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‘Churchwardens’ Chat’
We are now in an interregnum following the retirement of the Vicar and so the monthly letter for the Parish News is written by the Churchwardens
November 2022
Oh God Our Help In Ages Past
Isaac Watts 1674 – 1748
You haven’t been yet have you? Please do come to one of our Prayers for Peace sessions: Tuesdays and Thursdays 6pm to 6.15pm. They really do only last for 15 minutes (you can put the oven on and know exactly what time you will be home!).
Early evening can be a very busy family time but if you can come, you will experience 15 minutes of calm quiet prayer for Ukraine.
We meet in the Lady Chapel and pray for God to strengthen and comfort all suffering from the effects of war and conflict. It is very relaxed, we light a candle and you can stay silent in prayer or join in shared prayers. Do try to come to just one session, Christians all over the world are doing this. God was our help in ages past, remains with us now and is our hope in years to come.
December will bring our Christingle Service (December 11) and the Christmas Tree Festival (December 16-18), with a wonderful concert from Brewood Singers in St Chad’s, on the evening of Saturday December 17. Concert tickets are £10 and include mulled wine and a mince pie. Money raised from a raffle will be donated to a local charity.
Tickets are available now from Mike Coope on 700426 or 07774 844519. His email is
We really want our Christmas celebrations and worship to be a beacon of light with something for the whole family. We are working with St. Chad’s School to provide something special for children and families in the lead up to Christmas (more details next month)!. Our Christmas Youth Service is at 10am on December 18 and our traditional carol service is that evening.
We are already planning a special Midnight Mass service on December 24.
This month we celebrate Inter-faith week, November 13-20 and our Youth Service on November 20 will include refreshments to reflect the wonderful cultural diversity around us and acknowledge our respect for different faiths.
We may know about other faiths and festivals, such as the Jewish festivals of Yom Kippur, Hanukkah and Passover (Pesach), the Diwali Festival of Light (celebrated by many Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists) and Eid the feast when Muslims conclude the Holy month of Ramadan in the Islamic calendar. We can learn from ours and other faiths the importance of family, community, celebration and support for our neighbours. Now is a good time for reflection and most importantly during Inter-faith week, we pray for religious tolerance around the world, that we can all listen and respect the views of others, celebrate what we have in common and accept we will not agree on all things.
Join us at 10am on November 20 for a very special service, led by our Youth Group.
We also look forward to welcoming everyone all to our Service of Remembrance on November 13 and to our November ‘Who’s for Lunch?’ (November 23).
‘We are marching in the light of God’ (‘Siyahamba’ (Zulu)) – and through our outreach and our services we hope to share this light, to brighten the darkness of winter months. And through celebration, worship and prayer bring focus upon Christ – the light of hope.
God Bless,
Clive Pendrell and Dorothy Steel
Churchwardens