#430: which, if said correctly, sounds like a star wars character
Bertie here, and I’m a mouse of many layers this week. I’m wearing my wellies, I have my umbrella and raincoat and sunglasses, and I’m wearing a t shirt and shorts with my swimming trunks underneath, because the weather can’t seem to make up it’s mind this week. I don’t know what to prepare for, and when you remember that my legs and paws are actually very tiny and short, well, you see how something as small as a mere puddle can seem like a lake to a mouse like me. I’m daydreaming about summer and cheese, and if sweet dreams are made of cheese…who am I to dis-a-brie?
Coming Up
Tonight, Thursday May the 30th is the feast of Corpus Christi– there will be a service at 8pm at St Paul’s as we give thanks for the gift of the Eucharist. Please do come along or watch on the livestream.
This Sunday there will be services at 9.30, 10 and 11am at St Paul’s, Woosehill and St Nick’s respectively.
Why not try something new in June? Come along to a different service, go to Coffee and Chat, join the Walking Group for their stroll followed by a coffee, come along to Morning Prayer… talk to Louise Cole for details of this and everything else, and do check Pews News for things happening in the week ahead.
The Parish BBQ will be on Sun the 23rd of June- Fr Richard’s last weekend in the parish on Sunday the 14th of July with the only service in the parish that day being the 9.30, followed by two events in the afternoon- games and picnics and relaxation on St Paul’s Junior School Field from 2.30 to 4 and then coffee and cake in the Parish Rooms from 4 to 5. Everyone is welcome to both and people of all ages will enjoy either and both.
This lecture on the 6th of June will be excellent. Everyone who heard Chris last year will be very keen to hear him again. Do talk to your friends and do bring them along too because it will be an informative, challenging and encouraging evening. And it will be fun too.
PXL_20240515_133131688Download
An Important Notice on the 8am Service
Until the end of August, the 8am service will be on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month. After that, it will move to the 1st and 3rd Sundays because of the way the rota falls and when people are available. We are confident that we will be able to resource one service by extension every month and one 8am with a priest each month. Do please speak to a Warden or the Office if you have any questions or thoughts about this, or about anything to do with the vacancy.
These are the Sundays we have in the plan until the end of 2024:
May 12th & 26th
June 9th & 23rd
(No service on July the 14th because everyone will be together at the 9.30am for Richard’s final Sunday in post).
July 28th
August 11th & 25th
September 1st & 15th
October 6th & 20th
November 3rd & 17th
December 1st & 15th
Prayer during and for the forthcoming vacancy
We are all only too aware that Fr Richard’s departure date is now less than two months away!
Prayer — for the Lamey family, for Peter and David our Wardens, for Cara, Jane, Judi and other clergy who will be helping with services, for the PCC and the whole parish (St Paul’s, St Nicholas’s and Woosehill), for the recruitment process, for the Deanery … — is vital. We hope for the coming time of vacancy to be a positive time of growth, both individual and as the body of Christ.
As I have already said (and will doubtless say again) to this end we would all do well to “add in” an extra, focussed prayer element to our normal routines of prayer and worship. The demands on our time and energy, and what this extra element could look like, will vary from person to person.
At the confirmation service Bishop Olivia said, “Pray as you can, not as you can’t”. But please do pray: on your own or in company, at home or out walking or in church … remembering always that prayer includes listening, not just talking, to God!
Some suggestions to consider:
- Join a prayer group
- Starting on June 5th, on the first Wednesday of each month until further notice
at 3.00pm at Jane Creasy’s house – 8 Arthur Road, RG41 2SX – for about an hour
Other groups may be meeting at other times and places –
do ask around (or let Bertie know when and where yours meets so others can join you)
- Come to Morning prayer
- Mon, Wed and Thurs at 8.30am on Zoom (Meeting ID: 753 2006 4518 , Passcode: 024453)
- Tuesdays and Fridays at 9.00 in St Paul’s Church
- Arrange a regular (maybe weekly or fortnightly) prayer walk with a friend or two around the parish, praying for the area, the people who live there, the church groups there, the right applicants for the post of Rector …
If prayer walking is a new idea for you, one of these guides may give you some ideas, though the focus is a little different:
https://occ-stratford.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Prayer-Walks-Guide.pdf or
https://stpetersbrighton.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/PRAYER-WALKING-GUIDE-WEBSITE-ST-PETERS.pdf
- Arrive early for any service you attend and spend those extra minutes praying specifically for the parish
- In your House Group or Tithing set aside some extra time to pray together for all the above needs and groups
The attached prayers are offered to the parish for regular use and inspiration at this time – thank you to all who contributed, and to all who will pray them. Printed copies will also be available soon.
Mary
Deputy Warden for Spirituality and Mission
Carbon Literacy Course Photos
Chris Cipkin offers this update and some photographs from the recently run Carbon Literacy Course
The first shows the whiteboard feedback from our Bible-related discussion with Richard.
The second shows course participants’ carbon footprints (pink post-its) clustered in the 7.5-11.5 tonnes per year range. The blue post-its show the UK average (ca. 9.3 tonnes), world average (6.3 tonnes) and the world ‘fair share’ if a safe level of emissions were to be divided equally between everybody on the planet (1 tonne).
The third is a giant map of the world which we covered in post-its showing people and places we’re aware of already being affected by climate change. One of the key points we discussed was around social justice and how those who live in the poorest places with least resilience, particularly in the ‘global south’, are disproportionately impacted.
Needless to say, we’ve used a lot of post-its during the course which will have generated several grams of carbon!
Splog + Guests notice
Our ‘Splog + Guests’ event will be on Friday 12th July.
To mark Fr. Richard’s departure for pastures new, we will be having a special ‘Splog + Guests’ brewery tour and fish and chip supper at Bond Brews on Heathlands Road in Wokingham, starting at 7pm on Friday 12th July.
The event is being organised by Splog, but is open to all. As such I’d be grateful if you’d pass this message on to anyone who may wish to attend.
The event will cost £25 per person and the itinerary will be:
- Arrival at 7pm with a welcome drink of beer, cider, pimms, prosecco or soft drink
- Fish and Chips to be delivered at 7.30pm
- Brewery Tour with beer tasting
Once the tour is over, additional drinks may be bought separately, with a finish around 10pm.
The address of Bond Brews is 3-4, South Barns Gardeners Green Farm, Heathlands Rd, Wokingham RG40 3AS.
If you would like to attend, please reply to this email and specify if there is anyone in addition to yourself who would like to attend.
splog.wokingham@gmail.com
