Dear Friends,

I attach with this email the sermon for the readings set for 13th Sunday of Trinity and a sermon based on one of the readings set for a communion service during this period of national mourning.Many of our churches now have a Book of Condolences where you can add your own tribute should you wish. The Church of England website (https://www.churchofengland.org/) also has an online Book of Condolences and the means of virtually lighting a candle as an act of prayer.

In major cities and towns across the nation today the Proclamation of King Charles III has been made and it will be made in Lynton tomorrow at the Town Hall at 5pm.There will be a Service of Commemoration of Queen Elizabeth II at St Mary's Lynton at 6pm on Wednesday 14th September.Larger services will take place in Barnstaple (led by the Archdeacon of Barnstaple) and Ilfracombe on Sunday 18th September. I don't yet have timings for these. The county service will be held at Exeter Cathedral at 3pm on Sunday 18th September.

At this time we continue to give thanks for the life of the late Queen, to pray for King Charles and the wider royal family and to pray too for this nation and his other realms and territories. At a time of national mourning sometimes the personal griefs we carry can feel raw too and we pray for all around us who are finding this time hard for that reason (including ourselves if that is the case).

God bless

Samantha