7th August 2022

TRINITY 8

TODAY

8am                     HOLY COMMUNION in Church

10am                   HOLY COMMUNION in Church and on YouTube.

4pm                     CHURCH AT 4 MEETING in the Church Hall ,  All ages welcome.

6pm                     EVENSONG in Church

NEXT WEEK

TUESDAY 9th August        9.00am     Morning Prayer in Church

THURSDAY 11th August   9.00am     Morning Prayer in Church

SUNDAY 14TH AUGUST 2022        

TRINITY 9

8am                     HOLY COMMUNION in Church

Preacher:            Dr John Godfree

Sidesperson:       Pat Lewis & Dee Vincent

10am                   MORNING WORSHIP in Church and on YouTube.

Preacher:            Revd Barbara Abrey

                             Intercessions:     John Henderson

                             Reading:              Jeremiah 23. 23-29

              Reader:               Helena Thomas

                             Sidespersons:     Jean Ford and Lyn Hezlett

4pm                     CHURCH AT 4 MEETING IN THE CHURCH HALL All ages welcome.

 

If you would like to join a small group, please contact the leaders of the groups below and find out where there is space. We would love to have everyone involved in a small group.

22 Kellsborough Avenue Monday’s, 10am-11.30

Now on a Summer break

Lillian Wicks

Louise Bessent

12 Artis Avenue Tuesday’s at 7.30pm Carolyn Kirk
Church Hall Alternate Tuesday evenings Nick Orman
Church Hall Saturday men’s breakfast Mike Mason

 

Live streaming the 10am service

The 10am service will be live streamed on You Tube. Please visit our YouTube Channel on https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc6wnuTqXBYTixq-NpQgeLQ (or search for Wroughton and Wichelstowe Parish church) and press the ‘subscribe’ button.

Mask wearing in church

The current PCC policy requesting that masks continue to be worn in church has been updated to recognise individual choice so that mask wearing will now be advisory only, providing that the president and chalice assistants will continue to wear masks during the distribution of Holy Communion. As Covid 19 has not disappeared, the situation will be kept under review.

Chris Hunter’s ordination

After the disappointment of getting Covid on the day he was due to be ordained, Chris has now been given a new date. He will be ordained priest in Bristol Cathedral at 6pm on Thursday 29th September. Further details will follow in September.

Opening our Church Building – volunteers required

From Monday 8th August our church will once again be open every day to visitors, members of the public, and for private worship etc…… the first time since February 2020!  This is only possible due to a number of volunteers assisting with unlocking, and locking the church each day.  However, we are still short of someone for Saturday mornings and evenings.  If you’re able to help please speak to Helena Thomas (or contact her on 07909882150, helenaxthomas@hotmail.co.uk).   If you’re not able to commit to every week, that’s fine, as there is always back up when required.

Health & Safety  

Our health & safety policy and arrangements were reviewed at the last PCC meeting. This resulted in recommendations for some actions and improvements to take place (note the lovely white strips on the steps in the porch ….. many thanks to Lynn Hezlett!).

We all have a responsibility to take reasonable care of ourselves and others, so if you notice anything that is potentially unsafe, have a ‘near miss’ or an accident whilst on either the church or church hall premises please let a sidesperson, churchwarden or member of the clergy know. If you have any concerns or questions related to health and safety, please contact the Health & Safety representative, Helena Thomas,  or any member of the PCC or clergy.

Schools update

During the last year, we have been working to strengthen our links with the local schools and pre-schools. We have started doing story time with Wroughton Pre-School and helping with Little Lambs at the Ellendune Centre, we have worked with the Kingfisher School in Wichelstowe since their opening last September and we have spent time in Wroughton Infants and Juniors. Our Open the Book team have been doing assemblies at Wroughton Infants and these have gone really well. It has been great to go from pre-recording things at church for the school to show to actually doing the assemblies in the school now we can gather together again. Plans are already afoot for how to build on these foundations in the next school year. At the Juniors, we have been having great fun getting to know the children. They now recognise me when I go in or when they see me around the village and it has been great to build that relationship. As well as doing assemblies, I have taught each class as part of their RE programme and answered lots (and lots!) of questions about what it means to be a Christian and to come to church. Classes also came and visited the church and had lots of fun exploring the building and in some cases trying on vestments! The highlight was when I then did a baptism visit for someone who has just finished Year 5 and will be baptised at church in August. It was so great to be able to build on what we had done at school. This has been a privilege this year and I can’t wait to carry on when the new school year gets going.

Bishop Lee – ‘From the Bottom to the Top’

Being poorly with covid recently didn’t stop Bishop of Swindon, Dr Lee Rayfield, from getting on his bike once again to take on a huge fundraising challenge, cycling some 881 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats in just 13 days to raise as much money as possible to support local families in most need with a special Christmas gift.

This is the second time that Bishop Lee has taken on such a massive quest as back in 2014 following chemotherapy and radiotherapy for Hodgkin Lymphoma, he rode from John O’Groats to Land’s End and raised a huge £16,000 to equip and train church leaders in Uganda. His plan was to cycle the other way round two years ago but sadly his quest was scuppered as he hit a patch of black ice, breaking his femur. He needed to have a replacement of his replacement hip! Through the wonders of modern surgery, physiotherapy and the grace of God he is now able to fulfil his second challenge but this time helping people in Swindon in a challenge he has named ‘From the Bottom to the Top’.

To support this great cause, please visit Bishop Lee’s JustGiving Page and please give generously. You can also follow his incredible journey on his daily blog – From the Bottom to the Top. We would particularly like to hear from any Swindon companies who would like to help Bishop Lee with his fundraising efforts.

BE A BRIGHTER FUTURES BLANKETEER

Many thanks to those of you that have knitted 6inch squares. These can be made up into 5ft by 4 ft blankets for ‘End of Life ‘ patients at GWH. We have just started making up a blanket using shades of pink with other colours and are planning  to sew up squares in shades of blue. We  need about 20 more squares to make up this blue blanket, so if you have any completed squares please bring them to church.  The next blanket will be in autumn shades -all contributions gratefully received. Just a gentle reminder to check your squares measure 6inches (15cm) . They may be knitted or crocheted. You can use 4ply or Double Knitting and the wool should not be glittery. Also please thread in the ends.  Thank you for your continued efforts.  Janet Henderson

Church Office

The office will be closed Thursday and not Tuesday next week.  Janet

Wiltshire Historic Churches Trust Ride and Stride for Churches

‘This year’s Wiltshire Historic Churches Trust Ride and Stride for Churches event takes place on Saturday 10th September. The event raises funds for the Wiltshire Historic Churches Trust, a charity involved in giving grants for the maintenance of our historic places of worship in the County.

The event takes place between 10.00 am and 6.00 pm on the Saturday and participants visit as many of the local participating Wiltshire Churches as they choose, either by cycling, walking or even on horseback! The event is sponsored, with the participant typically raising more, with the more Churches visited. The participating churches provide a wonderful range of rural and urban churches, in many architectural styles and fashions to admire. This year the event is for the second year running having a special launch by the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, this time by a video which will be published on Instagram and which can be circulated to all Parish participants who come forward.  If you would like to take part, please contact your parish organiser for the event, Mike Mason. Mike can be contacted via the office email: office@wroughton.com . Mike can provide further details and a sponsorship form. There is also a JustGiving option available too.’ 

Eco Top Tips – practical ways to take better care of God’s creation

August – In your wardrobe

  1. All clothing and shoes have an environmental impact. Buy less, but longer lasting products if you can. A pair of shoes has an average carbon footprint of 11.5kg CO2e, and a pair of trousers 3kg CO2e.
  2. Buy clothing that is easy to wash and dry. About half of the environmental impact of a garment’s life is the energy needed to wash it in your washing machine and tumble dryer. Don’t wash clothes too often – is it really dirty?!

Floodlighting

The Church will be floodlit on Thursday 11th August by Duncan Barclay in memory of Alison Dawn Barclay who died on 11th August 2021;

On Friday 12th August in memory of Marion Durston from Mike Durston and all the family. 

Funerals

We commend to God’s care and keeping those who have, died recently Joyce Archer, Muriel Butcher,
Theresa Harris and Maureen Ellis.  We pray for all those who mourn the loss of a loved one.

 

A Prayer for Justice

Lord Jesus, Carpenter and King, look with tender mercy upon those

who bear the indignities of injustice, wherever they may be.

Raise up leaders in every nation dedicated to Your standards of

order, equity, truth and justice.

Pierce the blindness of prejudice and unlock closed minds to

perceive the beauty of true human fellowship.

Guide us to a meaningful understanding of the problems of the

poor, of the oppressed, of refugess, of all in need of assistance anywhere.

Grant us, Lord Jesus, the grace to be worthy members of Your body,

the Church, labouring unceasingly to fulfil our vocation to be your

hands and feet in the world today.

May we hunger and thirst after justice always.

Amen

 

 

The Parish Office, Priors Hill, Wroughton, SN4 0RT Open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 9am to 1.30pm

01793 812050  office@wroughton.com  Revd Phill Harrison – Vicar 01793 812301 vicar@wroughton.com

Revd Chris HunterCurate 01793 814987 curate@wroughton.com  Church Twitter Account – @WroughtonWichel

Find us on Facebook – Wroughton and Wichelstowe Parish Church

Please follow us for all the latest updates from Wroughton Parish Church.

 

 

Connecting Faith and Finance for a Fairer World      

“It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice”   Psalm 112 v 5   

How ethical is your bank account?

Is it possible to love our neighbour and care for creation through our choice of bank account? It might not be the first thing that springs to mind, but who we bank with has an impact on the world.

. What do you know about your bank’s values and practices? It’s possible that your money is being invested in things you view as harmful.

The world is waking up to the need to move away from fossil fuels, but our big high street banks, like Barclays and HSBC, are still funding coal power projects The good news is that there are banks out there that are helping shape a fairer, greener world, and some of the bigger banks are taking positive steps due to pressure from their customers.

Shining a light on our financial decisions and consumer choices can feel challenging, but it’s an important part of our discipleship and stewardship. Could you set aside some time this week to reflect on your choice of bank? Imagine if every Christian banked with an ethical bank! What a difference that could make.

Invest your money responsibly by doing two or more of the following:

  • Find out where your money goes.  You can check the ethical credentials of a wide range of saving and investment products with the Your Ethical Money website  www.ethicalmoney.org
  • Voice your concerns about responsible investment by writing to your bank or pension provider, and ask if you can opt out of funds investing in fossil fuels or arms production
  • Move your current account to an ‘ethical bank’. (Triodos and Nationwide both have excellent ethical credentials ……)
  • Visit the “Make My Money Matter” campaign website (www.makemymoneymatter.co.uk) which brings together pension savers to demand their money is invested in a way which helps, not harms the planet, aligns with their values and protects future generations
  • Visit the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility  www.eccr.org.uk for more resources on how to take action with your finances
  • Be an activist!  Join ‘Market Forces’ (www.marketforces.org.uk) and bring pressure on banks such as Barclays, HSBC and Standard Chartered to abandon fossil fuels for good.

MAKE THE CHANGE …..BE THE CHANGE!

Eco Church Group