Update on Sunday Worship

Sunday 11th January
   
The Baptism of Christ

Saturday 10th January
3:00 pm  Funeral Thanksgiving Service at St Lawrence, Towcester

Sunday 11th January     
 9:15 am  Holy Communion at St Lawrence, Towcester
 9:15 am  Holy Communion at St Michael's, Bradden
10:15 am  Benefice Sunday Worship via Zoom 
11:15 am  Family Worship with Year 5 at St Bartholomew's, Greens Norton

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Our weekly news contains details of services for this and next weekend, as well as daily bible readings, prayer requests and notices for forthcoming events. 

Looking ahead to events and services that are happening please do look at the monthly calendar for January

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Dear friends,

The twelve days of Christmas are that gentle, often overlooked space between celebration and new beginnings. The busyness of Christmas Day has passed, but the story itself is not yet finished. This is a season for lingering, noticing, and letting familiar truths settle more deeply.

It is also very much pantomime season - 'they're behind you!!'. One of the joys of panto is that it is unapologetically intergenerational. All ages gather in the same space, everyone is encouraged to take part, to laugh, to shout out, and to enjoy themselves. We recognise the characters, we know how it will end, and yet the whole experience still manages to speak differently to each person in the room. Ideally, we all go home not only entertained, but carrying something new to think about as well. This Saturday we are heading off to the panto in Milton Keynes.

I am not suggesting that church services should become pantomime. But there is something worth noticing in its instincts. People of all ages gathered together. Participation encouraged rather than observed from a distance. A shared experience that is joyful, accessible, and still capable of offering something that lingers beyond the moment. Those principles matter for us too as we think about worship, discipleship, and learning together as the people of God.

This year as part of the Church of England's 12 Joys of Christmas they shared a reflection drawing just this connection between pantomime, the nativity, and the Christian claim that God’s Word did not remain distant, but leapt into the world. Not as make believe, not behind a costume, but fully sharing our human life. A story we think we know and yet one that continues to surprise us with its depth and truth.

As we move through the Epiphany season, this Sunday we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel, a moment when the story opens out. The Spirit descends, a voice names belovedness, and the journey of public calling begins. It is a reminder that Christmas is not only about arrival, but about what follows, lives shaped, sent, and sustained by the Holy Spirit.

As these Christmas days draw to a close, the wider world has largely packed Christmas away and is already turning its attention to the chocolate and colour of Easter. The Christian story moves differently. We linger longer, not rushing past incarnation, and we continue to ask what it means for Christ to be present with us and for our lives to be shaped by the Spirit. It is in that slower, deeper rhythm that the new year begins to open.

During January there will be opportunities to pause, reflect, and listen together. On Saturday 17th January, 10:00 am to 12:00 noon, at the Chantry House, we will gather for Made for More, a reflective morning building on our shared focus on prayer and discipleship, with short contributions, space for quiet reflection, and conversation. A new Tuesday Bible Study on the Holy Spirit will begin on Tuesday 27th January, following an eight week course exploring themes such as the Spirit and the Bible, the gift of the Spirit, and the Spirit at work in our lives. Before the course begins, we will hold a United Service for Prayers for Christian Unity on Tuesday 20th January 7:00 pm venue to be confirmed.

These are offered not as demands on already busy lives, but as invitations into attentiveness, discernment, and shared faithfulness. 

Finally this week there are a number of announcements concerning upcoming funerals and thanksgiving services. A reminder that Lynne Linney's Thanksgiving Service is this Saturday (10th) 3:00 pm at St Lawrence Church all welcome.  We are also sorry to share that Les Lefever died just before Christmas. Les and his wife, Isabel, lived in Greens Norton for many years and were active members of the Methodist Chapel before it closed in 2013. They were also instrumental in the work and opening of the Community Centre. Les' funeral will take place next Wednesday 14th January 3:00 pm at Banbury Crematorium. We also are sorry to share that Margaret Sullivan died recently. She was an active member of St Lawrence Church and lived at Malthouse Court, until she moved to a Care Home. Margaret's funeral will take place Wednesday 28th January 2pm also at Banbury Crematorium.

With my prayers 


Revd Paula Challen 
Rector 

Forthcoming Events