Lent 1
TODAY
8am MORNING PRAYER in Church
10am HOLY COMMUNION in Church and on YouTube
2pm to 4pm WARM SPACE ON SUNDAYS in the Church Hall
NEXT WEEK
Tuesday 28th February 9.00am Morning Prayer in Church
7.30pm Pray and Bless Wroughton & Wichestow – Church Hall
Thursday 2nd March 9.00am Morning Prayer in Church
Friday 3rd March 12-12.45pm Lent Lunches at St Joseph’s Church
SUNDAY 5th MARCH 2023
LENT 2
8am HOLY COMMUNION in Church
Preacher: Revd Chris Hunter
Sidesperson: Pat Lewis and Dee Vincent
10am HOLY COMMUNION in Church and on YouTube.
Preacher: Sally Hunter
Intercessor: Mark Tubey
Reading: Nehemiah 5. 6-13
Reader: Lorna Robinson
Sidespersons: Jean Ford and Lyn Hezlett
12.30pm CHRISTENING SERVICE FOR ARLO, HENRY & EMILIE HILL
6pm EVENSONG in Church
Preacher: Mark Tubey
Intercessor: Dr John Godfree
Reading: Numbers 21. 4-9
Reader: Tim Winter
Sidespersons: Sylvia Woodward and Jean Ford
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
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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.
Long Covid and me
As you may know, I have been living with long covid – also known as post viral fatigue – since Easter last year. Symptoms are different for different people, but fatigue is experienced by most sufferers; this is definitely the main issue for me and it is something that affects me every day. My recovery is not linear, sometimes things go backwards. I need to be careful to manage my energy so that I can avoid cycles of boom and bust, where I do too much one day and then find I’m unable to do anything the following day. I am able to be ‘normal’ for a few hours at a time, but I need to take regular breaks and I have an afternoon nap! At the moment I am working five days a week, rather than six, and if I have an evening meeting then I am taking some time off in the morning to compensate. I’m afraid that I’m not currently able to keep up with my emails and phone messages. If you need to talk about a pastoral matter then the wider ministry team will be happy to help, as will your small group. For more practical issues, try Janet in the office or a churchwarden. Thank you for your prayers and patience. Revd. Phill
Update on Parks and Walcot
We are delighted that Rev Patrick (Patch) Webb has been appointed as the new rector of Parks and Walcot. Rev Patch will be licenced at St. John’s on 12th April at 7:30pm. Revd Chris is continuing to support Parks and Walcot on a part-time basis until Easter and Revd Phill will be with them on Sundays 26th Feb and 5th March. Please do hold Patch and the community at Parks and Walcot in your prayers as they prepare for this exciting next step.
Bishop Lee retirement
Bishop Lee has announced that he will retire on 30th April 2023, after 18 years as Suffragan Bishop of Swindon. We wish Lee and Liz every blessing as they move on to new beginnings.
Legacy gifts – Grateful thanks
We are very grateful for legacy gifts recently received from the estates of Vincent Bush and Joyce Archer. Their gifts will be used to support the ministry and mission of the church here in Wroughton and Wichelstowe. You can find additional information about leaving a legacy on the back page of the notices.
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.
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
Summer activity day
We are planning to run a children’s activity day in the school summer holidays this year. We will be having our first planning meeting on Monday 13th March at 7.30pm at 12 Artis Avenue Wroughton. If you would like to help out at this event please join us at the meeting or speak to Hannah Wrixon or Carolyn Kirk for further information.
Thank You – Sandwich makers!
Kathy Gregory would like to thank all who made sandwiches they were very well received by the filling station.
Litter Pick
As an Eco church we are keen to look after our local environment. We are going to do a litter pick around Wroughton on 14th March, if you’d like to join in please meet at the church hall at 2.30pm. Litter picks will be provided!
We will also be meeting on 15th April at 2pm to cover the areas on the edge of the village (including Brimble and Priors Hill) where there’s often a lot of rubbish thrown from cars. We will give a reminder about that date nearer the time.
Easter Rocks!
We will be holding another family activity morning on Monday 3rd April (first day of school holidays) to celebrate Easter. Keep the date in your diary as we will be asking you to provide food for lunch and to come if you can to chat to adults and help with crafts.
| Nehemiah Chapter 4 – questions for small groups and reflection
1. What does Lent mean for you? 2. Thinking about Jesus in the wilderness and Nehemiah in Jerusalem, what things do you notice that are the same? What do they do that is different? 3. Jesus retreats into the wilderness before beginning his ministry. 4. Nehemiah undertakes the rebuilding of Jerusalem. How do you prepare for things? Does it matter if you’re preparing for something to do with church or if it’s outside of church? 5. Are you a naturally reflective person or do you find stillness and contemplation difficult? 6. Nehemiah demonstrates prayerfulness and action. Are you more likely to pray about something but do nothing or to do something but not to pray about it?
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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.
The Diocese are offering the following training opportunities:
Mental Health First Aid Training
One in four people each year experience mental health problems. In order to help churches respond well and be more mental health friendly The Diocese of Bristol are offering Mental Health First Aid Training. The courses that are currently available are: 21st Feb 22nd Feb 28th Feb AND 1st March – Online course 2pm-5:30pm or 18th and 19th April – Face to face 9am-5pm St Nicholas Church, central Bristol.
If you would like further information or an application form please contact: Mentalhealthfirstaid@bristoldiocese.org. We welcome applications from any church officers who feel it would be helpful and will have opportunity to use the skills in their church community.
Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Online Training
A short online course highlighting how we can recognise and respond to a concern about modern slavery or human tracking (MSHT) and how churches have an important role in raising awareness and taking action. It is available in the same place as the Basic and Foundation Safeguarding courses here: Safeguarding Training Portal (cofeportal.org)
Eco Top Tips – practical ways to take better care of God’s creation
February – Get to grips with your bills
- Install a room thermostat, a programmer and thermostatic radiator valves. Using these controls efficiently could save you around £75 a year.
- If you already have a full set of heating controls, turning down your room thermostat by just one degree can save around £80 a year. Jumpers are in this year!
Funerals
We commend to God’s care and keeping those who have, died recently Peter Still from Scotland who joined us regularly during lockdown on the telephone service. We pray for all those who mourn the loss of a loved one.
| 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 Hunter – Curate 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. |
Church Legacy
Gifts of Faith, Hope and Love
A lasting gift to your church……..
“The Lord loves a cheerful giver’ (2 Corinthians 9: 7)
As a Christian, and a member of this church, many of us have been giving regularly to the mission and ministry of the Parish of Wroughton & Wichelstowe. Our generosity is a response to God’s abundant grace.
A legacy or gift in your will to our church can be a final expression of your gratitude and thanksgiving towards God – and is one of the most valuable and lasting ways you can continue to support its ministry and mission.
A legacy can be left for specific or general purposes. (However, since needs change over the years, we encourage gifts to be left for the general purposes of the parish, i.e ‘unrestricted’).
No matter how large or small, your gift would be used to make a real difference, and could transform its future and help us to meet the needs of future generations.
We acknowledge gifts in whatever way you, or your executors, feel most appropriate. Equally, we can ensure gifts remain anonymous if preferred. (All gifts to charities, including churches, are tax free).
Please consider making provision for your church in your will.
For further information on how to do this, and suggested wording etc, there are leaflets on the church chest, or contact the Parish Office to have a legacy leaflet sent to you. Or to discuss a gift in a will in confidence, please contact Revd Phill, or our treasurer Nick Orman.
| “Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour, for everything in heaven and earth is yours”.
1 Chronicles 29:11
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BS36 1SG Tel. 01454 777 728 | www.bristol.anglican.org
