child looking up at me, and somehow the same music is still playing.

If you're free at midday, join me for a webinar hosted by Inclusive Companies who are the UK's largest, cross-industry Equality, Diversity & Inclusion network — bringing together employers and leaders to share best practice, training, research and resources that drive inclusion “for all”. My session is called “Embeddedness and Belonging: Global Majority Heritage, Belonging, and the Church.” I think it really matters that the Church’s voice is present in spaces like this — because the @churchofengland is one of those deeply embedded national institutions that shapes belonging far beyond its walls, through what it names, remembers, and makes permanent. So it’s an honour to be invited into this wider EDI conversation — and to share some reflections from my own journey as a British-born Chinese priest, including why permanent markers (memorials, scholarship, and liturgical recognition) matter if inclusion is going to last. @oxforddiocese inclusivecompanies.co.uk/event/embedded…

It's Lunar New Year and that means it's nearly a year since the publication of this groundbreaking book! 🧧🥟🍊 Find out more here: scmpress.hymnsam.co.uk/books/97803340…

Thrilled to have hosted this week's @churchofengland National Online Service from @stjohnswoodley marking the Sunday before Lent and the beginning of the Lunar New Year! youtube.com/watch?v=RX36kt…

A few days ago, my Churchwarden and I climbed the belfry to record a short video for the @stjohnswoodley Bells Restoration Project. Before we came down, I took this photo — a lovely image of a devoted & generous Warden whose faithful service to our parish speaks for itself. A real privilege to serve alongside him, and a joy to count him not only as a colleague, but as a friend.

@theabingdontaxi @stjohnswoodley These are members of my congregation putting the sign/thermometer up. But yes, Whites of Appleton are doing the work for us—and were the ones who originally installed the bells 150+ years ago.

@marknam @stjohnswoodley who are they working for, Mark? is that Whites ?

When I first arrived at @stjohnswoodley a year and a half ago, I remember walking up the path to the church and noticing the three bells straight away. I soon discovered that they hadn’t rung for many years, having fallen into disrepair. And I remember feeling a deep sadness about that silence. Even then, I sensed God saying: one day this church will find its voice again. That’s why I am so deeply thankful and thrilled that we have now begun the bell restoration project. Big thanks to Brian, Michael, John and Martyn for putting the sign up the other day. If you’d like to learn more about the project, including what’s planned and how you can follow its progress: stjohnswoodley.com/bellsappeal

Still trying to find words for this moment. I’m so grateful for this photo my uncle David took — a photo of his TV, no less — because it marks an occasion that is still sinking in for me. To be present, let alone to be participating, in a service that has taken place since the 4th century… and to be there for the first woman Archbishop of Canterbury… is something I’m still holding with a bit of awe. But what has stayed with me most is The Charge. The words I spoke to Sarah were from Micah 6:8: “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” What struck me afresh is that the very first thing, the moment she becomes Archbishop, is not a speech, not authority exercised, not words offered — but a reminder. A reminder of responsibility before God and before the people. A call to justice, mercy, and humility. There is something profoundly grounding about that. The first posture is not to speak, but to listen. Not to act, but to receive. Power framed immediately by accountability. Leadership shaped first by humility. That feels deeply right — and deeply hopeful.

I’m thrilled that my chapter on machines and transcendence has passed peer review and will be published this Autumn by @BloomsburyBooks Focusing on the world of NieR Automata, my chapter reflects on incarnation, kenosis, and Trinitarian theology in a post-human context, asking how love, suffering, and relationality reshape our understanding of what it truly means to be human—and how this might inform our comprehension of machine life-forms. This image of 2B standing before stained glass, by Kazuma Koda, gestures toward that question with quiet force: a moment of reverence, vulnerability, and longing at the threshold between creature, maker, and meaning. More soon.

Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege of meeting some truly inspiring people — not least my good friend Dr @HYinxuan whose ground-breaking research explores the worship practices and faith journeys of Chinese-heritage Christians across Asia and the wider diaspora. His recent comments in @CTmagazine are well worth reading, offering fresh insight into what may be happening not only within Chinese-heritage churches, but across the global Church more broadly. christianitytoday.com/2026/01/chines…

@Copperhead999 You are so kind—every blessing!

@marknam Thank you for your beautiful sermon, Fr Mark- hope you will come back to us at St Paul’s again! @marknam

Such a privilege to end the year preaching at the 11:15am Sung Eucharist at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Gospel reading spoke of the Holy Family fleeing Bethlehem in fear for their child’s life—a moment made all the more poignant as the New Testament was read aloud in Ukrainian. And yet our hope lies precisely here: that God’s presence was with, and continues to be with, a people on the move—across borders, across memories, across uncertain ground. In a congregation representing people from across the globe, it was deeply moving to hear how this resonated in so many different ways—wherever we have travelled from, and wherever we are going. Afterwards, I had the great joy of signing the Preacher’s Book. A thoughtful verger also showed me records of services from the last century. I was struck by several entries during the time of the Great Wars where it simply notes that the service did not take place because of bombing. It was a sobering reminder that even in the darkest of times, God was present—just as God was present when Jesus’ family fled the darkness of Bethlehem. Wishing everyone a blessed and peace-filled First Sunday of Christmas, as we continue to walk with the God who dwells among us and journeys with us still. @oxforddiocese @dioceseoflondon

If you happen to be anywhere near Woodley this festive season, do drop by @stjohnswoodley to celebrate with us! @oxforddiocese

“There is something deeply human in the way that readers search for meaning” @marknam preaching @SPCKPublishing Book Trade Carol Service, inviting us to consider the practice of Gandalf the grey… “The wise go deeper”

It’s not often I get to share a room with TWO people who have just celebrated their one hundredth birthdays! Xmas celebrations with mothers, grandmothers, and great grandmother’s in @oxforddiocese

The scent of pine filling my church building as the Christmas Trees arrive. Easily my favourite time of year.

Putting up the Christmas tree always brings a gentle ache. I feel my parents’ absence most in these warm, ordinary moments. Grateful for the family here, and for the love that still shapes me from afar. #Advent

The last few weeks have been pretty busy, that I didn't get to share this from BBC News. If you haven't heard about my fundraiser, please check out this article and let me know if you can help make this a reality: bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…