The churches in our benefice are working with more limited ministerial resources these days. And the chances of our having a new incumbent before September at the earliest are slim! In addition, the churchwardens and worship leaders have agreed that this situation gives us an opportunity to try a different pattern of services – not least so that we can enjoy each other’s company and feel more like a team of congregations.
So we have decided to experiment for the first six months of this year, as follows:
Instead of only having a Benefice Communion service on fifth Sundays in the month (just when they happen to pop up in the calendar), we shall have a regular service for all the churches together on every first Sunday in the month. These ‘all together’ services will move around the churches, starting in January at Sedgeberrow. And we get the extra advantage of welcoming a guest president and preacher to most of these gatherings!
On the second Sundays, the pattern will be adapted to reflect the venue of the first one. So, this month, Sedgeberrow will not host a service but will join forces with Hinton that day. And that will be reversed in the months that Hinton host the
Benefice Service on the first Sunday.
To make things simpler all round, all of our main Sunday services will now start at 10am. This means Hinton will be in step with the other two churches.
We hope very much that this experiment will work well as an imaginative and sustainable way for us to offer worship together this year. The churchwardens and worship leaders will be meeting after Easter to review how things have been working out in practice. So, if you have any comments or suggestions to contribute, please let us know in the meantime.
As this year begins, we are conscious that there are many needs and anxieties around the world, together with the challenges that face our own government. So let’s come together as often as we can to turn to God for help, wisdom and peace.
May the Lord lead us all in trust and love through the year ahead and help us to ‘sow good seed in time of adversity’ (see Psalm 126).
Rev’d Canon Nick Wright
revnmwright@btinternet.com