Whitchurch Licensing for new minister Dear friends, I’m delighted to invite you to attend (via Zoom, of course) the licensing service for the Revd James Leach, next Tuesday (22nd) at 7.30pm. Bishop Colin will license James to the Langtree Team, and to the house for duty post at Whitchurch. The zoom numbers that you will need for this special service are  838…

The Quiet of the Morning Dear friends, The old doors are open once more. You can come and worship again in your parish church. It is early, simple, safe and short. There’s room for you ! Woodcote at 8.30am or Checkendon at 9am, on Sunday mornings. North Stoke and Ipsden on Wednesday and Thursday mornings respectively. For more details check the Team…

Open Churches Dear friends, Greetings ! I hope you have had an enjoyable summer, whether you’ve stayed at home or travelled at all. I’m pleased to tell you that we are now able to offer early services on a Sunday morning in two of our churches, with a Holy Communion at Woodcote at 8.30am, and Morning Prayer at Checkendon at 9am, commencing…

The Opening Door Dear friends, I’m pleased to let you know that St Mary’s Whitchurch on Thames is now open for visitors and personal prayer on Wednesday afternoons and Sunday mornings. St Peter and St Paul Checkendon will be opened for visitors and private prayer on Wednesdays and Sundays starting in September. Please remember when you visit a church that now you…

Follow the Tortoise Dear friends, The Church of England has often been derided for being the “great Tortoise of the nation”, but in these days of uncertainty and unknowing the wisdom of going rather more slowly than the crowd is easily discerned. Across the Team ministry discussions are taking place at a local level about a limited reopening of our buildings, and…

Happy Holidays Dear Friends, I hope that you are making the most of any chances to rest a little over the coming weeks. All the pointers are that it is going to be a “difficult” autumn as businesses and service providers try to juggle client and staff safety with grim looking balance sheets and a virus that really has not “gone away”.…

Episcopal Extract Dear friends, The clergy of the Diocese all received a letter from the Bishop of Oxford last week, from which I quote: …..I know, from my inspiring visits to deanery chapters in recent weeks, of the quite astounding efforts and commitment that you have invested in adapting and flexing the ministry and mission of our churches in every locality, and…

Zoom Survey Dear friends, Those of you who were at the zoom service hosted by Kevin last Sunday were asked a number of questions about your worship preferences and our use of zoom, and your opinions about returning to church. The popularity of our zoom offerings was underscored by 80%  certainly supporting a continuation of zoom services, even after our churches have…

The Can(on) of Worms Dear friends, Now that we’ve been told we can open our buildings for worship once again, we are in the region of “the small print”. What does “open” mean? What does “worship” look like now? Every church council has to conduct a “risk assessment” and consider whether it is possible to “stay safe”. In other words, we have…

Back to the Future (part V) Dear friends, You may well be wondering, given the various media and government announcements over the past week, what is going to happen regarding opening up our church buildings for Sunday worship, weddings and funerals. As I write, we are still awaiting the National Church’s “take” on the government guidance for all places of worship issued…