BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//achurchnearyou.com//eventfeed//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-TIMEZONE:UTC
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Pews News 22 and 29 December 2024
DTSTART:20241219T200000Z
DTEND:20241231T213000Z
DTSTAMP:20260408T195509Z
UID:11435102024-12-19 20:00:00+00:00achurchnearyou
CATEGORIES:
DESCRIPTION:Bowland Benefice Pews News\n22 and 29 December 2024\n\nCollect
 \n\nAlmighty God\, as we prepare with joy\nto celebrate the gift of the Ch
 rist-child\,\nembrace the earth with your glory\nand be for us a living ho
 pe in Jesus Christ our Lord.\nThis Fortnight in the Benefice\n\nSunday\n22
  December\n\n9.30am\n\nHoly\nCommunion in\nWhite Ladies\nAston\n6.00pm Car
 ol Service in\nUpton\nSnodsbury\n\nTuesday\n24 December\nChristmas\nEve\n\
 n8.30pm\n\nChristmas\nCommunion in\nUpton\nSnodsbury\n11.30pm Midnight Mas
 s\nin Peopleton\n\nWednesday\n25 December\nChristmas Day\n10.00am\n\nCarol
  Service in\nWhite Ladies\nAston\n\nSunday\n29 December\nChristmas \n10.30
 am\nBenefice Holy\nCommunion in\nBroughton\nHackett\n\nSunday\n5 January\n
 Epiphany\n10.30am Family Service\nin Upton Snodsbury\n\n11.00am Holy\nComm
 union in\nPeopleton\n\n6.00pm Evensong in\nWhite Ladies Aston\n\nRevd Clai
 re says…..\n\nThe fourth Sunday of Advent is a time to celebrate\nGod's
  faithfulness in sending Jesus\, and to look\nforward to Christ's second c
 oming. It's a day to reflect\non the fulfilment of God's promises and to 
 be inspired\nby Mary's example of faith and trust.\nI thank you all for th
 e love and support I have received\nfor my ministry in the Bowland Benefic
 e this year.\nI wish for everyone\, the joy of the angels\, the\neagerness
  of the shepherds\, the perseverance of the\nwise men\, the obedience of J
 oseph and Mary\, and\nthat the peace of the Christ child be yours this\nCh
 ristmas.\n\nAn edited extract from a lecture give by John\nBetjeman on the
  BBC Home Service on Christmas\n\nDay 1947.\n\nA piece called Christmas No
 stalgia\n………..Christmas is the one time when I feel where my\nroots 
 are: at home among my friends and family. And\nthe unwonted silence everyw
 here rubs it in. Time\nseems to merge into the Eternal and I do not think 
 of\nthe dead as gone for ever but as watching me in this\nwintry silence w
 hen wheels no longer spin\, nor\nhooters hoot\, nor lorries thunder down m
 ain roads\,\nand aeroplane engines have ceased to rip the sky with noise.\
 n\nThen on a clear night…… from the immensity of the\nstars to the per
 fection of an insect – I cannot believe I\nam surrounded by a purposeles
 s accident. But I can\nbelieve this most fantastic story of all: that the 
 Maker\nof the stars and of the centipedes became a baby in\nBethlehem…
 ……..\n\nNo man of intelligence can believe such a thing.\nA child of J
 ewish parents the Creator of the universe?\nAbsurd.\nBut if it is not true
  why was I born? And if it is true\,\nnothing else is of so much importanc
 e. No date in\ntime is so important as Christmas Day\, the birthday of\nGo
 d made man. And carol singers and Salvation Army\nbands and Christmas card
 s (yes\, even Christmas cards\nfrom ardent unbelievers\, who always observ
 e\nChristmas) and cathedrals and saints and church bells\nand hospitals an
 d almshouses and towers and\nsteeples and the silence and present-giving o
 f\nChristmas Day all bear witness to its truth.\nBeyond my reason\, beyond
  my emotions\, beyond my\nintellect I know that this peculiar story is tru
 e………\nLast week I was in the most beautiful building in\nBritain –
  King’s College Chapel\, Cambridge……it is so\nvast\, so superbly pro
 portioned\, so mysterious that no\none can enter it without gasping.\nAll 
 the schoolchildren of Cambridge had filed into a\ncarol service and there 
 they were in the candlelight of\nthe dark oak stalls. We stood waiting for
  the choir to\ncome in and as we stood there\, the first verse of the\nope
 ning carol was sung beyond us\, behind the screen\,\naway in the mighty sp
 lendour of the nave.\nA treble solo fluted up to the distant vaulting Once
  in\nRoyal David City. It was clear\, pure\, distinct.\nAnd as I heard it 
 I knew once more – knew despite\nmyself – that the story was the Truth
 .\nAnd knowing it I knew that\, because of the birth of\nChrist\, the worl
 d could not touch me and that\nbetween me and the world hung the figure of
  God\nbecome man\, crucified.
GEO:-2.092194;52.151631
LOCATION:St Nicholas\, Peopleton
URL:https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/18658/service-and-events/events/
 1143510/
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR