Please take care

Dear friends,

The next few weeks are the time to be especially careful if you are out and about. The virus case map shows the “blue” areas where cases have been recorded creeping ever closer to our part of the world, so it is safe to assume that if one travels anywhere at all – even just to Henley, or Caversham, or Didcot, that you will be coming into contact with people who may be carrying the virus unawares. Remember it is airborne, and can live on surfaces for several days. Face mask, hand gel, gloves in the car, and a strict hygiene regime when you get home again. We will be living like this at least until Easter, I am afraid to say.  To help you pass the time, I’m offering a longer sermon on Sunday at the 11am communion service – do join us on zoom.

Revd Linda and Revd John are both on leave this week. I want to pay tribute to both of them for the amazing way they have continued to minister to all of us throughout, and we wish them a really good break with their respective families. Thank you Linda, and John, from us all.

Worship for Sunday 11th October

There is no live worship at St Leonard’s this week as Revd Linda is on leave. The 9am service at Checkendon is replaced by our Annual Meeting –  a short meeting for legalities like elections, and an update on the church in the current upheavals. There is no live midweek worship at Ipsden or North Stoke this coming week as Revd John will also be on leave. Should the Government or National Church make any pronouncements that affect us – check the Team website first of all: https://www.langtreechurches.org/coronavirus

Our main worship options on a Sunday remain via Zoom. This Sunday’s online worship options are hosted by Revds John and Kevin and Mrs Caroline Older. You will need the zoom app installed on your device (laptop, tablet, phone or PC) – download from https://www.zoom.us.  Just before the appointed time, run the app, click on “join meeting” and enter the meeting number and passcode below for the service you wish to attend.

Holy Communion with Revd John  10am        188 513 761 and 019797         A chance to share in the sacrament together.

Worshipping Together with Caroline Older 10am   865 2350 1384 and 895285   An informal service with hymns and a short talk.

Holy Communion with Revd Kevin  11am       636 645 195  and 000162.     Hymns, a communion, and a longer sermon from Revd Kevin.

Family and friends are welcome to join us. It is a great way to stay in touch.  There are also midweek online service options available on Wednesdays and Fridays in the evening. Do check out the worship pages on the Team Ministry website for full details.

To help keep your church’s bills paid, please support Woodcote or Checkendon or Ipsden  or North Stoke churches via their dedicated and secure card donation pages. Just click on the church you wish to help. Please also Gift Aid your donation if you pay any income tax. Thank you !

A moment to reflect

There’s a good chance that many of us will again face restrictions on our freedom in the coming months. I’ll be talking on Sunday about resources to help us through this time, one of which is making space for the beautiful in our lives. Before moving to Oxfordshire in 2002 as many of you will know we were up in north Cumbria, a wild place of astonishing beauty, with the Lake District just on the doorstep to the south. Days off (when it wasn’t raining) could offer memorable outings, and looking back on the photos of those times reminds me that the world – albeit broken and spoiled by sin – still belongs to God, who creates, re-creates, and redeems the whole of it in Christ.

This is a photo looking out over Derwentwater, taken from the Keswick landing stages. Put yourself in the picture – are you feeding the ducks ? Or perhaps you are on the boat – where are you going? Or perhaps you are on the steep uphill path across the water on the slopes of Catbells? It may be tough going, but the view shortly will be magnificent.

May the grace of God be with us all.                Revd Kevin Davies