12th February 2023

2nd Sunday before Lent

TODAY

8am                     HOLY COMMUNION in Church

10am                   MORNING WORSHIP in Church and on YouTube

2pm to 4pm        WARM SPACE ON SUNDAYS  in the Church Hall

 

NEXT WEEK 

Tuesday 14th February                   9.00am          Morning Prayer in Church

Thursday 16th February                 9.00am          Morning Prayer in Church

 

SUNDAY 19TH FEBRUARY 2023

SUNDAY NEXT BEFORE LENT

8am                     HOLY COMMUNION in Church

Preacher:            Revd Barbara Abrey

Sidesperson:       David & Lynda Pell

 

10am                   HOLY COMMUNION in Church and on YouTube.            

Preacher:            Revd Barbara Abrey

Intercessor:        Janet Henderson

Reading:              Nehemiah 3. 1-2, 28-32

Reader:               Jean Ford

Sidespersons:     Alan & Kathy Gregory

 

6.30pm               JOINT CHORAL EVENSONG WITH CHRIST CHURCH

Our choir will be joining with the choir of Christ Church for a service of choral evensong on Sunday 19th February at 6:30pm in Christ Church, Old Town. Revd Phill will be preaching. We hope be able to invite the Christ Church choir back to Wroughton in the near future.

Small Groups

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 Mondays 10am-11.30

 

Lillian Wicks

Louise Bessent

12 Artis Avenue Tuesdays at 7.30pm Carolyn Kirk
Church Hall Alternate Tuesday evenings Nick Orman
The Vicarage Wednesday evenings during term time. Karen & Phill Harrison
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/@WroughtonWichelstoweParChurch (or search for Wroughton and Wichelstowe Parish church) and press the ‘subscribe’ button. 

Warm Space on Sundays in the Church Hall

From January we will be opening up the Church Hall as a Warm Space between 2pm and 4pm on Sunday afternoons. The hope is that this will provide a social place for people to drop in and chat, have a cup of tea and maybe some cake. There might be board games and jigsaws for those that want to use them, but all very informal. Everyone is welcome, regardless of how warm your home actually is and whether you are a churchgoer or not. There will be a short voluntary act of worship at 4pm, but there is no pressure or obligation to stay for this.

Pancake Races 18th February

On Saturday 18th February we will be having Pancake Races.

We will have races for all ages in Willow Brook Gardens at 11.30 am

followed by fellowship and pancake eating in the Church Hall

from about midday.

Do encourage your friends and neighbours to come

(bring your own frying pan if you want to race)

and speak to Barbara if you can help with pancake cooking.

The Filling Station – Sandwiches, Thursday 16th February

Our church will be supplying sandwiches etc. for the homeless via the Filling Station on Thursday, 16th February. If you would be willing to prepare a loaf of sandwiches or supply something else, please add your name to the signup sheet on the church chest and take a reminder card. Please note that the food needs to be taken to

11 Blenheim Road (Alan and Kathy Gregory’s).

Ash Wednesday service

Our Ash Wednesday service will be at 7:30pm on Wednesday 22nd February. This will be shorter more contemplative type of service to mark the beginning of the season of lent and will include the imposition of ashes. We will sit together in the choir stalls.

Lent Lunches

Soup ~ Bread ~ Cheese

Tea Or Coffee

Every Friday during Lent at St Joseph’s Parish Centre, Devizes Road, Wroughton

From Friday 24th February, 12noon to 12.45pm – Donations for Christian Aid/Cafod

Everyone Welcome

‘Godspell’

SALOS are performing ‘Godspell’ in Christ Church on Friday 31st March 7.30pm and Saturday 1st April 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Tickets – Adult £15; Child £10. www.SALOS.org / 07731 183857 

The blessing of same-sex relationships

On the 9th Feb the General Synod of the Church of England backed proposals put forward by the Bishops to allow prayers of thanksgiving and blessing for same sex couples. The church’s position on gay marriage will not change and same-sex couples will still be unable to marry in church. Individual priests will be given the option to bless gay couples, but can also choose not to. Bishop Viv had already issued a statement setting out her own personal view and the reasons for it; you can find a copy of this here:  https://www.bristol.anglican.org/news/bishop-of-bristols-statement-on-the-proposal-regarding-same-sex-relationships.php. Bishop Lee’s position differs slightly from Bishop Viv’s; where she would be in favour of further moves towards equal marriage in church, he keeps to the traditional understanding of marriage but is in favour of blessings for same sex couples. Bishop Lee has provided his personal reflections here: https://anglican.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d221cd85ffa568579da6cbafa&id=50bd11791d&e=afa01e6e14. These are complex issues and it is clear that there are prayerful and reflective Christians on all sides of the debate.

If you would like explore these issues further, please speak to one of the clergy. Revd Phill. 

Parish Weekend at Home – date for your diary!

After the restrictions of the last couple of years, it is great to be able to plan for another Parish Weekend ‘at home’, which will take place on the weekend of our patronal festival – 24th and 25th June. This will be a joint event with Discovery Church. By joining together we have been able to book a great speaker for the Saturday morning (we will also get an opportunity to be ‘nosey’ and see inside their new church building on Markham Road…). Further details will be made available nearer the time, but for now please put the date in your diaries.

Traidcraft

Some of you will be aware that very sadly Traidcraft have gone in to administration. I have sold items from this company including Christmas cards and Easter eggs for many years and our coffee and tea also came from Traidcraft as we are a Fairtrade Church and I am very sad to see them go.

I have created an account with another Fairtrade company called Kingdom coffee, recommended by someone in our congregation, and we will be able to try this soon. I will look for a charity that sell Christmas cards for later in the year.  Sally Parker 

Nehemiah Chapter 2 – questions for small groups and reflection

1.       Nehemiah is heartbroken about the news that Jerusalem is still a ruin and his response is to pray. He began praying in the month of Kislev (early winter) and had his conversation with the king in Nisan (spring). After the cold of winter there are signs of change in the spring. Are there things that you have spent a winter season steadfastly praying about? Have you experienced signs of spring either now or in the past?

2.       Compare Nehemiah’s prayer in Chapter 1:5-11 with his prayer in 2:4. How would you describe these two prayers? Do you think one type of prayer is better than the other? When have you/do you pray in these ways?

3.       Having a vision for doing God’s work and acting on it often leads to spiritual attack, which can come in a variety of forms. Nehemiah now experiences attack in the shape of ridicule and veiled threats from Sanballat and Tobiah (2:19). Can you come up with some New Testament examples of people experiencing spiritual attack?

4.       How might we tell the difference between spiritual attack, our own poor decisions and the legitimate questions or criticisms of others?

5.       What advice would you give to Nehemiah about dealing with the attack from Sanballat and Tobiah?

 

 

Churchyard Maintenance

Churchyard maintenance is currently paid for through a combination of the income from burial fees and a grant from Wroughton Parish Council. Following the closure of the churchyard, we will be handing over responsibility for maintenance to Swindon Borough Council at the end of March this year. This means that we will sadly be making Kelvin, our Sexton, redundant. We have been speaking with Kelvin at every step of the way, so he is aware of the situation. SBC have advised that headcount freezes mean that they already have insufficient capacity in their grounds maintenance team to cover their existing work. We should therefore expect to see a very significant reduction in the standard of maintenance in the churchyard. Discussions about what this will look like are ongoing. 

Knitting for Charity 

I am pleased to tell you that in 2022 we managed to send 10 blankets to Brighter Futures at Great Western Hospital. These are offered to patients in the end of life unit and their family can then take the blanket home after their loved one has gone. We have enough squares to get started on the first one for 2023 but please keep on knitting.  Thank you so much for all your hard work.

Please remember squares should be in double knitting wool (no glitter) and 6inches(15cm) square. Please thread ends in before putting them in the box in church (near the choir vestry curtains).

We have also been able to send two boxes of hats and scarves to Mission to Seafarers after a long gap due to Covid restrictions. If you would like to knit hats and scarves they also can be left in the box in church, where you can also find patterns, and any donations of double knitting wool are gratefully received. Further details from Janet Henderson 525856.

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

February – Get to grips with your bills

  1. Get to grips with your energy bills. The information on a typical energy bill can be confusing. But understanding it can go a long way to helping you get to grips with your energy use. energysavingtrust.org.uk/home-energy-efficiency/energy-saving-quick-wins
  2. Switch your electricity supplier so that you support renewable electricity generation rather than electricity made by burning fossil fuels. You could use the Green Journey price comparison site http://greenjourney.switchgasandelectric.com/

Funerals

We commend to God’s care and keeping those who have, died recently St John Fallows.

We pray for all those who mourn the loss of a loved one. 

Floodlighting

The Church will be floodlit on Sunday 12th February by Sheila Pounder in memory of Denis Pounder; On Wednesday 15th February by Janet Edmonds in memory of her husband Roy on his birthday; also by Keith Hooper in memory of Margaret & Clive Hooper.

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

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