A big “Thank You” to all those who have been involved in some of our recent church events:
- to Simon Ffennell and Sarah Noble, for helping things to go so smoothly for the baptism of Jonathan & Francesca Steadman’s son, Alistair, at St Swithun’s, Martyr Worthy on 26 June—including the sprinkling down by the river afterwards!
- to John and Nicky Barber for allowing us on 3 July to welcome 20 children in Years 6 to 9 into their gardens to enjoy a ‘Pool Party’ and one of Gerry Stacey’s quality BBQ’s—it was so good to see so many having fun together and to sense the great value of re-starting in September our ‘UTX’ church youth group (‘Under the Cross’);
- and to Robin & Gilly Greenwood and to our guest preacher, the Revd Peter Haughton, for all they and others did that helped make the St Swithun’s Patronal Festival Evensong on 10 July to be such a special event.
Earlier on that same day, we had also had a special event in St John’s, Itchen Abbas, as we dedicated a wall plaque to honour the work of Nick Owen in the reordering of the church back in 2009. The whole parish is indebted to him and to the many others who gave generously of their time and resources for making the church such a warm and welcoming space for our Sunday worship as well as a flexible and versatile ‘hub’ for our mid-week activities throughout the year that bless people of all ages (from Little Rainbows to CAMEO).
So it was appropriate, after we had dedicated the plaque, to spend a few further minutes praying around the church to pray for the different activities that take place in the church as well as for those involved in leading our Sunday services.
Our biblical text for the occasion was Psalm 127:1: ‘Unless the Lord build the house, the builders build in vain’. For the recording of my sermon on this and Jesus’ parable of the wise and foolish builders, please the link below:
And, finally, it looks likes being very hot this coming Sunday: so you might like to join us ‘in the cool of the day’ for the 08.00am service of Holy Communion at St John’s, Itchen Abbas, or alternatively, for our monthly Valley Worship service at St Mary’s, Easton when we look forward to hearing Tim Clapp speaking on Paul’s wonderful words in Philippians 3: “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Valley Worship will also be available on Zoom, details below.
With best wishes
Revd Peter
Itchen Valley Churches is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Valley Worship
Time: Jul 17, 2022 10:00 AM London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89967724286
Meeting ID: 899 6772 4286