People on the Electoral Roll for all three churches can vote at the upcoming APCM (Annual Parish Church Meeting) on Sunday, 3rd May, 9:30 for Harpsden and Sunday, 31st May for Shiplake and Dunsden. The benefit of for being on the Electoral Roll is it allows you a vote in church. There was a full revision of the Electoral Roll last year, 2025, and so we are ONLY looking at new members of the congregation or people who missed out last year.HarpsdenI will be in church on Sunday, 19th April if you would like a form or to talk to me. If you have any questions and would like to e-mail me please do: frostandfrost@btopenworld.com. The following Sunday is a Benefice service at Shiplake and then it is the APCM at St Margaret’s. Please join us.James Frost – Electoral Roll Officer for St Margaret’sShiplake and DunsdenForms are available at the back of each church for anyone wishing to join the electoral roll. There are also forms for anyone wishing to join the PCC for the first time or have been a member for three years - in which case you must apply again. Please hand the forms to a warden or Revd Jane or Revd Pam.Shiplake is in need of a Churchwarden and we'd love to hear from anyone who might be willing to help.Email the Benefice Office for more information, thank you.
We now have a new address for our benefice website: www.achurchnearyou.com/Shiplake-Dunsden-HarpsdenAlthough anyone who types that in will actually be automatically redirected to (these) our current pages https://www.achurchnearyou.com/benefice/27-442AP/ (so that address can still be used too) but the new address is much clearer and easier to share and remember. If there is anything you want to see on the website, or anything you spot that is out of date, please do let me know by email on webeditor.sdh@gmail.comIf you used them before, you may have noticed that the old Facebook page and website are no longer being maintained - we are looking into trying to close them down to avoid confusion, so please check if there's any content on there that you would like a copy of by the end of April, or anything you want me to put on the current website, the addresses are:Facebook https://www.facebook.com/shiplakedunsdenharpsdenOld website https://www.shiplakedunsdenharpsden.org.uk/index_php.html Many thanks and best wishesVic Email: webeditor.sdh@gmail.com
Shiplake residents can expect long-awaited improvements to Church Lane, following confirmation that the road has been included in Oxfordshire County Council’s resurfacing programme for the 2026–27 financial year. The road has been heavily affected by potholes and surface water during periods of rain, has been a persistent concern for our local community. The Parish Council, alongside local residents, the Church and Shiplake College, has campaigned for several years to secure repairs. Our efforts have now been rewarded with the inclusion of Church Lane in the council’s forward works plan. Leigh Rawlins, our local county councillor, has played a key role in advocating for the project during the most recent round of road scheme planning. Church Lane now appears on Oxfordshire County Council’s official map of scheduled works for 2026–27, although a confirmed start date has yet to be announced. Further updates will be provided as more details on the timing and scope of the resurfacing become available Chris Penrose, Chair, Shiplake Parish Council
Pam’s ponderings as we transition from interregnum to Revd Jane’s leadership.These are exciting times - both as we reflect on and give thanks for interregnum opportunities and as we look to the future and how we move forward as individual disciples and church communities.Thanks to each and every one who has stepped up and stepped in to make sure we offer services, services of worship in all 3 churches, services of care in our communitiesReflecting on my interim role, it has been such a joy and privilege. From the bottom of my heart I am so thankful for all the support and encouragement I have been given and grateful to have shared the ways all 3 churches have responded during the last 18 months. For those who don’t know the position of a retired priest with permission to officiate – PTO - everything we do is by invitation, the invitation of the incumbent or churchwardens when there isn’t one. Thank you for that invitation. Amazing to see how people have mastered new skills to support church life and release priests to do what only they are ordained and authorised to do.News and communication has blossomed with the active website, weekly newsletter and monthly magazine, using social media and putting posters and leaflets everywhere, including the gift of inspiring texts on postcards in each church.Security of the churches has been provided by teams of key holders braving the elements to open up our sacred spaces and you would be surprised how many visitors appreciate that. Keyholders have provided havens of silence in a noisy world. What a ministry.I, me and mine have been lost in the shared experiences of working together and WE have emerged with stronger teams, that in itself is a powerful witness to what church means.Talents and time have been gifted to resource the maintenance of our traditions and the launch of some new activities. We have not stood still.Indebted is how I feel towards Roy who has supported me to find the extra time that I wanted to give during the interregnum.Open has to be our key attitude to how God will take his church, his people, into his futureNow we gather to support Revd Jane and listen for God’s voice in her wordsMy prayer is that, as we transition through the church season of Lent to Easter, we will come closer to The One who never changes in love, peace and grace, to the hope that is faith not religion. Amen
The Archbishop of Canterbury has shared a prayer for the Middle East.Let us pray for God’s mercy and protection for all the people of the Middle East.Please pray especially for Archbishop Hosam and the whole Episcopal/Anglican Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, including the Diocese of Iran.Anglican churches are caught up in this conflict in countries across the region. As they continue to follow Christ’s call to be peacemakers, may they be strengthened in the face of yet more trial.Around the Anglican Communion, let us hear and join this call to urgent prayer. May God protect the innocent from this violence and destruction, and may all parties uphold international law and return to negotiations.And for our Anglican sisters and brothers across the region: may God’s peace continue to guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.AmenArchbishop Sarah Mullally