The Benefice of St. Bartholomew

**Important** - Appointment of New Rector

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Written by Tony Gowers

The following announcement was read out at all services in the Benefice on Sunday 18th April 2021:

"The Bishop of Ramsbury and the Patrons of the St Bartholomew Benefice are pleased to announce that following the appointment process, they have chosen The Rev’d Kate McFarlane as the Rector of the Benefice, subject to the usual statutory checks.

Kate is currently the Curate-in-Charge for the Parish of Marston Moreteyne with Lidlington, in St. Albans Diocese. It is expected that Kate will be licensed by the Bishop on the evening of 1st September. Kate is married to Stephen Dobson who is a school teacher, and they have 2 sons, Christopher and Edmund.

Please pray for Kate and her family as they prepare to leave their parish and move to Semley, and for the Ministry team here, as they continue to minister amongst us."

Benefice News - 16th April 2021

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Written by Tony Gowers

Church News

A copy of this week’s Church News can be found here. In addition to news, the document gives full details of all of our services this coming Sunday and on the following Sunday. Do join in with everything that appeals to you.

Sunday 18th April 2021 - Third Sunday of Easter

There are five services planned for Sunday 18th April that will all be held in church, with two of these also streamed over the Internet using Zoom. Details are shown below, in the right hand margin of this webpage, and on the Benefice calendar here. The service sheet for the Family Eucharist to be held in St John's Church, Charlton, at 11.00 am can be downloaded and/or printed here.

Remembering The Duke of Edinburgh

At Donhead St Andrew church on Sunday 18th April at 11.00 am, the Service of Matins (Morning Prayer) will provide the opportunity to come together to mark the death of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and to give thanks for his life of service to our Nation and to the Commonwealth. The service will be led by our Lay Minister, Jo Johnson, and will incorporate special prayers and The Duke’s favourite hymn. There will be live organ music as well as recorded hymns sourced from some of Britain’s leading cathedrals and college chapels.

It would be helpful if those who wish to attend the service could contact Michael, telephone 01747 828833, to say how many seats they would like. There will be additional seats available for those who just turn up, but a request in advance before Saturday lunchtime would be appreciated.

Other churches in the Benefice will also be giving thanks for the Duke’s life of service during their acts of worship on 18th April.

Mid-Week Eucharist (Said)

The Rev’d June is leading a mid-week service of Common Worship Eucharist (said) on Zoom each Wednesday at 9.30 am. Please do consider participating in this service if you are able. You can find the Zoom details in the right-hand margin of this webpage.

Churches Opening During the Week

Some of our church buildings will be open at specified times throughout the coming week. Details of the opening days and times for each church are shown below:

• St Andrew’s Church, Donhead St Andrew: Tuesday and Friday: 10.00 am to 4.00 pm
• St Mary's Church, East Knoyle: Wednesday: 9.00 am to 1.00 pm; Saturday: 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm
• St Leonard’s Church, Semley: Sunday and Wednesday: 10.00 am to 6.00 pm
• St Mary's Church, Donhead St Mary: Monday to Saturday: 10.00 am to 4.00 pm

These details may change as we gain experience of our ‘new normal’, so please check this page from week to week for the latest information.

From the Chalke Deanery

Thank you to everyone who donated to the ‘Can You Stand Not Sitting’ appeal for benches and desks for the school in Cueibet. We raised over £1,000 in this Benefice, and the wider Deanery Appeal has raised over £12,000 including Gift Aid. This is a wonderful result. We aim to transfer funds to the Diocese of Cueibet account in time to give the best Easter present possible. Thank you to everyone for making this a reality for the Cueibet Church Primary School.

Zoom

With many services now being held in our churches on Sundays and some being ‘Zoomed’ at the same time, we require more than one ‘Zoom room' to enable us to Zoom two services from different churches simultaneously. Details of each ‘Zoom room' are shown below.

Important: please ensure that you check in the right hand margin of the this page the Zoom details of the service in which you wish to participate before joining the service.

Zoom 2

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84985924593?pwd=em4zQ1Q2YkdrdTRuanhYY0lOejZQUT09
Meeting ID: 849 8592 4593      Passcode: 519527

Zoom 3

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85640073075?pwd=akd0WTVKUHpSeDFhZ1NrM1NrTHZKQT09
Meeting ID: 856 4007 3075    Passcode: 2020

Zoom 4

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2872955220?pwd=NTN5OHE0anVTRmNwYmpUVHdoSWI3QT09
Meeting ID: 287 295 5220      Passcode: 175430

Zoom 5

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3341879558
Meeting ID: 334 187 9558       Passcode: 345123

Zoom 6

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4025128421
Meeting ID: 402 512 8421     Passcode: 1943

Zoom 7

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83223161580
Meeting ID: 832 2316 1580   Passcode: A9494L

Zoom 8

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82226890974?pwd=ZWNlRnE1eVVUNGZGcEcwTzdQWEY0QT09
Meeting ID: 822 2689 0974    Passcode: 660923

Zoom 9

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9545950240?pwd=bnd2VllVKzRSM2NDeG1zOGduM1F2dz09
Meeting ID: 954 595 0240    Passcode: 0YYUd2

Zoom 10

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83141740534?pwd=bU9oVzNQSjVNOFNlMVZPZWZCRmZoQT09
Meeting ID: 831 4174 0534    Passcode: 174183 

Zoom 11

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2788135839
Meeting ID: 278 813 5839    Passcode: 2020 

You can also participate by dialling in by telephone to one of these phone numbers: 0203 481 5237 or 0203 481 5240.

Click here for more guidance on how to join a Zoom meeting.

From the Associate Priest - April 2021

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Written by The Rev'd June Lane

Dear Friends,

Today with my Lent Group, the subject of what people believe came up. Most of us had strong convictions about what we believe but, as one of the group pointed out, so many people today are ignorant of the Gospel stories and so their beliefs are not based on Christian teaching. It is true that many schools, apart from Church schools, today do not actually teach Christian Education. If Religious Education exists on the Syllabus it will be multi faith and often include moral, civic and even philosophical elements. Assemblies seldom have Bible Readings or hymns, schools have become rather secular places.

Part of Christian teaching includes our relationship with God and one of the ways in which any relationship is fed, is by communication. So how do we communicate with Almighty God. One very good way is to pray. In Christian assemblies, children regard prayer as a normal activity and it is a lovely thing to see and join, you know the children are praying with you because most of them have their eyes shut and their hands together. Putting our hands together with the fingers pointing upwards is a traditional action recognised as prayer.

One of the most famous Christian works of art is Albrecht Durer’s ‘Praying Hands’ (shown on the left) - a simple pen and ink drawing of a pair of hands in the attitude of prayer. The drawing is a preparatory sketch which is part of an Altar piece. If you study the drawing, you will see that the hands are not beautiful, delicate, ladies hands. The knuckles are somewhat pronounced, some of the fingers not quite straight, the veins on the back of the hands protuberant, the skin dark and the nails short. Many see them as hands which are used to doing a day’s work.

I was fascinated when I discovered this story about Durer. He was one of two sons of a working goldsmith in Germany in the late 15th century, both talented like their father, but both poor as was the whole family. Then, as now, education at the level they needed to study was expensive so they made a sensible pact. One brother would go to the Academy and the other work to support him for the four year course. On completion of that time they would reverse their roles, they tossed a coin to decide who would do which first and Albrecht won the toss, he was the first to study whilst his brother took the best paid job around, in the local mines.

Albrecht studied and produced work which immediately won him great acclaim. By the end of his four years, he was already a celebrated artist, but he honoured the agreement and returned home ready to support his brother Albert whilst he studied. At the celebration dinner that night, Albert revealed the true cost of his honouring the agreement - the years had left his fingers crooked, rough and some even broken. Executing fine art was no longer possible for Albert. A legend grew around the drawing that Albrecht had used his brother’s hands as the model, a lovely story if true.

I wonder what prayer means to you and if, as you read this, it reminds you of how seldom you manage the exercise! I know I find it challenging to write this! For some, prayer is just sometimes sending off an express request at times of particular need; for some, it is reciting the thoughtful words from many of our traditional services. For others, it may be periods of peace and quiet when you think about what matters in your life, whilst for many it is the conviction that God is always with us so we can talk to Him any time we wish.

Whatever way you pray, do pray. Easter reminds us that Almighty God loves us and the our Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life so that all of humanity could be reconciled with God.

Our churches are all opening again for Easter. On Good Friday, we shall remember that sacrifice with an hour of quiet meditations and music, whilst on Easter Day itself we shall celebrate the triumphant Resurrection of Jesus. it is a wonderful time, a time to rejoice and be glad, do come along and join us.

Have the most wonderful Easter whatever you do, and God Bless you all.

June Lane

Prayer Cycle and Prayer of the Month - April 2021

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Written by The Rev'd June Lane

We continue to pray as usual so please do keep your requests and news coming. Contact any of us: The Rev’d June (tel: 01747 828427), Julia (tel: 01747 829166), or Theresa (tel: 01747 829188).

Prayer Of The Month

A Prayer from the Iona Community

Christ our life, you are alive,
In the beauty of the earth, in the rhythm of the seasons,
In the mystery of time and space, Alleluia
Christ our life, you are alive,
in the tenderness of touch, in the heartbeat of intimacy,
in the insights of solitude, Alleluia
Christ our life, you are alive,
In the creative possibility of the dullest conversation,
In the dreariest talk, the most threatening event. Alleluia
Christ our life, you are alive
to offer re-creation to every unhealed hurt.
to every deadened place, to every damaged heart. Alleluia
You set before us a great choice, Therefore we choose life.
Amen