Weekly Newsletter 24th May

Dear friends,

This weekend is Whitsun or Pentecost Sunday! This wonderful feast celebrates the giving of the Holy Spirit to the people of God - the birthday of the church, 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection. However it’s not just a ‘thing of the past’. Pentecost Sunday serves as an important reminder for us all that we live and worship our God who still today can fill us and empower us with his Holy Spirit. And that we can receive spiritual gifts which can sustain us through life’s journey.

This year, the Bible Society have produced ‘The Pentecost Reflection’, which is a short 7-day daily reflection on Pentecost - focussing on the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us. Each day you’ll receive a short video on a gift of the spirit and how we can use it in our lives today. I’ve signed up! May I encourage you to sign up too and enjoy the free and short reflections over the coming week.

Love,

Grant

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Weekly Newsletter 17th May

Dear friends,

I hope you are well and enjoying the few lighter days we’ve had recently.

This week we remember the Ascension of Christ. You could say that Ascension is the reverse of Christmas. At Christmas, God came to earth and got his hands dirty. Now in his ascension Christ takes our humanity into the very heart and divinity of God. It’s as though Jesus is now ‘working from home’ - a phrase many of us are now familiar with. He’s still moving and working in the world, but now through the Holy Spirit and each one of us.

Ascension Day Poem

'We saw his light break through the cloud of glory Whilst we were rooted still in time and place
As earth became a part of Heaven’s story
And heaven opened to his human face.

We saw him go and yet we were not parted
He took us with him to the heart of things
The heart that broke for all the broken-hearted
Is whole and Heaven-centred now, and sings,
Sings in the strength that rises out of weakness, Sings through the clouds that veil him from our sight, Whilst we our selves become his clouds of witness And sing the waning darkness into light,

His light in us, and ours in him concealed, Which all creation waits to see revealed.'

by Malcolm Guite.

Please do join us this Thursday evening at St. Stephen’s 7.30pm for our whole benefice Ascension Service. Finally, both St. Clement’s and St. Mary’s have their annual meetings following on after their Sunday services this week - please do look at the paperwork which is prepared and available on the website.

Have a lovely rest of your week.

Love

Grant

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Weekly Newsletter 12th May

This Sunday we’ll be exploring the wonderful and well known passage of scripture of John 14:15-21 much of which has been set to beautiful music throughout the centuries, including the above by Thomas Tallis. The passage includes Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit, the comforter or advocate. What strikes me most though, is that this passage begins and ends with love. Jesus declares that if his disciples love him, they will keep his commandments. And so we are left questioning, “What commandments?” In John’s gospel, Jesus gives one commandment: to love.

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another”

At the end of each day, and during each moment of each day, for John, there's only one question to ask yourself: “In what ways did I or did I not love today?”

I wonder if this is a question we can all reflect upon more sincerely.

Love,

Grant

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SERVICES THIS WEEKEND

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Weekly Newsletter 3rd May 2023

“Your Majesty, as children of the Kingdom of God we welcome you in the name of the King of Kings.”

Taken from The Coronation service.

Dear Friends,

I hope you are looking forward to another Bank Holiday weekend as we join with nation and commonwealth for the Coronation Service of His Majesty King Charles III. If you would like to follow along with the televised service, the official service booklet can be downloaded by clicking the button below so please enjoy and pass around to friends.

This weekend there are a whole range of celebrations taking place across the villages, including:

A village celebration hosted by the Basildon School Association on Friday afternoon.

Coronation Pub Night at Ashampstead Village Hall on Saturday from 6pm onwards.

Aldworth Village Celebration on Sunday beginning with special service at St. Mary’s at 11am.

Of course all of our beautiful churches will be hosting fabulously royal themed services on Sunday morning so do check out the details below. I very much hope to see you at some of the celebrations and services this weekend.

God save the King!

Love,

Grant

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Weekly Newsletter 26th April

Dear friends,

“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.” - John 10:9.

If you ever happen to be walking through Richmond Park on the edge of Sidmouth Woods, you can see ‘The Way’ gates, pictured below. They can be seen through the King Henry's Mound telescope and present the direction of the protected 10-mile view all the way to St Paul’s Cathedral.

Whether they are ornamental or purely practical, all gates are important entrance and exits points on our borders, boundaries and land. The threshold of borders and boundaries mark the ending of one place and the beginning of another. Jesus’ words describe himself as the gate. The wonderful promise he offers us all is that by going through him, we can gain access to the pastures of eternal life. In and through Jesus we have a hope He is the way, the truth, and the life and yet without the gate, there is no access. So, let us enter his gates with thanksgiving in our hearts.

This week as it is the fifth Sunday of April we are gathering all three churches together for one united service at St. Clement’s, Ashampstead at 10am to hear more about why Jesus is the gate and what it means for us. Join us to hear the good news too!

I hope you enjoy the bank holiday on Monday.

Love,

Grant

‘The Way’ gates in Richmond Park

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Weekly Newsletter 19th April

Dear friends,

This week in Church we shall be looking at the lovely passage where Jesus meets two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus. It’s a fascinating encounter where the disciples finally have a lightbulb moment realising who Jesus really is. The thing is, despite our efforts to keep him out, God often intrudes our lives - perhaps exactly when we least expect it. The life of Jesus is bracketed by two impossibilities: "a virgin's womb and an empty tomb". Jesus entered our world through a door marked,"No Entrance" and left through a door marked "No Exit." He is God of impossibilities. I hope that this week you’ll know and trust in God’s remarkable power to come alongside us and meet us where we are despite our fears, feelings and failures. Be blessed!

This Saturday there is a garden tidy up afternoon planned at St. Stephens from 12.30 onwards & final reminder that Sunday after the Basildon service is the Annual Meeting. Paperwork can be found online or in the lobby of the church.

Love,

Grant

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SERVICES THIS WEEKEND

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What’s on this week:

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Join us for morning prayer and worship

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Weekly Newsletter 14th April

Dear friends,

Happy Easter! Alleluia, Christ is Risen!

I hope you enjoyed your Easter Celebrations last weekend. I have included below a few photos we managed to capture of Messy Easter, The Dawn Service and Easter Sunday at St. Clement’s. What a fantastic time of celebration we have enjoyed.

Just a couple of things to draw your attention to this week.

Firstly, Aldworth Breakfast Church will now be on the 23rd April rather than this Sunday. This week, we’ll gather for 8.30 Holy Communion.

Next - The Annual Meeting paperwork for Basildon Parish is all now available on this website or by clicking below. Do join us on 23rd after the morning service for the APCM.

Finally, you are invited to join me on Monday, Wednesday or Friday mornings at St. Stephen’s for half an hour of prayer and worship from 9am. These sessions will be a time for prayer and worship as we lift to God the wonderful people in our communities and seek his will above all else for our churches. If you are free, please join us. If you can’t make it, please do let me know if you have any prayer requests and we’ll be sure to hold them before God too.

Love,

Grant

Dawn Service 2023

Lighting the Easter Candle

Plenty of us up early!

St. Clement's Easter Sunday 2023

Messy Church:Easter

Messy Church: Easter

Messy Church: Easter

Messy Church: Easter

Messy Church: Easter

Messy Church: Easter

Messy Church: Easter

Recycled Wreath at St. Stephen's

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SERVICES THIS WEEKEND

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