Benefice Christmas Services St. Lawrence, Ardeley Sunday 7 December 4.00pm Christingle Service Sunday 14 December 4.00pm Christmas Carol Service Tuesday 16 December 5.00pm Ardeley School Carols by Candlelight Christmas Eve 4.00pm Crib Service 11.30pm Midnight Eucharist Christmas Day 9.30am Holy Communion St. Peter’s, Benington Tuesday 16 December 5.00pm Benington School Christingle Service Wednesday 17 December 2.00pm Benington School Carol Concert Friday 19 December 6.30pm Christmas Carol Service Christmas Eve 4.00pm Crib Service Christmas Day 11.00am Holy Communion St John the Baptist, Cottered Sunday 14 December 6.30pm Carol Service Christmas Eve 4.00pm Crib Service Christmas Day 11.00am Holy Communion St. Mary’s, Walkern Sunday 7 December 9.30am Christingle Service Sunday 21 December 6.00pm Service of Nine Lessons and Carols Thursday 18 December 10.00am Walkern School Christmas Service Christmas Eve 3.00pm Crib Service 11.30pm Midnight Eucharist Holy Trinity, Throcking Sunday 28 December 10.00am Benefice Communion Service
The Revd Writes… Many years ago, I was working in a psychiatric hospital, caring for patients being assessed for varying stages of dementia. The heartbreak for relatives, and for staff, of watching someone who had lived a full and vibrant life being slowly reduced to becoming dependent upon others for basic needs being met was a daily reminder of how fragile and vulnerable life is at its core. We come into the world being dependent upon others and for so many, often blessed with a long life, we leave the world in the same state. Being dependent upon others for caring for our bodily needs brings its challenges and equally, if not more so, are the demands of caring for sick and poorly minds. At times, surrounded by thirty confused adults, it was difficult to remember the lives once lived, the contributions to society once made, the capacity for loving and nurturing once given and shared. Relatives were asked to share a photograph of patients in the prime of their lives as a way of reminding staff of who the person they were caring for used to be. Leading trade unionists, military officers, academics and even a psychiatric nurse, who had once worked on the ward, adorned bedside cabinets. Many hours were spent with patients reminiscing about the ‘good old days’ in attempts to hold and recall vestiges of a distant life. Sadly, for many, this proved too much as the slow creep of frailty robbed minds of the ability to relate to anything beyond a few minutes, or even seconds. Occasionally there would be moments when, from deep within an almost abandoned consciousness, a stirring of awareness occurred, taking staff by surprise. I remember Mr Judd. Lost in a quagmire of confusion, unable to speak, with little facial expression, tears rolled down his cheeks on hearing the Last Post being broadcast from the Cenotaph. Inexplicably, he muttered one word, “terrible…” It was as if he was somehow managing to speak for others, who could no longer articulate, the pain of war, and sorrow for the Fallen. In a world of confusion, with its competing demands and narratives, and in which the self-absorbed often seems to dominate so much of life, there remains a collective responsibility to remember those who have sacrificed themselves for the basic freedoms that we so often take for granted. Those who gave their lives and who have lost the ability to speak, ask that we speak for them, and in doing so to remember the “terrible” cost, not just for the victims of past conflicts but for those who continue to pay the price of war in our own day. God Bless Mark
CHURCH OF ENGLANDSt Lawrence, Ardeley; St Peter’s, Benington; St John the Baptist, Cottered; Holy Trinity, Throcking and St Mary’s, WalkernChurch Services: November 2025Sunday 2nd 4th before Advent9.30am Holy Communion St Lawrence, Ardeley9.30am Morning Prayer St Mary’s, Walkern11.00am Morning Prayer St Peter’s, Benington11.00am Morning Prayer St John the Baptist, Cottered 3.00pm All Souls Commemoration St Mary’s, Walkern Service 4.00pm All Souls Commemoration St Lawrence, Ardeley ServiceSunday 9th Remembrance Sunday / 3rd before Advent9.45am Remembrance Service St Mary’s, Walkern10.50am Remembrance Service St Lawrence, Ardeley10.50am Remembrance Service St Peter’s, Benington10.50am Remembrance Service St John the Baptist, CotteredTuesday 11th Remembrance Day10.50am Remembrance Day Service St Peter’s, ChurchyardSunday 16th 2nd before Advent9.30am Holy Communion St Lawrence, Ardeley9.30am Morning Prayer St Mary’s, Walkern11.00am Holy Communion BCP St Peter’s, Benington11.00am Morning Prayer St John the Baptist, CotteredSunday 23rd Christ the King9.30am Family Service St Lawrence, Ardeley9.30am Holy Communion St Mary’s, Walkern11.00am Holy Communion Holy Trinity, ThrockingSunday 30th Advent 110.00am Benefice Service St John the Baptist, CotteredCoffee at Ten - WalkernCoffee is served every Thursday morning at Walkern United Reformed Church from 10.00am to 11.00am, with a five minute ‘Pause for Thought’ at 10.30am.
The Revd Writes… One of the surprising features of Summer 2025 was the appearance on our streets and road network of national flags, both the Union Jack and the Cross of St George. I for one have been an admirer of other countries where the national flag is flown in gardens and alongside front doors, as well as public buildings and spaces, as a mark of patriotic pride and identity. Earlier in the year I came across a lone homestead in the middle of nowhere in the heart of Sweden, the only splash of colour in an otherwise bleak landscape was the yellow and blue of the national flag, fluttering proud and true. It was cheering. National flags have long been used as symbols around which to unite a country. Both the Union Jack and the Cross of St George speak, without the need for words, about who we are as a people and the common values and culture we share. The courage to stand up against evil, depicted in St George slaying the dragon, and the coming together of the peoples of the disparate British Islands, expressed in the design of the Union flag, both emphasise that, overall, we remain better together than apart. Symbols are, of course, subject to interpretation. Some will want to accentuate a particular angle or value. Which particular value does the flag represent for you? Duty? Loyalty? Sacrifice? English or British first? Whatever your response and however you feel, what is true, is that, as a symbol, a national flag is not owned by any one group in society. No political group or party can claim exclusive rights over its use or interpretation. The national flag is owned by everyone and no one group has the right to sully its reputation in such a way as to leave others feeling that they don’t belong. To do so is to deny the rightful place of the flag in helping to generate community cohesion. Flags have flown from the top of church towers and in churchyards ever since anyone can remember. In the fourth century the Roman Emperor, Constantine introduced the red cross on a white background to symbolise the resurrection of Christ; the triumph of life over death. The Swiss businessman, Henry Dunant, chose the same symbol when founding the Red Cross Society after witnessing the suffering of soldiers and others at the Battle of Solferino in 1859. In the same vein, our national flags are there to promote and encourage the best of who we are and what we can be as a people, united in purpose, affirming the common good, looking out for each other. God Bless Mark
