BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//achurchnearyou.com//eventfeed//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-TIMEZONE:UTC BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Pews News 12 January 2025 DTSTART:20250109T163000Z DTEND:20250116T083000Z DTSTAMP:20260429T042937Z UID:11478792025-01-09 16:30:00+00:00achurchnearyou CATEGORIES: DESCRIPTION:Bowland Benefice\nPews News 12 January 2025\nThe Baptism of Ch rist - Collect\nEternal Father\, who at the baptism of Jesus\nrevealed him to be your Son\,\nanointing him with the Holy Spirit:\ngrant to us\, who are born again by water\n\nand the Spirit\,\n\nthat we may be faithful to our calling\nas your adopted children\;\nthrough Jesus Christ your Son our Lord\,\nwho is alive and reigns with you\,\nin the unity of the Holy Spir it\,\none God\, now and for ever. Amen.\nThis week in the Benefice\n\nSund ay\n12 January\n\n10.30am\n\nHoly\nCommunion in\nUpton\nSnodsbury\n\n10.30 am\n\nChristingle\nService in\nWhite Ladies\nAston\n\nSunday\n19 January\n Epiphany 2\n\n10.30am\n\nBenefice Holy\nCommunion in\nWhite Ladies\nAston\ nA message from Revd Claire\nAll are welcome to our new Café Church\non S unday 26 January at 11am in Peopleton Church. \nThis will be a short\, re laxing gathering with time to\nchat\, sing and hopefully learn together.  \nA time open to everyone to bring along friends\,\nyounger family members and neighbours who\nperhaps don’t normally join us for regular services but\nwho would enjoy time together.\nCroissants and hot drinks will be pr ovided. \nWe look forward to seeing you on 26 th for something a\n\nlittl e bit different.\n\nThere will be a Holy Communion service in the\nBenefic e earlier that morning at the normal time of\n9.30am in White Ladies Aston and Upton Snodsbury\nwill hold its Hymns and a Prayer service at 10.30am. \nA prayer for the rest of January\nWe give thanks for our health\, our fa mily and our\nfriends. We thank you for all the gifts in our lives.\nWe as k that you help us to release our resentment\,\njealousy and grudges towar ds others\, as these feelings\ncan only hamper and diminish us.\nHelp us t o live each day in love\, serving all who are in\nneed\, following the exa mples set by Jesus.\nHelp us not forget how fortunate we are to be living in\nthe warmth and comfort of our own homes with\nfamily and friends. Help us set out in 2025 with hope\,\ncourage and the determination to make a d ifference in\nsome way\, however small. Amen.\n\nI am sure we have all bee n listening and reading about\nthe state of our church after the resignati on of\nArchbishop Justin Welby with a great mixture of\nfeelings\, anger\, despair\, disgust and hopelessness.\nThe Archbishop of York Stephen Cottr ell has written\nan open letter to senior church leaders\, the General\nSy nod and local church members and it can be found\n\nhere:\n\nhttps://www.a rchbishopofyork.org/news/latest-\nnews/epiphany-letter-clergy-lay-minister s-and-\n\npeople-church-england\n\nThis Sunday in many rural communities i s marked as\n\nPlough Sunday\n\nThe observance of Plough Sunday on the Fir st Sunday\nof Epiphany (marking the baptism of Christ too) goes\nback to V ictorian times\, but behind it there is a much\nolder observance to mark t he beginning of the\n\nagricultural year.\n\nThe service includes the bles sing of the plough\, milk\nchurn\, soil and seeds and is generally followe d by a\nPlough Supper of bread and cheese with cider.\nAlthough the nature of farming has changed over the\ncenturies\, Plough Sunday is still seen as a way of\ngenerally celebrating farming and the work of\n\nfarmers.\n\n Some church communities have also reintroduced it\nas a focus for asking a blessing on human labour near\nthe start of the calendar year. It is an o pportunity to\ncherish the land and human labour\, and to remind us\nall o f our dependence upon it and upon God.\nA reminder that many people\, in o ur communities\nand beyond are struggling with the cost of living\,\nparti cularly with the cold winter weather we are\nexperiencing at the moment.\n \nPlease remember our local Food Banks – collections\nin our villages an d supermarkets – and collections of\nwarm clothing and toiletries for th e Maggs’ Day\nCentre and St Paul’s Hostel in Worcester.\nFor those who seek a Saviour\nwe lead them to the Stable\nTo the One who was born\nTo b ring freedom\nForgiveness\nLiberty.\n\nFor those who seek Assurance\nwe le ad them to the Light\nTo the One who opens eyes\nto understanding\nGod' \;s Word\nTruth.\n\nFor those who seek Forgiveness\nwe lead them to a Grac e\nbeyond comprehension\nTo wholeness\nHealing\nPeace. GEO:-2.092194;52.151631 LOCATION:St Nicholas\, Peopleton URL:https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/18658/service-and-events/events/ 1147879/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR