Update on Sunday Worship

Sunday 8th March
   
The Third Sunday of Lent

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Saturday 7th March
 6:00 pm Holy  Communion at St Mary's, Easton Neston

Sunday 8th March
Experience Easter St Lawrence Towcester
  8:15 am  Benefice Sunday Worship via Zoom
  9:15 am  Holy Communion at St Lawrence, Towcester
  9:15 am  Holy Communion at St Michael’s, Bradden
10:30 am  Quarter Bell Peal  St Lawrence, Towcester
11:15 am  Family Worship at St Bartholomew’s, Greens Norton
  2:30 pm  Baptism at St Lawrence, Towcester

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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 March

Copies are available in churches for collecting especially for those who do not have emails. 

Dear friends,

Have you heard about the amazing hot chocolate, coffee and bakes we enjoyed on Saturday morning? If you missed it, you really did miss a lovely timetogether, as you will see from the pictures below. It was a wonderful opportunityto spend time together and to think about how we share our faith through theeveryday conversations and encounters of our lives.

This year one of our shared focuses as a benefice is discipleship, thinking about how we grow in faith and how we share that faith with others in our everyday lives. To help us reflect on this, Revd Nigel has written a prayer which we encourage you to use as part of your daily prayers in the coming weeks.

Ground us in you, Lord Jesus.
Unite us in love.
Send us out together without fear,
bearing the aroma of Christ.
Amen.

Continuing that theme of sharing our faith, this week a group of wonderful volunteers have been sharing the Easter story with children from Greens Norton Primary School. Over the next two weeks we will be doing the same with the three primary schools in Towcester. The Experience Easter stations are set up in St Lawrence Church and, because it is designed to be an intergenerational experience, everyone is warmly invited to visit the church after school or in the evenings and explore them for yourselves.

At our monthly Ministry Team meeting this week we were reflecting on the services that lead us from Palm Sunday through Holy Week and on to Easter Day. These services tell the heart of the Christian story as we walk with Jesus from Jerusalem, through the Last Supper and the cross, to the joy of the resurrection. They are rich with prayer, symbolism and meaning, yet many people have never experienced them, sometimes simply because the titles feel unfamiliar or it is not clear what to expect.

Over the coming weeks we will share a little more about these services and why they matter. If you have never experienced these services before, perhaps this could be the year to come and discover them for yourself, because without the story of Easter, Christmas would not be possible.

There are several opportunities to take part. On Sunday 22 March at St Lawrence Church we will hold a special service featuring Stainer’s Crucifixion, sung by a scratch choir. Singers are warmly invited to join the choir, and anyone is very welcome to come and experience this powerful and moving act of worship. Details of how to take part are included in the poster below.

On Palm Sunday we will gather for a Benefice service at St Michael’s, Bradden at 10:15am, beginning with a short procession through the village led by a pony, echoing Jesus’ journey into Jerusalem. During Holy Week there will also be the Healing Services on Tuesday, at 12 noon in Greens Norton and 7:30pm in Towcester, and the Maundy Thursday service at St Lawrence remembering the Last Supper with the powerful symbols of foot washing and the watch.

Next Wednesday we have the next God and Chips evening at St Bartholomew’s, Greens Norton. Nigel needs to know by Monday 9th if you plan to come. The cost is £7.50 for a two course meal and you are welcome to bring your own drinks.

Sara from the Benefice Office has handed in her notice as she would like to spend more time with her family. I am sure you will join me in thanking her for all the work she has done over the past three years supporting the life of the benefice through her work in the office, and we wish her every blessing for the future. We will therefore be advertising for a new Admin Assistant (link to job description), 12 hours per week, Monday to Wednesday, 9:30am to 1:30pm. We are particularly looking for someone with some knowledge of how the Church of England works and with some finance experience. If you, or someone you know, might be interested, please contact the Benefice Office for further details.

Finally, I am sorry to share the sad news that Brian Manning has died. Brian served for many years as Treasurer of St Lawrence Church and continued as a trustee of Richard Hicks. He will be remembered with great gratitude and affection by many. Funeral details will be shared in due course. Please keep Liz and the wider family in your prayers.

With my prayers and every blessing,

Revd Paula Challen 

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