Dear all Today is Holy Cross Day which, as its name suggests, is a feast day remembering the cross on which Jesus died. So what makes this different from Good Friday? The answer is not 'because it's Thursday'... Holy Cross Day relates to the cross itself, whereas Good Friday is about what happens on that cross. Holy Cross Day has been commemorated since about the 7th Century, but is actually rooted in the quest by Helena, the mother of Roman Emperor Constantine I, to locate the site of Jesus' Crucifixion. She was a Christian, and was among the first Christians to begin travelling on pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the 300's AD, to the places associated with Jesus' life. Overseeing excavations in Jerusalem, Helena discovered what was believed to be the Cross of Christ. Subsequently a basilica (church) was built there and dedicated on the 14th September 335AD, which today forms part of the massive Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. In 2016 I visited the church there, which is built over the sites believed by many to be the places of Jesus' crucifixion and his burial and resurrection. It is a fascinating place - thronging with people - literally bus loads of Christian pilgrims from all over the world and from a multitude of denominations and traditions all poring over the site with their guides. Thrown into the mix is the regular worship that happens there everyday, often from different traditions in different parts of the building at the same time. It is a heady, noisy, confused - and wonderful - concoction of chaos where the peace and tranquility we might often associate with pilgrimage is nowhere to be seen. Moreover, to get to church, if you are following the Via Dolorosa (the route that Jesus took in those final hours on Good Friday) you follow a trail through the steep and narrow streets of old town Jerusalem, which is a bustling marketplace of everything from traditional crafts and wears, groceries, to every form of Christian tourist must have you can imagine. And it is this assault on the senses, and crowds, and urban chaos, that for me is why thinking about the cross, as the cross, is important in its own right. Because it is human. The cross is the very symbol that reminds us not just about what Jesus did for us, but what we did to him. It is the symbol of our darkest and most broken capabilities; that appallingly, in full sight and concordance, we are able to reconcile the destruction of our own umbilical. And it is also the very symbol that reminds us that whatever we throw at God, he will overcome it not because he must, or needs to, but because he can. Because he loves. Approaching the cross, in the chaos of humanity then and now, brings home that Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, is not a fabled past that we refashion to modern purposes - but is a past, present, and future reality. Perhaps you might like to take some time this week to think about the cross. What does it mean to you? What does it tell you about yourself? And about God? SERVICES & READINGS FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS: Sunday 17th September - Trinity 15 Readings: Genesis 50:15-21; Romans 14:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35 Harvest Readings: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15; Luke 12:16-30 10.00am: Morning Worship. St Stephen's, Winsham 10.30am: Holy Communion & Sunday School. St John's, Tatworth. Sunday School meets in the church rooms from 10.15am. 11.30am: Harvest Festival, followed by lunch. St Mary Magdalene, Cricket Malherbie. 6.30pm: Service of Light. St Mary's, Thorncombe Tuesday 19th September 9:30am: Morning Prayer. St John's, Tatworth Wednesday 20th September 9:30am: Holy Communion. St Mary's, Thorncombe Sunday 24th September - Trinity 16 Readings: Jonah 3:10-4:end; Philippians 1:21-end; Matthew 20:1-16 Harvest Readings: Deuteronomy 8:7-18; 2 Corinthians 9:6-15; Luke 12:16-30 Patronal (Chaffcombe): Genesis 28:10-17; Revelation 12:7-12; John 1:47-end 8.00am: Holy Communion. St John's, Tatworth 10.00am: Harvest Festival & Communion. St Mary's, Thorncombe 6.30pm: Patronal Festival (Holy Communion); St Michael & All Angels, Chaffcombe 6:30pm: Service of Light; St Stephen's, Winsham Tuesday 26th September 9:30am: Morning Prayer. St John's, Tatworth Wednesday 27th September 9:30am: BCP Holy Communion. St Stephen's, Winsham. Followed by Coffee Morning. PRAYERS Please hold in your prayers all those who will be ordained to the Diaconate and Priesthood this Petertide. Please hold in your prayers all you know who are struggling in any way, in body, mind or spirit. We are asked to pray by name for: Dave Boyland; Wendy Cotton; Mary Marsh; Tony Taylor; Margaret Bandy; Di Nicholls; Hester Down; Stella Hutchison; Oskar Lee; Margaret Shields; Andrew de Pury; Cyril Larcombe; Lynn Ranson; Keith Legge; Margaret Golesworthy; Peter Harper We also pray for the people of North Africa, particularly in Morocco and Libya in the aftermath of the devastating natural disasters there recently. The prayer of Collect for Holy Cross Day: Almighty God, who in the passion of your blessed Son made an instrument of painful death to be for us the means of life and peace: grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ that we may gladly suffer for his sake; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Blessings Philip The Reverend Philip Butcher Rector - Two Shires Benefice (Tatworth, Thorncombe, Winsham, Chaffcombe & Cricket Malherbie) The Vicarage 3 Home Farm Tatworth Chard TA20 2SH 01460 221286 PASTORAL EMAILS - please to: twoshiresrector@gmail.com HOME PRAYER & WORSHIP: https://twoshires.wordpress.com Rest Days - Mondays (Tuesdays where following a bank holiday) For non-urgent enquiries please allow up to a week for responses. Mornings are best times for phone contact!
Dear friends It is good to be writing to you after a break. I hope you are all well and the damp summer hasn't been too much of a 'dampner'! During the midweek Eucharist at Thorncombe this morning we heard Deuteronomy 34 as our first reading. It is the last passage of Deuteronomy, which itself is the last book of the Pentateuch - the first 5 books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Traditionally these are referred to as the books of Moses and broadly constitute the Jewish scripture of the Torah. Moses is the great leader of the Israelites who, discovered as an abandoned baby, goes on to become the person who saves and leads the people from slavery in Egypt, and then through 40 years of journeying in the wilderness before arriving at the promised land. It is Moses who parts the Red Sea, receives the 10 Commandments, meets God through the burning bush, and against all the odds (and not a little dissent from the people), manages to bring the Israelites to the border with the Promised Land. But this is where his journey ends. Dt34:4; 'The Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”' We go on to hear that Moses then dies, aged 120, and is succeeded by Joshua who then leads the people into the Promised Land. I feel sorry for Moses, who never saw the total fruition of his labours. But his legacy is quite extraordinary and found in the foundations of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. There are so many times in our lives when we embark on new things, or journey through the familiar, and suddenly realise that despite our best efforts we may not see the thing to completion. That can be deflating - we like neatness, we don't like loose ends! Perhaps the more important thing though is embracing the present and not worrying about what comes next. Perhaps that is for someone else to finish; to pick up our baton and run on with. Enjoy today! See the poem at the end of this email which speaks into the treasure within, the bright pearl in our midst. SERVICES: Sunday 20 August: 10am - Morning Worship; St Stephen's, Winsham 10:30am - Holy Communion; St John's, Tatworth. 6:30pm - Service of Light; St Mary's, Thorncombe. Wednesday 23rd August - 9:30am Holy Communion; St Stephen's, Winsham. Sunday 27 August 8am - Holy Communion; St John's, Tatworth 10am - Holy Communion; St Mary's, Thorncombe 6:30pm - Evening Prayer (BCP); St Michael & All Angels, Chaffcombe 6:30pm - Service of Light; St Stephen's, Winsham WILD CHURCH - SUMMER BBQ - 19 August 3pm. The next Wild Church is at 3pm on 19th August outside St John's, Tatworth. This is our summer BBQ!! ALL WELCOME. It would be helpful to have a ballpark idea of numbers coming for catering purposes, and also of any dietary requirements. No cost, donations only. PRAYERS Please hold in your prayers all you know who are struggling in any way, in body, mind or spirit. We are asked to pray by name for: Dave Boyland; Wendy Cotton; Mary Marsh; Tony Taylor; Margaret Bandy; Di Nicholls, Hester Down, Stella Hutchison; Oskar Lee; Margaret Shields; Andrew de Pury; Cyril Larcombe; Valerie Palmer, Lynn Ranson, Keith Legge, Margaret Golesworthy, Karen Martin, Christopher Butcher. We remember all those whom we love but see no longer; particularly at this time: Cynthia (Tup) Gummer; Lawrence Dunning A prayer for Trinity 11: God of glory, the end of our searching, help us to lay aside all that prevents us from seeking your kingdom, and to give all that we have to gain the pearl beyond all price, through our Saviour Jesus Christ. POEM - The Bright Field; R S Thomas: I have seen the sun break through to illuminate a small field for a while, and gone my way and forgotten it. But that was the pearl of great price, the one field that had treasure in it. I realise now that I must give all that I have to possess it. Life is not hurrying on to a receding future, nor hankering after an imagined past. It is the turning aside like Moses to the miracle of the lit bush, to a brightness that seemed as transitory as your youth once, but is the eternity that awaits you. Blessings Philip The Reverend Philip Butcher Rector - Two Shires Benefice (Tatworth, Thorncombe, Winsham, Chaffcombe & Cricket Malherbie) The Vicarage 3 Home Farm Tatworth Chard TA20 2SH 01460 221286 PASTORAL EMAILS - please to: twoshiresrector@gmail.com HOME PRAYER & WORSHIP: https://twoshires.wordpress.com Rest Days - Mondays (Tuesdays where following a bank holiday) For non-urgent enquiries please allow up to a week for responses. Mornings are best times for phone contact!
Dear friends Today is the last day of the academic year and for many it signals the start of the holiday period. This e-letter is the last for a couple of weeks and I look forward to writing again in mid-August. It always seems a little ironic to me that as we limp over the finishing line of the summer term, we find ourselves busier than ever readying for the holiday period - a house full of kids and a million jobs to complete before signing off for a while. Everything gets looked at through the lens of 'how important is this job really?' And we can find a thousand reasons why it is, where in reality perhaps it is not. It is so important for us all to have the space and time to breath, to take stock, to rest. We cannot (despite what our brains and hearts tell us) keep going at a 100mph. Sooner or later there will be a crash. As Christians the call to rest is actually a core part of our understanding and faith as created beings in the image and love of God. God made the world and everything in it - and then rested. Jesus often takes time out to retreat on his own or with his closest friends to rest. It is part of who we are - the need to recharge. At a clergy meeting this week we used the prayer below, which I think is rather nice and you may like to use yourselves at this time: In the name of Jesus Christ, who was never in a hurry, we pray, O God, that You will slow us down, for we know that we live too fast. With all of eternity before us, make us take time to live – time to get acquainted with You, time to enjoy Your blessings, and time to know each other. Amen. SERVICES Sunday 23 July 8:00am - Holy Communion; St John's, Tatworth. Rev Philip. 10am - Holy Communion; St Mary's, Thorncombe. Rev Philip. 12pm - Baptism; St Stephen's, Winsham. Rev Michelle. 6:30pm - Evening Prayer (BCP); St Michael & All Angel's, Chaffcombe. Pamela Everitt 6:30pm - Service of Light; St Stephen's, Winsham. Lay Team Wednesday 26th July - 9:30am Holy Communion; St Stephen's, Winsham. Rev Judith. Sunday 30 July 10:30am - BENEFICE SERVICE; St Mary Magdalene, Cricket Malherbie. Rev Judith. Sunday 6th August 8:00am - Holy Communion (BCP); Forde Abbey. Rev Judith 10am - Holy Communion; St Stephen's, Winsham. Rev Terri 10:30am (for gathering and coffee - service starts at 11) - Emmaus; St John's, Tatworth. Anne Perez. The service this month will be a Songs Of Praise. Wednesday 9 August - 11am Holy Communion; St John's Tatworth. Rev Terri WILD CHURCH - New date The next Wild Church is at 3pm on 19th August outside St John's, Tatworth. This is the postponed new date for our summer BBQ!! ALL WELCOME. It would be helpful to have a ballpark idea of numbers coming for catering purposes, and also of any dietary requirements. No cost, donations only. CRICKET MALHERBIE BBQ & QUIZ - New date The annual BBQ and Quiz at St Mary Magdalene, Cricket Malherbie is now on 29th July; from 6pm! All Welcome and come and test your knowledge in this renown quiz! Please bring chairs if possible. PRAYERS Please hold in your prayers all you know who are struggling in any way, in body, mind or spirit. We are asked to pray by name for: Dave Boyland; Wendy Cotton; Jan Knott; Mary Marsh; Tony Taylor; Margaret Bandy; Di Nicholls, Hester Down, Stella Hutchison; Oskar Lee; Margaret Shields; Andrew de Pury; Cyril Larcombe; Valerie Palmer, Lynn Ranson, Keith Legge, Margaret Golesworthy, Karen Martin, Christopher Butcher. We remember all those whom we love but see no longer; particularly at this time: Reg Fawcett (funeral 18th July 3pm in St Mary's, Thorncombe); Cynthia (Tup) Gummer. A prayer for Trinity 7: Generous God, you give us gifts and make them grow: though our faith is small as mustard seed, make it grow to your glory and the flourishing of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. SCRIPTURE The Parable of the Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31-32) “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” Blessings Philip The Reverend Philip Butcher Rector - Two Shires Benefice (Tatworth, Thorncombe, Winsham, Chaffcombe & Cricket Malherbie) The Vicarage 3 Home Farm Tatworth Chard TA20 2SH 01460 221286 PASTORAL EMAILS - please to: twoshiresrector@gmail.com HOME PRAYER & WORSHIP: https://twoshires.wordpress.com Rest Days - Mondays (Tuesdays where following a bank holiday) For non-urgent enquiries please allow up to a week for responses. Mornings are best times for phone contact!
Dear friends A few weeks ago, in the midst of that very hot spell of weather (summer – do you remember it?), and at the end of what had been a typically very busy day of work and family, Michelle and I crawled into bed and just for a few moments enjoyed the silence of the night. After a minute or so we were both aware of a rushing / hissing sound. Very faint, but the more we were aware of it – the more obvious it was. My initial thought was that it was the central heating – but that was quickly dismissed as we remembered that it hadn’t been on at all recently! Then I thought it was the hot water tank – perhaps the boiler was giving it a blast. But no – checking the airing cupboard proved nothing was happening there. Next suspicion was a tap running somewhere. The whole house was duly checked, and again nothing to find! Now I was getting a little worried. Perhaps a pipe had burst and we had a leak under the floor somewhere. Given that sometimes it seems the Diocesan plumber is the most frequent visitor to the vicarage, and we have had numerous bursts over the years, this was a fear that had some validity! The plumbing here is definitely not the house’s finest feature… Thankfully, before embarking on a late-night search of floors and ceilings for emerging floods, we suddenly had a moment of clarity. The kids had used the garden hose that afternoon (not with permission I might add!). Sure enough – on going outside I found the garden hose very slowly running at a trickle. Hardly noticeable but for the silence of the night enabling the telltale noise of running water to echo up the pipes. Problem solved and a resolve to have a ‘chat’ with the kids the next day… Yesterday was the feast day of St Benedict; Abbot of Monte Casino in the 6th Century and founder of what is today the Benedictine Monastic Order, which is still going strong today. One of the Benedictine traditions is the practice of ‘Lectio Divina’, or ‘Divine Reading’. It is a practice of hearing God’s wisdom in the present through immersing oneself in a passage of scripture. Like the running water – it is about putting aside ‘busyness’ and hearing and discerning what is going on. Put simply it is to: • Read - Slowly read a passage. Just allow the words to be read, heard, taken in. • Meditate - Spend time with it. Gaze at it. Allow your mind to simply go where it needs to as you let the words sit. • Pray - Respond to your reading and meditation by talking to God. Saint Ambrose said of this; “we speak to Him when we pray; we hear Him when we read the divine saying.” • Contemplate - A period of silence to allow whatever needs to come forth to come forth. At the end of this e-letter I have included a passage of scripture. Why don’t you find a few minutes to sit quietly with those words and see what God may be saying to you today? SERVICES - Sunday 16th July - Trinity 6 10:30am - Holy Communion; St John's, Tatworth. Rev Philip. PLEASE NOTE THE TIME. Rev Michelle is also running Sunday School at this service - 10:15 in the Church Rooms. 10:30am - Joint service with Winsham URC - meeting at the URC in Fore Street, Winsham 6:30pm - Service of Light; St Mary's, Thorncombe. Lay led. MIDWEEK: Prayers in St John's Tatworth - 18th July at 4pm. Midweek communion on 19th July at 9:30am in St Mary's, Thorncombe, followed by coffee morning. WILD CHURCH The next Wild Church is at 3pm on 15th July outside St John's, Tatworth. It is our summer BBQ!! It is also the final one of the term and we will publish 2023 / 24 dates in due course. ALL WELCOME. It would be helpful to have a ballpark idea of numbers coming for catering purposes, and also of any dietary requirements. No cost, donations only. CRICKET MALHERBIE BBQ & QUIZ The annual BBQ and Quiz at St Mary Magdalene, Cricket Malherbie is also on 15th July; from 6pm! All Welcome and come and test your knowledge in this renown quiz! Please bring chairs if possible. EMMAUS A big thankyou to whoever provided the beautiful table top flowers for the Emmaus service at St John's last month! Thank you. The next Emmaus service is on 6th August and will be a service of Songs of Praise. Therefore, if you would like to nominate a favourite hymn / song, and would be happy to introduce, then please do get in touch! PRAYERS Please hold in your prayers all you know who are struggling in any way, in body, mind or spirit. We are asked to pray by name for: Dave Boyland; Wendy Cotton; Jan Knott; Mary Marsh; Tony Taylor; Margaret Bandy; Di Nicholls, Hester Down, Stella Hutchison; Oskar Lee; Margaret Shields; Andrew de Pury; Cyril Larcombe; Valerie Palmer, Lynn Ranson, Keith Legge, Margaret Golesworthy. We remember all those whom we love but see no longer; particularly at this time: Frank Long (funeral 12th July 11am in St John's, Tatworth); Reg Fawcett (funeral 18th July 3pm in St Mary's, Thorncombe); Cynthia (Tup) Gummer. A prayer for Trinity 6: God of our pilgrimage, you have led us to the living water: refresh and sustain us as we go forward on our journey, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen SCRIPTURE The Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:1-9) That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” Blessings Philip The Reverend Philip Butcher Rector - Two Shires Benefice (Tatworth, Thorncombe, Winsham, Chaffcombe & Cricket Malherbie) The Vicarage 3 Home Farm Tatworth Chard TA20 2SH 01460 221286 Rest Days - Mondays (Tuesdays where following a bank holiday) For non-urgent enquiries please allow up to a week for responses. Mornings are best times for phone contact!
