Bowland Benefice
Pews News
20 July 2025

Collect for 5 th Sunday after Trinity
Almighty and everlasting God,
by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church
is governed and sanctified:
hear our prayer which we offer for all your

faithful people,
that in their vocation and ministry
they may serve you in holiness and truth
to the glory of your name;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
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
20 July

10.30am

Benefice Holy
Communion with
Baptism in White
Ladies Aston

Sunday
27 July

9.30am

Holy Communion
in White Ladies
Aston

10.30am

Hymns and a
Prayer in Upton
Snodsbury
11.00am Holy Communion
in Peopleton
2.00pm Garden Party on
Peopleton
We welcome Revd Alma and her husband Robin to
White Ladies Aston this morning to lead the
Communion Service and also to baptise Rosalind and

Alastair Robinson.

Rosalind is 3 and her baby brother 9 months old.
We wish them, Mum Stephanie, Dad Gordon and
their Godparents a very happy and memorable day.

A prayer for the children

Dear God we thank you for Rosalind and Alastair who
are to be baptized this morning.
May your blessings of peace and joy be with them and

protect them all of their days.
We make this prayer in the name of your Son, Jesus.

Amen.

Everyone welcome to the annual Garden Party at
Hallgarth Farm, Norchard Lane, Peopleton this Sunday
afternoon – with thanks to Georgie and Sue for

opening their garden.

Come along from 2.00pm to 4.30pm to enjoy Pimms
and strawberries, tea and cake. Tickets cost £10 for

adults and £4 for under 12s.
Information and tickets from Kim (840911), Carole
(840879), Shirley (841991) or Sue (840037).

Rain!!

Well we have had rain in this last week – on Tuesday
15 th – which also just happened to be St Swithun’s
Day….which led me to wonder about the well-known

superstition….

According to folklore, the weather on St Swithun’s
Day dictates the conditions for the next month or so.
If it rains, it will rain for 40 days and if it is sunny, it

will be fine for 40 days.

Apparently Swithun was bishop of Winchester from
852 to 862 and at his request, on his death he was
buried in the churchyard where rain and the steps of
passersby might fall on his grave.
Apparently the problem came when, the legend has it,
the powers-that-be in their wisdom, after several
miracles had been attributed to him, decided to move
his remains inside the cathedral on 15 July 971. A
huge storm ensued, and the rain was biblical – and
continued - so both the legend and tradition were

born!

This week’s summer thought:
I was brought up with the Book of Common Prayer
and its beautiful lyrical language which has a rhythm,
music and grandeur all of its own, speaking as it does
of majesty and wonder – the familiar words just
tripped off the tongue like a well-loved poem - not of
course that I really understood a lot of it!
One of the final prayers at the end of the Communion
Service, before the final Blessing begins:
ALMIGHTY and ever living God, we most heartily thank
thee, for that thou dost vouchsafe to feed us who have
duly received these holy mysteries with the spiritual
food of the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son
our Saviour Jesus Christ; and dost assure us thereby of
thy favour and goodness towards us…so expressive.
When the new services were introduced, I was
prepared to dislike everything with its modern
utilitarian misuse (as I thought) of our beautiful and
versatile English language…….but this prayer
appearing at the end of the Communion Service
touches me and almost moves me to tears.
Father of all, we give you thanks and praise, that
when we were still far off you met us in your Son and
brought us home. Dying and living, he declared your
love, gave us grace, and opened the gate of glory.
May we who share Christ’s body live his risen life; we
who drink his cup bring life to others; we whom the
Spirit lights give light to the world. Keep us firm in the
hope you have set before us, so we and all your
children shall be free, and the whole earth live to
praise your name; through Christ our Lord.
This is a picture of what true Christianity should be - A
Faith prepared to welcome in anybody and everybody
when we were still far off you met us in your Son and

brought us home.