The Welland-Fosse Benefice: Prayers and Notices.

 Sunday 9th May 2021:  Easter VI

 

• Please remember in your prayers those who are sick: Ray Bailey, Sylvia Martin, Margaret and Derek Barker, Suzie Clements and Jane Williams. Pray too for the departed, including Peter Bowser.
• Pray too for our PCC’s preparing for their Annual Meetings.
• Zoom Morning Prayer continues on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8.30 am.
• Thursday 13^th is Ascension Day. The Eucharist will be celebrated at South Luffenham, 7.30pm.
• Next Sunday we are in church at Tixover, 9.30am, Morcott at 11 am and on Zoom at 11 am.
• Last week, a bucket collection was held for the DEC India Appeal and £125 was raised. Thank you so much!
• ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ Compline Series, starts Friday 14 May at Morcott Church, 8pm –an opportunity for quiet prayer together for the development of God’s Kingdom here on earth. Join us and representatives of all 5 parishes at this candlelit service. Please wear a mask. Compline will be held each night – apart from Sunday – at 8pm around the benefice until Pentecost, 23^rd See Parish Magazines for venues. South Luffenham is the venue for 15^th May at 8pm.

 

SOUTH LUFFENHAM:

Sunday 9th May 9.30am Holy Communion (CA).
Thursday 13th May 7.30pm Ascension Day Communion (CA).
Sunday 23rd May 9.30am Communion by Extension (AR).
APCM’s Wednesday 19th May 6.30pm in Church.
Church is open daily from 10am-4pm.

 

MEDITATION: Compline

 

Do you long for company in these dreary and isolating times? Or calm amid the clamour of domestic life?

 

The short service of Compline might be your answer. Compline is the last service in the monastic routine, ‘completing’ the day. Often it was held in a monastic dormitory in candlelight. Archaeologists have discovered scorch marks on dormitory walls where monks have been overtaken by sleep. The connection between prayer and sleep is an important one.  It is difficult to meditate under pressure. Relaxation in prayer is important for it is not just what we say or long for but what God might be saying to us, for us to ‘hear’.

 

The beauty of Compline is its quietness. It is unhurried, calm, prayerful with silence providing the space for godly thoughts to emerge. Yet there is also structure: there is the slow rhythm of the service. There is one another. It is so encouraging to be able to pray in the company of others. The silence takes on a greater depth and yet the company provides an alertness for prayer to be focussed: prayer in silence or shared.  During the pandemic, I for one have enormously valued the company of others during our smaller Zoom services.

 

This week – during the time between Ascension Day and Pentecost – ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ begins. It is a world-wide movement of prayer which began 5 years ago to encourage more people to come to know Jesus Christ. We shall be participating this year by holding Compline by candlelight around our 5 churches at 8 pm every night except Sunday from 14 – 22 May.

 

If you haven’t experienced Compline before, then why not give it a try?  The service lasts about 15 minutes. There is no sermon and no singing for most of us – just the chance to relax into a prayerful atmosphere to be carried along by the gentle rhythm of the service and caressed by the silence in a place ‘where prayer has been valid’.

 

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