New Appointment to the Team

Dear Friends,

Great News !  I am delighted to announce that The Revd James Leach has been offered and has accepted the post of House for Duty associate priest in the Langtree Team serving the parish of St Mary’s Whitchurch and St John’s Whitchurch Hill.

James is currently associate priest in the parish of St James, Gerrard’s Cross, in the Buckingham Area of the Oxford Diocese. He has served in this large parish for 14 years, and prior to this was in parish ministry in Bristol. James enjoys teaching, and has a special interest in lay discipleship.

Once his notice period at St James’ Church has been served James and his wife Debbie will be moving into St Mary’s House at Whitchurch along with their youngest daughter, who will be starting at Abingdon College. Dates for their arrival in the parish and licensing service will be communicated as they are arranged.

We look forward to welcoming James and his family to Whitchurch community, and the wider team. We pray for God’s blessing on them, and their move. Let us rejoice together; God’s call is mighty, and His power great !

Sunday Worship

Thank you for your wonderful support and encouragement for our zoom services. Many of you say each week how much you enjoy the chance to see one another, and to pray together.  One of the blessings of a zoom service is that we are not limited by geography. It is lovely to welcome friends and family from far and near to our fellowship in Christ, and it is absolutely fine for you to invite them. (Please don’t however post these numbers on any public internet platforms.)  This coming Sunday your service choices, and their zoom numbers, are:

10am SLOW Church led by Revd Linda.        Meeting ID: 811 2797 5671   Passcode: 799392    An accessible service “without walls” for those exploring faith.

11am Holy Communion led by Revd Kevin.     Meeting ID: 636 645 195  Passcode: 000162      A chance to meet with God, and one another, with a communion from St John’s Stoke Row.

Revd John is taking a well deserved Sunday off to see his family – now that he is allowed to do so! What a great job he has been doing for us all in Ipsden and North Stoke, and encouraging us in the Team Staff with Irish wit and wisdom. God bless you John!

(To use the Zoom app on your PC or tablet you will need to download and install the app beforehand from https://zoom.us/   NB There has recently been an update to the zoom software. Make sure you’ve done the update! One thing it is good to learn on zoom is how to “mute” or “unmute” yourself – just click on the microphone symbol, which on a PC is on the bottom left.)

Don’t forget that there is also the National Church of England Daily Hope phone line, which is completely free, and available 24/7. This offers hymns, readings and prayers and is especially for those who cannot access online services. Do pass this number on to anyone you know who does not have an internet connection. 0800 804 8044 is the number to call.

Take it Slowly

One of the benefits of the lockdown has been to help us rediscover how wonderful the natural world is. We’ve been able to do this because we’ve had time to stop and stare. Actually, we have always had the time to stop and stare. We were just fooled into thinking other things were more important. So, before you get into your car again and rush off down the road, ask yourself “do I really need to be doing this?” Perhaps there is a flower somewhere in your garden, just waiting for you to notice her? And just maybe, this act of noticing, and marvelling, is the one thing that you really should be doing, right now.  Let the rest of it wait. Here are some beautiful irises, shared with me by Mary Weller. God bless you all. Revd Kevin