Kington Langley and Draycot Cerne Village Magazine March 2020 Issue no. 487 1 Services at St Peter’s for March 2020 and across the Draycot Group of Churches Sunday 1st March - Lent 1 Thursday 19th March 10.30am All Age Service at St Peter’s 9am Holy Communion at St Peter’s 9am Holy Communion (BCP) at Seagry Sunday 22nd March - Mothering Sunday 10.30am Holy Communion at Christian Malford 10.30am All Age at St Peter’s 10.30am Café Church at Sutton Benger 10.30am Holy Communion at Christian Malford Thursday 5th March 10.30am All Age Service with children’s choir 9am Holy Communion at St Peter’s at Seagry Sunday 8th March - Lent 2 10.30am All Age Service at Sutton Benger 9am Holy Communion at St Peter’s Thursday 26th March 10.30am Holy Communion at Sutton Benger 9am Morning Prayer at Christian Malford 10.30am Coffee, Chat and Craft Christian Malford th Sunday 29 March - Lent 5 th Thursday 12 March 10.30am United Benefice Holy Communion 9am Morning Prayer at Christian Malford at St Peter’s followed by a simple Lent lunch – all welcome Sunday 15th March - Lent 3 9am Holy Communion (BCP) at Tytherton Kellaways 10.30am United Benefice Service at Christian Malford with prayers for wholeness and healing. Union Chapel Christian Fellowship – Kington Langley SERVICES & EVENTS Sunday 1st March 10.30am Morning Service and Communion Sunday 8th March 10.30am Morning Service Sunday 15th March 10.30am Morning Service and Communion Sunday 22nd March 10.30am Morning Service - Mothering Sunday Sunday 29th March 10.30am Morning Service Weekly events Wednesdays 10.30am Bible Study in the Chapel - Acts of the Apostles Thursdays 10.00 - 1200 Chapel Rendezvous in the Chapel 2 FROM THE EDITOR Welcome to this edition. What a month be a review for a while! February has been—I hope you have stayed You will see an advert for ‘The Movement’ safe and dry? I’m sure our thoughts are on 22nd March—in case you don’t know with those across the UK who are dealing what this is, its a regular gathering bringing with the aftermath of flooding. It certainly together young people across the area for brings home some of the devastating high energy contemporary worship and effects of climate change and increasingly quality Christian teaching which is practical, extreme weather events... relevant and useful. You can just turn up, but if you want to learn more just drop me This month to help with the 6 Week Lent an email. Happy to car share! Challenge you will find a number of There are lots of events to book tickets for interesting projects - whether it is taking and enjoy - I’m very excited that Bowjangles your old bras to Inspire Fitness, or going are back at the village hall this month - hope along to the Refashion event at the you have a ticket, as they provide an beginning of next month. Not to forget the excellent evening - and sell out quickly! Wiltshire Air Ambulance Recycling scheme and the changes to our refuse collections. Thank you to all those contributors who send in articles in good time - I really There are also lots of ‘Thank you’s ’ for all appreciate being able to earmark space, the generous fundraising you have been especially with so many different people wanting to share their news and advertise doing. I want to add a ‘Thank you’ to Diana events. I hate to disappoint people who for sending in some book reports—it’s send in full page items at the last minute - lovely to hear from other readers, and the you have been warned! Crowzone Book Club. I’m very excited that the third part of Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Katherine Bloomer Cromwell saga is due out this month—but I Editor will try and slowly savour it, so there won’t April Edition deadline on ** Monday 23rd March 2020 ** Please email a Word Document or PDF to [email protected] It may not be possible to include any items received after the midday deadline on the closing date. 3 4 5 THE BENEFICE OF DRAYCOT DIOCESE OF BRISTOL Dear All, This year, Mothering Sunday falls on 22nd March. Or should I call it Mother’s Day? And is 22nd March the right day on which to mark it? In the USA, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. We have to admit that, like many religious festivals, this one now owes as much to the card industry, florists, and pubs and restaurants, as to the Church. What can we learn from the past? Half way through Lent, the Church allowed a slight let-up in fasting and other disciplines. Mothering Sunday became a day when we were allowed to relax and enjoy ourselves. The festival as we know it dates from the 1600s, when the fourth Sunday of Lent was celebrated as Mothering Sunday to honour mothers across the country. By Victorian days, young servant girls were given the day off to go home to their family and give their mother a day off. They took presents, including spring flowers, and simnel cake. The flowers were first blessed in church, but the Lenten fast meant that the cake had to wait until Easter before being eaten. What a contrast to today’s instant gratification society! And is it a day to celebrate? For many, motherhood speaks of painful relationships, of loss, of unfulfilled hopes. As we gather – in church, in a pub, online – this is a day above all to be sensitive to those around us. Not to get caught up in shallow sentimentality. No- one ever said being a mother was easy. Look at Moses’ mother, who was separated from her son. Look at Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mothering Sunday points to the bittersweet nature of motherhood. Three of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, and John) record that women stood by Jesus at his crucifixion. Indeed, the tradition recorded in John’s gospel tells us that one of these women was Jesus’ own mother. Can we imagine the pain, the reversal of the created order as a parent buries their child? But the same three gospels record that the first witnesses to the resurrection were also women. There, in the garden, early in the morning on the first day of the week. Sadness perplexingly intermingled with joy. Amid the cards, flowers, and cakes, we may lose sight of another aspect of Mothering Sunday – returning to our mother church. In many countries, this was a day to honour the Mother Church, the spiritual power giving life and protection. That tradition continues locally. Each year, we meet people returning to our parishes – maybe their parents were married here, maybe a relative is buried here. In today’s transient world, such links to a special place are important. Which is why the Draycot Group of churches gladly offers services on Mothering Sunday, this year in Christian Malford, Kington Langley, Seagry, and Sutton Benger. We would be delighted to see you there… and enjoy your special meals and family gatherings afterwards! Tim Harle Licensed Lay Minister 6 Pastoral Care - Looking after one another in the Draycot Benefice If you, or someone you know, would like a visit from a pastoral visitor, please contact the named person below in the first instance: Christian Malford: Clair Fairley [email protected] 01249 721728 Kington Langley: Rev Mark Siddall: [email protected] 01249 652752 Seagry: Tim Harle: [email protected] 01249 721706 Sutton Benger: Dawn Beresford 01249 720060 Tytherton Kellaways: Rev Alison: [email protected] 01249 720619 “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ” Galatians 6:2 BENEFICE PRAYER Thursday 26th March 12.30 at All Saints, Sutton Benger Church for half an hour. Time to pray for our churches and villages. All welcome. NOTIFICATION OF ROAD CLOSURE Advanced notice of the temporary closure of the B4122, Chippenham . Under Temporary Traffic Order with Wiltshire Council the intention is to temporarily close the B4122 between M$ J17 and the Highway’s England Depot/Recycling Centre on two occasions, the first from 8.00PM on Friday 13th March 2020 to 6.00AM on the 17th March 2020. An agreed diversion route will be signposted. 7 Local business based in Kington Langley for all your embroidery or print needs. Clothing and accessories for all ages. Workwear, PPE and sports wear. Horse wear, i.e. saddle cloths, rugs etc. Pet products i.e. beds, leads, coats etc. Parties, i.e. hen and stag, weddings, sporting events and outings, birth- days etc. Personalisation is ideal for company logo’s, parties, gifts, special occasions. The list is endless. Have a look at my website at www.sharonlloyd.uk.com or contact me via email [email protected] 8 Just to let you know, if you are doing a bit of early spring cleaning, we recycle bras at Inspire Fitness. The bra recycling scheme takes your unwanted or unloved bras, through a network of bra banks and raises vital funds for pioneering breast cancer research. The same bras then go on to help support small businesses in Africa. A team of recycling partners and the textile recovery project prevent these bras going into landfill. Instead they are given a new lease of life in developing countries such as Togo, Ghana and Kenya, where bras remain too expensive to produce locally. This successful venture helps to keep many families in developing countries out of pov- erty whilst providing employment for people at home in the UK.