A distant echo

Dear friends,

Times marches on, bearing us this way and that. The buffets and billows assail our little vessels; time and chance may both be cruel or kind. A 38 year old recording surfaced a few weeks ago of the rock band I played in at University; not quite a lost BBC treasure, but nevertheless a blast from the past. There are one or two good songs, a few cover versions, but I won’t be releasing it. Those days are over. The unexpected nostalgia trip back to the early eighties reminded me of the political stress of those times and the long tail of the economic failures of the seventies. I realise again just what my parents endured as they tried to make a go of life, and, whatever else they did or didn’t do, how they managed to provide for and bring up two children through all that turmoil. In our own time parents bring their children each day to Checkendon Primary School next door, the noise of their comings and goings and then the sound of break and lunchtimes marking fixed points in our household’s day, like a train line at the bottom of the garden. The stresses parents face now are much the same as those in the seventies and eighties; employment, finance, inflation, security and wondering how or if things are going to improve. Every generation, it seems, has its own battles to win; the past teaches us that we are not alone in feeling under pressure and that hope is not only a gift, but can be worked at, like a piece of music.

Worship Services for Sunday 23rd October

9.30am Holy Communion at St John’s, Stoke Row.

11am Holy Communion at St Peter and Paul, Checkendon.

Midweek zoom service: Wednesday Evensong at 5.00pm  410 935 129

Other service options for elsewhere in the Team can be found on the Langtree Team Ministry Churches website. Do join us for worship either in person, or online, or both. Don’t forget that you now can support both Checkendon  and  Stoke Row churches via dedicated and secure online card donation pages. Just click on the link. It is very easy! Thank you for your support.

Worship Services for Sunday 30th October

10.30am Songs of Praise at St Mary’s Ipsden.

with guest speaker the Revd Katie Tupling. Katie is the Oxford Diocesan Advisor on disability and access.  Katie has helpful insight onto how your church can improve accessibility for less able people. She also offers free accessibility audits for churches.

Thank you all for your ongoing support for your local church. If you can see a way that we can improve our offering to our communities, do speak to your minister, or your churchwarden. Host of Ukrainian refugees are reminded that the Langtree Churches Local Support fund for your guests is now open for applications. Please get in touch with me for further details, or refer back to my direct email to you in June.

with every blessing

Revd Canon Kevin Davies