Stour Vale Letter No. 42

Christmas Services in the Stour Vale Our Christmas services are as below. Due to the ongoing Covid- 19 restrictions and the limited capacity of our churches, these services will be by free ticket only. It is essential that you book your place in advance with the church you wish to attend and please observe the safety measures in place. Contacts are below:

Christmas Eve 8:00pm at : Contact Alma Floyd 01747 838669

Christmas Day 9:15am at : Contact Jenny Sledge 01963 370709 11:00am at East Stour: Contact Sue Jones 01747 838784

In our Churches: Do join us at our services after Christmas. The usual safety restrictions apply as before, but a warm welcome still awaits. However, for everyone’s safety, if you do have symptoms of any kind, please do not come to church.

Our services this week, 27th December, are: 10.30am Benefice Communion (CW) 4.30pm Fifehead Magdalen Evensong (BCP)

And on 3rd January: 9.15am Morning Prayer (BCP) 10.30am West Stour Morning Worship (CW) 11.00am East Stour Morning Worship (CW)

(CW = Common Worship / BCP = Book of Common Prayer)

Collect for Christmas Almighty God, you have given us your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin: grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Stour Vale Benefice Carol Service It was so good to see so many people at our outdoor Benefice carol service- almost 90 of us from across out churches and also friends returning from further afield. How wonderful to be joining together in Christmas praise – definitely an event to be repeated! A huge thank you to everyone who helped to arrange it and who organized everything we needed on the day. And the sun shone – wow! The collection will be divided between Water Aid and the Gillingham Food Bank so thank you for your generosity. Here’s to next year!

A Christmas Prayer

Dear Lord, Be thou a bright flame before me, Be thou a guiding star above me, Be thou a smooth path beneath me, Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me, Today and evermore, Amen St Columba

Poem – “Prayer for a New Mother”

The things she knew, let her forget again- The voices in the sky, the fear, the cold, The gaping shepherds, and the queer old men Piling their clumsy gifts of foreign gold.

Let her have laughter with her little one; Teach her the endless, tuneless songs to sing, Grant her her right to whisper to her son The foolish names one dare not call a king.

Keep from her dreams the rumble of a crowd, The smell of rough-cut wood, the trail of red, The thick and chilly whiteness of the shroud That wraps the strange new body of the dead.

Ah, let her go, kind Lord, where mothers go And boast his pretty words and ways, and plan The proud and happy years that they shall know Together, when her son is grown a man. Dorothy Parker

Pause for Thought For all our hopes for the New Year ahead, the famous words of Minnie Louis Haskins:

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown!” And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.” So, I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me toward the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

To you all: Richard and Barbara wish you all a truly blessed and peaceful Christmas. Take care and keep safe. And as we approach the New Year, let us remember that we do not enter it alone, but have the constant companion of God walking beside us, now and forever. God bless, Richard & Barbara

For your Prayers We pray for all who are choosing to be apart from loved ones this Christmas in order to keep them safe. We remember those whose Christmas plans have been cancelled, those who are alone without choice and those who have no family. We continue to remember all who are struggling in these challenging times and those who cannot find the joy and peace they so desperately seek. We remember the ill and the anxious, the lonely and afraid, the forgotten and the unloved, those who find the world a confusing place and those who have lost their way.

We pray for those who are waiting for medical procedures, delayed once more by the rising cases of Covid-19. We are thankful for the arrival of vaccines and for those who have worked so hard to get them ready. We pray for all who help those in need: our medical professions, our carers and health visitors, our counsellors and those who operate helplines, and all in our communities who simply keep a kindly eye on their neighbours. May everyone know God’s comforting arms around them and feel his love as a cloak of protection and strength.

And we pray for our churches and communities that they may be kept safe and well over the festive period. Private Prayer Our churches are usually open for private prayer or just to sit for a while in the peace and quiet of our ancient buildings. Please do take advantage of this.

Buckhorn Weston Thursdays 10am - 12 noon East Stour Thursdays 10am - 12 noon Kington Magna Tuesdays 10am - 12 noon Todber Saturdays 10am - 12 noon West Stour Wednesdays 10am - 12 noon

Fifehead Magdalen and Stour Provost are not able to open their churches during the week. But please do remember these communities in your prayers.

This Newsletter

The Newsletter is taking a break over Christmas and New Year but it will be back in your inbox on 8th January.

As always, if you know of anyone who doesn’t yet receive the newsletter but would like to, let them know about it and tell them to send their email address to [email protected] with the subject “Newsletter Mailing List”. But, if you do not wish to continue receiving them, please email him at with “Unsubscribe” in the subject field.

Revd Richard Priest – Vicar of the Stour Vale Benefice Telephone: 01747 838494 Email: [email protected]