Congratulations!

Dear friends,

In these strangest of times there are yet to be found moments of light. Babies arrive and delight us with the joy they bring; we welcome Meadow and her family to Checkendon this morning for her baptism. Careers grow and blossom; congratulations to Gillian Fraser, acting head at Stoke Row School, for her recent appointment as headteacher of Long Wittenham C/E Primary. And a few more steps in the right direction have been made by the COP conference in Glasgow. For more information, and to set out on your own Carbon reduction journey, have a look at your ecological footprint.  There are easy things we can all do which will improve both our own quality of life, and our local ecosystems.

Worship Services for Sunday 21st November.

9.30am Informal Worship at St John’s Stoke Row, led by Mr Peter Ferguson

11am Family Baptism Service at Checkendon Church, led by Revd Kevin Davies

6.30pm-7pm. Together at Home. A short online evening service with Revd Kevin.  Zoom numbers 636 645 195 and passcode 000162. Music, prayer, and a word from Mark’s gospel.

Other service options for elsewhere in the Team can be found on the Langtree Team Ministry Churches website.

You can support Checkendon church and  Stoke Row churches via dedicated and secure online card donation pages. Just click on the link. It is very secure. There is a new option to set your donation to be monthly rather than one off. There is also an option to Gift Aid your donation. Please do this if you can as your church can then reclaim the income tax you have paid on your donation. All your churches have suffered income loss during Covid, and now need your help. Thank you!

The Advent Journey is coming.

We are all looking forward to Advent (from Sun 28th). I’ll be offering a daily short zoom reflection throughout the Advent season, from 8.30-8.40 pm every evening starting on Monday 29th November. Do join me for the Advent Journey with Scripture, prayer, and music. The zoom numbers will be 842 3891 2144 and 123165. Whether you come every day or just drop in, everyone from across the Team is welcome. Advent is the season when we prepare for the Light of the World; the true Christian will bring light with him or her, and will not be a participant in the works of darkness. But many deceivers are abroad in the land who claim they walk in the light, when their deeds are evil. The apostle John was terse about such. (1 John 1:5-6, and 2:3-5, and 9-11)

While men prefer darkness to light, nevertheless the natural world will not be muted in giving glory to God. Their true nature sings His praise. The still weather has meant the trees shine with bronzes and golds, and this Amaryllis has told me that he is not “early”, but has arrived exactly when he meant to.

Your Rector, Revd Kevin Davies