Welland Fosse Group of Churches

The Welland-Fosse Benefice: Prayers and Notices.

Sunday 17^th October 2021: Trinity XX

• Please pray for the sick including Judith Piggott, Sylvia Martin and Derek Barker. Pray too for the departed especially for Jane Williams, giving thanks for her faithful ministry as churchwarden of Morcott.
• We welcome Archdeacon Gordon as our preacher at Tixover this morning, 9.30 am.
• Zoom Morning Prayer continues on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8.30 am. Compline is on Thursday at 6pm.
• Next Sunday, 24^th October, we are in church at Duddington, 9.30 am for Holy Communion and the baptism of Alba Scott at 11 am. Please remember her and her parents in your prayers. At 11 am Holy Communion is at South Luffenham and Zoom at 11 am also.
• Face Masks: up until now we have encouraged people to wear face masks in church but with the break between infections and hospitalization, the immunization rate and the space and airiness of our churches we invite you now to wear a mask or not, as you feel most comfortable. The Covid restrictions on the Holy Communion service will continue.
• Thanks for your support for the Rectory Yard Sale.
• The county Council, working with Leicestershire, are busy housing Afghan refugees in our area. They have asked us to hold fire on further donations as the critical need at the moment is detached housing.  If you can help for at least a year, please visit the government website for refugees.

SOUTH LUFFENHAM:

Sunday 24th October 11am Holy Communion (please note time!).

Sunday November 14th 9.30am Service of Remembrance.
Sunday November 28th 9.30am Holy Communion.

Starting on Monday 1st Nov at 3.30pm at North Luffenham School, a new joint venture between St Mary’s Church, South Luffenham and St John’s Church, North Luffenham – Community Church aimed at children and their parents/carers. Fun, food, crafts and songs based on a Bible story. On Monday 15th November we will meet in South Luffenham Village Hall. Anyone from our benefice is very welcome to attend. Please email sally@saltlane.com to reserve your place. 

MEDITATION:

What do angels do?         

We don’t often chat about angels over the Sunday morning toast and coffee. Yet, if you have seen angel cards around the villages in our benefice over the last few weeks, then you might know at least some of the answers. Angels announce things. They invite us to participate in the good stuff, but also sometimes warn about possible consequences when the world gets itself in a pickle. Perhaps most importantly of all, angels are a sign of hope. We aren’t left to struggle alone.

Angels feature, of course in the bible. They are mentioned at least 273 times. They adorn Christmas cards and table decorations, including those charming chimes from Norway. They feature in various guises in old master paintings or modern films.  Like puppies, angels aren’t just for Christmas.

This afternoon, everyone in the benefice is invited to gather in St Mary’s, Morcott. We’ll be there to remember those who have been lost in the dark days of the pandemic; we’ll honour kindness prompted by harsh conditions or sad moments; we’ll dedicate ourselves to the spirit of hope which angels often represent.  Why not come along? Bring an angel with you and hear the song written just for today. It ends with these words:              

For those who by their work our strength renew

Not by mere words but what they chose to do

For angels who bring hope and joy from you

We thank you Lord, we thank you Lord

See wellandfosse.org for much more information, including contact details for

The Very Rev Christopher Armstrong and the churchwardens

The Welland-Fosse Benefice: Prayers and Notices.

Sunday 10^th October 2021: Trinity XIX

• Please pray for the sick including Jane Williams, Judith Piggott, Sylvia Martin and Derek Barker. Pray too for the departed.
• Please remember in your prayers Paul Elwis from South Luffenham who is to be Confirmed today in Peterborough Cathedral. Pray too for Eliza Lane to be Baptized into the Church of God today at South Luffenham.
• Zoom Morning Prayer continues on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8.30am. Compline is on Thursday at 6pm.
• Next Sunday, 17 October, we are in church at Tixover, 9.30 am, with Archdeacon Gordon; Zoom is at 11 am and at 3pm The Benefice Recovery Service at Morcott.
• Face Masks: up until now we have encouraged people to wear face masks in church but with the break between infections and hospitalization, the immunization rate and the space and airiness of our churches we invite you now to wear a mask or not, as you feel most comfortable. The Covid restrictions on the Holy Communion service will continue.
• Thanks for your support for the book sale. The next Rectory Yard Sale is on Saturday 16 October, 10 – 12 noon when furniture, antiques, silverware, crockery, kitchenware, sports equipment, bric-a-brac and some vintage clothing will be on sale. Many items 50p. 50% of proceeds to benefice funds.
• The county Council, working with Leicestershire, are busy housing Afghan refugees in our area. They have asked us to hold fire on further donations as the critical need at the moment is detached housing.  If you can help for at least a year, please visit the government website for refugees.

SOUTH LUFFENHAM:

Sunday 10th October 9.30am Morning Worship.
Sunday October 10th 12.30pm – Eliza’s baptism. Please join us if you would like to. 

Sunday 24th October 9.30am Holy Communion.

MEDITATION:

How many crises can one government cope with?  They keep piling up!  Coronavirus, Brexit, fuel, pigs, security on the streets, climate change. Not all of these crises can be laid at the door of No.10 but the government of the day has to respond. There is no one answer to fix all but with our own two-party political system the answer tends to be a short-term fix, if there is one.  Governments are out to retain power which means not upsetting the voters. This does not get us much further than the next five years.

There has been much outrage and sucking of teeth for instance about the safety of women on our streets, and rightly so.  But can there be a political answer?  We can create more laws which will inevitably keep the police spinning in confusion and our prisons over-full but it can’t be a political solution. It is deeper than that. Some pundits have bravely called for an educational solution for men – but surely women too? – but our schools and colleges do that anyway. 

What is missing in some of these crises, though not all, is a deep respect for one another and a code of conduct to live by. Christianity as well as other faiths has traditionally provided this, but their voices are quieter now, more marginalized, for a variety of reasons.

If you find yourself in church today, the readings we will hear are moral exhortations. There are a series of ‘do-nots’, echoing the 10 Commandments but the solution lies within. It cannot be imposed from without. We live by Grace, not by Law. The camel cannot get through the eye of a needle but it is possible for a rich man who takes on the gospel of Jesus. (Mark 10.25). That is one of Jesus’ jokes but it is also a challenge.

The Golden Rule applies; ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’.

See wellandfosse.org for much more information, including contact details for

The Very Rev Christopher Armstrong and the churchwardens