TODAY
8.00am HOLY COMMUNION in Church
10.00am HOLY COMMUNION in Church and on YouTube
NEXT WEEK
Tuesday 21st January – 9.00 am Morning Prayer – Church
Thursday 23rd January – 9.00 am Morning Prayer – Church
SUNDAY 26th JANUARY 2025
EPIPHANY 3
8am MORNING PRAYER in Church
Preacher: Dr John Godfree
Reading: Nehemiah 8. 1-3, 5-6, 8-10
Sidespersons: Pat Lewis and Dee Vincent
10.00am HOLY COMMUNION in Church and on YouTube
Preacher: Dr John Godfree
Intercessor: Peter Ferguson
Reading: Nehemiah 8. 1-3, 5-6, 8-10
Reader: Helena Thomas
Altar servers Gillian Pitter and Andrew Francis
Sidespersons: Tony & Julia Edmonds
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.
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 Kellsboro Avenue | Mondays 10am-11.30 | Lillian Wicks & Louise Bessent |
| 12 Artis Avenue | Tuesdays at 7.30pm | Carolyn Kirk |
| Church Hall | Alternate Tuesday evenings | Nick & Joan Orman – Next Mtg 21/1/25 |
| The Vicarage | Wednesday evenings during term time. | Karen Harrison |
| Church Hall | Saturday men’s breakfast | Mike Mason |
‘Sunday Club’ dates
Our Sunday morning group for primary school aged children takes place in the Vicarage during the 10am service, usually on the 1st and 3rd Sundays. Future dates are:
Date Adults – lead/support
19/1 Tracy / Beth
2/2 Hannah / Holly
16/2 Joan / Helena T
2/3 Phill / Karen F
16/3 Barbara / Carolyn
6/4 Karen H / Lynn
20/4 Easter Sunday – No session
Week of prayer for Christan Unity
The annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is an ecumenical observance that is celebrated internationally between 18 January and 25 January. This year, in a spirit of ecumenical fellowship, I have invited Revd Andrew Francis to preach at our 8am and 10am services. Andrew is an ordained minister in the United Reformed Church (URC) and therefore brings a helpful perspective from the wider Christian church.
During the week of prayer for Christian Unity I will be saying this prayer every morning, please join me.
Lord Jesus, who prayed that we might all be one,
we pray to you for the unity of Christians,
according to your will,
according to your means.
May your Spirit enable us
to experience the suffering caused by division,
to see our sin
and to hope beyond all hope.
Amen.
Written by the Chemin Neuf Community
NEW ELECTORAL ROLL 2025
Every six years we are required by law to rewrite our electoral roll from scratch. This takes place in 2025,and since you are on the previous electoral roll. If you are on the current electoral roll you will need to re-apply.
Existing roll members should have a letter with prepopulated form to complete, sign and return to the parish office or to the box in church. If your details are correct, you simply need to tick the appropriate boxes (see 2A, 2Bor 2C) and sign and date the form. If any of your details are incorrect, please also amend as appropriate.
Forms must be returned by 14th April 2025.
If you are not on the current roll and regularly attend then we would encourage you to join. There are blank forms at the back of church
If you would like to do this by email, then you can find instructions at www.wroughton.com//about-us/electoralroll2025/
Children’s Society Collection Boxes
If you hold a Children’s Society collection box and need it to be emptied, please could you give your box to Carolyn Kirk at at the 10am church service or call her on 07596001716 to arrange collection within the next couple of weeks. Many thanks
Old Testament in a nutshell – St Mary’s Church, Purton
Relax and enjoy the journey as an experienced guide encourages you to see God’s word through the ‘big picture’. A fun and memorable session will help you learn the whole storyline of the Old Testament and inspire and equip you to keep digging deeper. Saturday 25th January between 9.30 and 5.00pm at St Mary’s Purton, SN5 4EB. Cost £14 (includes bread and soup). Book online at www.bible.org.uk
Nature Quiz Night
We are trying to raise money for our church building project (a glass door) and one of our young people, who is going to Canada with the Swindon Ice Hockey team and needs to raise money to take part.
In our last quiz in September St Mary’s Purton beat All Saints. It would be great if other churches were able to take up our challenge.
Nature Quiz
Saturday 1st February 2025, 7pm
Lydiard Millicent Parish Hall
£5 per person. Contact tricia.f.roberts@gmail.com
Rhythm of Life
‘We are called to be people who reflect the richness and love of God in our lives. People who make space in our lives to grow closer to him and to be transformed into his likeness wherever we are.’
The Diocese of Bristol’s ‘Rhythm of Life’ programme has recently been launched and a variety of materials are now available for you to explore: https://www.bristol.anglican.org/news/our-rhythm-of-life-programme-has-launched–join-today.php
They are not prescriptive. Instead, they are a gateway to help people and parishes discover Godly rhythms of life that are right for them. Each month there are a series of tasters in different formats for people to try and the opportunity to go deeper for those who wish. Please note that the monthly tasters will roll over into 2026 so that wherever you start you can access all the materials and Zoom sessions. They are also a continual work in progress and will grow and adapt over the years.
Sarum College Short Courses:
These are half day online courses delivered by Zoom. The cost for each is £40
Disability Theology (Thursday 6th February, 10:00-13:00 via Zoom) – Dr Eleanor McLaughlin (Lecturer in Theology at Ripon College Cuddesdon) will introduce participants to the work of disability theologians, considering the various terms used in relation to disability, and how these have developed over time. Within a theological framework, we will investigate ideas relating to what it means to be human, how we think about community and relationships, and how we ‘measure’ our own and others’ value. There will be opportunities throughout the course to ask questions and participate in discussion. To book your place, please visit: https://www.sarum.ac.uk/short-courses/disability-theology/
Menopause & Theology (Wednesday 26th February, 10:00-13:00 via Zoom) – Dr Emma Pavey (Susanna Wesley Foundation) will explore different theological lenses and creative metaphors that may help us with theological thinking around menopause, balancing sense-making with acceptance of mystery, and drawing on theological literature and research. We’ll consider menopause holistically in the wider context of mid-life with its transitions, as well as other intersectional issues. This won’t be a support group but it will be an interactive course that helps us think theologically and practically about how to support ourselves and each other around menopause in our faith communities. To book your place, please visit: https://www.sarum.ac.uk/short-courses/menopause-and-theology/
A New Year’s Resolution by Green Christian member, Edward Gildea
We have just heard that 2024 broke global heat records and that the last decade was the hottest on record. The climate crisis is happening in “real time”. COP 29 was disappointing, as they always are, and we are about to break through the 1.5° safety barrier, if we haven’t already done so.
In the UK we are largely protected from the most extreme climate events, although many who have suffered recent storms and floods in Scotland, Wales and the north of England would disagree. Hurricanes are less ferocious by the time they reach us, having wreaked far more havoc in the Caribbean and Florida.
While we do our very best as Christians to “tread more lightly on the planet”, we often do so with a sense of futility and powerlessness. America, China, India, international corporations and the super-rich should surely be taking the lead?
China is an interesting case in point: we have offshored most of our manufacturing to China, so maybe we should own part of their carbon footprint as we import those goods and place a carbon tax on them? They have also taken the lead in manufacturing up to 85% of the components for green technology, such as solar panels and wind turbines – so we have some catching up to do!
We are lucky to live in a democracy. However, it is not quite the liberal democracy we need, as the current court case against government anti-protest legislation and the 20 climate protestors currently in UK prisons, including a 77-year old Quaker, returned to prison just before Christmas because her wrists were too small for the electronic tag testifies. And of course, in Columbia and other countries, environmental protectors are risking their lives. Let us remember with gratitude and in our prayers all those protesting on behalf of humanity to bring about policy change around the world.
For myself, I have found it helpful to consider my actions on three levels:
- Personal lifestyle decisions over which I have complete control
- Local action in the community, where I can organise, support and join in
- Protesting and campaigning nationally and internationally using the freedoms we have.
So may I suggest a New Year’s Resolution? To acknowledge our personal carbon footprint and take responsibility for it. That is simply a grown-up thing to do. As things deteriorate, we will know we did what we could. But also because it is the loving way to live now. And that is something worth resolving to do.
(Reproduced with permission. Edward Gildea writes magazine articles for his local church, St Mary’s, Saffron Walden, Essex, each month https://www.stmaryssaffronwalden.org/)
Floodlighting
The Church will be floodlit on Friday 24th January by Paula Glass in memory of Pamela Little.
If you would like the Church to be floodlit for a special occasion (cost £20.00) Forms are available in Church or online please return to Janet in the Office or email office@wroughton.com.
Funeral of Simon Dubber
Simon’s funeral will be at 12:00 on Tuesday 21st January at North Wiltshire Crematorium.
Funerals
We commend to God’s care and keeping those who have died, Noreen Wise, Simon Dubber and James McLellan Hutchison. We pray for all those who mourn the loss of a loved one.
