Bowland Benefice
Pews News
22 June 2025
1 st Sunday of Trinity
Collect
O God,

the strength of all those who put their trust in you,
mercifully accept our prayers and,
because through the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do no good thing without you,
grant us the help of your grace,
that in the keeping of your commandments
we may please you both in will and deed;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
This week in the Benefice

Sunday
22 June

9.30am

Holy Communion
in White Ladies
Aston
10.30am Songs of Praise in
Upton Snodsbury

11.00am

Late Breakfast
Café Church in
Peopleton

Saturday
28 June

2.00pm to
4.30pm

White Ladies
Aston Annual
Fete at Redfern
House

Sunday
29 June

10.30am

Benefice Holy
Communion in
Broughton
Hackett
If you haven’t experienced Café Church yet, do please
try it this Sunday – the theme for the get-together is

Generosity.

John Morgan, who lives in Peopleton, will be coming
along to talk about the way he makes music, what it
means to him and why he is doing it.
A very special morning with a late breakfast of
delicious croissant, coffee and tea included!
You will be made very welcome!
Next Saturday (28 June) from 2.00pm until 4.30pm
White Ladies Aston will once again hold its annual,
very popular traditional village fete! Parking and entry
are free and everyone is very welcome to come along
to Redfern House to enjoy a typical time-honoured
rural event: with teas, tombola, well stocked stalls (eg
plants, white elephant, books, toys, craft materials,
produce) games for all ages, raffles, children’s races,
Dress4Less Boutique and much more.
Fun for the whole family!

A thank you from Shirley Clay……
A huge thank you to all the helpers for Christian Aid
week in May, collecting both in Peopleton and

Upton Snodsbury.

Your hard work is much appreciated and we jointly
raised £386:76p for the urgent work that Christian Aid
undertakes around the world with the world’s most

deprived peoples.

Sombre thoughts after the world news of the last

few days

Every week it seems things are getting worse around
our big, beautiful planet. Israel, Gaza, Iran, Ukraine,
Myanma……the list is seemingly endless and

increasing daily.

We can do very little except hope and pray; give
financially when asked and when we feel it is a cause
we wish to support; do our best for those around us;
cherish our freedoms and treasure and use to
the best of our abilities the hand we have been dealt
in life and enjoy to the full the life we have the

privilege of living.

This poem perhaps helps to express the hope and

core of our existence.

The author, Joy Cowley is a New Zealander of nearly
90 who has sold over 40 million books world-wide and
is best known for her children’s books which can be
found in English, Maori and two dozen other

languages.

Part of a Meditation by Joy Cowley
You big, bright beautiful God,
This is my day for flying!
I reach out to the bigness of you.
I touch the brightness of you
and I feel the beauty of you
in the centre of my living.
And if tomorrow I am grounded
by a weight of anxieties,

if my feet are heavy and there are clouds between me

and the sun,

then let me keep hold of the warm place in my heart
reminding me that today I flew
and was kissed by God.

But when it all gets too much – when the toll of the
human cost of loss of life and suffering in the world
becomes unbearable. What to pray for, what to think,

where to go?
God,

I do not know which way to go.
I do not know what to think or feel.
I feel powerless to choose between the options

before me.

God, give me the wisdom to see the way ahead.
And the boldness to walk in it. Amen.