The Parish of Burchetts Green
The Parish of Burchetts Green
Third Sunday of Easter: Christ is Risen: He is Risen Indeed. Alleluia !!
I remain on my post-Easter break from parish duties until next Monday, 19th April. For pastoral emergencies please contact the Churchwardens in the first instance.
God of our lives,
we give thanks for the life of Prince Philip,
for his love of our country,
and for his devotion to duty.
We entrust him now to your love and mercy,
through our Redeemer Jesus Christ. Amen.
A National online Book of Remembrance for HRH Prince Philip is available on the Church of England website (churchofengland.org) should you wish to add your name to that. This evening (Friday 16th) there is at 6.05pm a livestreamed Service of Thanksgiving for the life of HRH Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh from Christ Church Oxford (oxford.anglican.org/livestream also on Radio Oxford).
Our Sunday services this week, 18th April, will be as follows:
9.15am Littlewick GreenFamily Eucharist (CW)
10.30am HurleyGod in Quiet
11.00am StubbingsHoly Communion (BCP)
The following week, 25th April, there will be an 8am service of BCP Holy Communion at Stubbings, a 10.30am Family Eucharist at Hurley, and Littlewick Green Church will be open for private prayer.
Our churches are open for private prayer this week as follows:
St John’s Littlewick Green – open every day 11am – 4pm
St Mary the Virgin Hurley – open every day 8am – 5pm
Do join us for our Tuesday time of Fellowship and Prayer on Zoom
You are welcome to join us, as many already do week-by-week, by clicking the link on Tuesday at 5pm. The link this week is:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83550173265?pwd=cksySHlQSFhFUnlYZnlId2plZXR5dz09
Meeting ID: 835 5017 3265
Passcode: 493768
Please remember the recently departed in your prayers, among them HRH Prince Philip, Allison Bowler, John Gray, Joan Deane and Jean Richardson, and pray for their families and friends as they mourn their loss. May they rest in peace and rise in glory.
The Oxford Diocesan online Sunday Eucharist can be found at its usual 10am Sunday slot at https://www.oxford.anglican.org/coronavirus-covid-19-2/livestream/ I also recommend the daily and Sunday services from Canterbury Cathedral.
Keep safe, be gentle on yourself, and remember that with God by your side you need never be alone.
With love and prayers,
Christ is Risen: He is Risen Indeed!! Alleluia !!
I hope you had a Happy Easter weekend, whatever you were able to do in present circumstances. After some warm and sunny days, we now seem to have the cold April winds – but at least the Magnolias, Primroses and spring bulbs are all looking glorious.
Do join us for our Tuesday time of Fellowship and Prayer on Zoom.
You are welcome to join us, as many already do week-by-week. Note the link this week is different to the usual one:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89528037438?pwd=cWZjWjBpMWc5T2xtQzlEalVyYkp3QT09
Meeting ID: 895 2803 7438
Passcode: 683128
Just click the following link a few minutes before 5pm on Tuesday.
Our Sunday services this week, 11th April, will be as follows:
8am StubbingsHoly Communion (BCP)
10.30 HurleyFamily Eucharist
The following week, 18th April, there will be a Family Communion at Littlewick Green at 9.15am, a service of God in Quiet at Hurley at 10.30am, and a service of BCP Holy Communion at Stubbings at 11am.
Our churches are open for private prayer this week as follows:
St John’s Littlewick Green – open every day 11am – 4pm
St Mary the Virgin Hurley – open every day 8am – 5pm
I am taking a post-Easter break from parish duties until 19th April. For pastoral emergencies please contact the Churchwardens in the first instance.
The Oxford Diocesan online Sunday Eucharist can be found at its usual 10am Sunday slot at https://www.oxford.anglican.org/coronavirus-covid-19-2/livestream/ I also recommend the daily and Sunday services from Canterbury Cathedral.
Keep safe, be gentle on yourself, and remember that with God by your side you need never be alone.
With love and prayers,
Fr John Ainslie
A Very Happy Easter to you, on behalf of the churches of Burchetts Green Parish
Christ is Risen: He is Risen Indeed!! Alleluia !!
On this Easter Sunday we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. In his life, he had stayed obedient to the Father’s will; in his teachings and in his ministry and healings he had shown the face of God – a face of love and tender compassion, a face set determinedly to protect and lift up the poor and the vulnerable. We see the face of forgiveness. He was someone who genuinely wanted the very best for each and every person he met, even to the point of giving his own life for them. So when we look at the cross, we see signified there the universal and all-embracing love of God for each and every one of us.
And when we look at the empty tomb on Easter Day, we know that death is powerless in the face of such overwhelming love, God’s love. It might have looked bleak as Jesus staggered under the weight of his cross on the way to Calvary – but he knew what he was doing, even when he forgave the very people who were torturing him. We, too, will know moments of exhaustion and despair – but they will not have the last word. If we trust God, new life will flow into places that seem barren, and the light of hope will shine in the places of darkness and despair. Jesus said “I am the resurrection and the life” “I have come that you might have life in all its fullness.” Easter joy indeed.
We would be delighted to see you in church on Easter Day; our services are as follows:
Easter Day 4th April:
9.15 Littlewick Green Easter Day Family Eucharist (CW)
10.30 Hurley Easter Day Family Eucharist (CW)
11 am Stubbings Easter Day Holy Communion (BCP)
3.00 – 5.00pm HurleyCome and visit the Easter Garden in the church,
representing new life and new beginnings
Our churches will be open throughout this Easter Week for you to visit for quiet reflection:
St John’s Littlewick Green – open every day 11am – 4pm (including Easter day)
St Mary the Virgin Hurley – open every day 8am – 5pm
If you are unable to visit us in church, there are many opportunities for online worship this Easter, including services from Oxford Diocese ( https://www.oxford.anglican.org/coronavirus-covid-19-2/livestream/ ) and from Canterbury Cathedral ( https://www.Canterbury-cathedral.org/worship includes an Easter Vigil service on Saturday evening, as well as Easter Day Eucharists).
Our Tuesday time of Fellowship and Prayer on zoom is continuing.
You are welcome to join us, as many already do week-by-week. Note the link this week is different to the usual one:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88365550014?pwd=SVdVR2RiblVPUStSWVFDRExWNWtWdz09
Meeting ID: 883 6555 0014, Passcode: 505663
Just click the following link a few minutes before 5pm on Tuesday.
A Big Thank You !! On behalf of us all, I would like to give a very big Thank You to the Churchwardens, flower arrangers and others who have worked so hard to prepare our churches for the variety of Holy Week and Easter services that we have enjoyed, and for the huge support and helpful suggestions the Churchwardens have given to me. Many thanks also to the musicians, readers and intercessors who have enriched our worship together. Thank You !!
Our services next Sunday, 11th April, will be as follows:
8am StubbingsHoly Communion (BCP)
10.30 HurleyFamily Eucharist
I will be taking a post-Easter break from the parish from 5th April, returning to my desk on 19th April. For pastoral emergencies please contact the Churchwardens in the first instance.
For our prayers.
We give thanks to God for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, his presence with us now, and for the hope of glory. We give thanks that in Christ we find forgiveness, love and truth.
We pray that all the departed in Christ will rest in peace and rise in glory.
As we enjoy the beauty of nature in Springtime, we pray for the future of our planet in the face of climate change and environmental threats. We pray that we would value the goodness and nourishment that comes to us from the beauty of nature, and make time and space to be refreshed by it.
As Christ overcame the terror of violence on the cross and entered into new, resurrection, life, so we pray for those who feel at their wits end; those who feel trapped by circumstances; those who are unjustly persecuted or discriminated against; those suffering from addiction; those who can see no way through to a better life; those caught up in destructive habits or relationships. We pray that by the grace and power of the Risen Christ, they would find new strength, new vision, and the help they need to embrace a new and better future for themselves and those around them.
We pray for those in any kind of need, anxiety, distress or sickness, that Christ’s healing touch would come upon them to bring them healing, comfort and peace. We pray for those who are mourning the loss of a loved one at this time. We pray for the recently departed, amongst them Allison Bowler and John Gray.
Heavenly Father, bless the world with the peace, the joy and the hope of Easter; in our hearts; in our communities; and in our world. Amen.
DAILY HOPE Tel: 0800 804 8044 A free phone line of hymns, reflections and prayers
Keep safe, be gentle on yourself, and remember that with God by your side you need never be alone.
With love and prayers,
Fr John Ainslie
HOLY WEEK
A very warm welcome to all our friends and neighbours in the Parish of Burchetts Green.
Holy Week, the most special time of all in the Christian calendar, begins this Sunday, which is Palm Sunday – when we remember Jesus’s arrival in Jerusalem on a donkey, to be welcomed into the holy city by jubilant and expectant crowds. This began the final days of his earthly life; he was arrested, accused by the religious authorities of blasphemy, tortured and condemned to death by crucifixion under a Roman governor worried more by the need to keep peace in the city than by the desire to uphold justice. Holy Week itself ends with the lifeless, bruised and battered body of Jesus sealed into a tomb. At that point even the angels in heaven must have held their breath and shielded their eyes. Could this be the end? The end of God’s desire to bring love, peace, joy and hope to the world he had made? Would the darkness of hatred and selfishness have the last word, would violence turn out to be stronger than love?
There is much to ponder in the story of Holy Week; what Jesus says about what sort of a ‘king’ he is, about true humble but strong kingship; about what goes wrong when weakness and expediency take precedence over justice and love; about the need to stick to what we know to be right, even if we suffer for it; about the chaos and hurt that erupts when we allow our fears and selfishness to have control over our actions; about the contrast between love and justice on the one hand, and hatred and exclusivism on the other. And most of all, it tells us just how much God loves us, about how far God will go to rescue us from our own failings and weakness.
Of course, we know the end of the story – or at least, we think we do. It ends on Easter Day with the tomb empty, and the risen Jesus appearing to his friends; vindicated by the Father, his sacrifice having won new, resurrection life. So it was all worthwhile after all !!
But note, the risen Christ still bears the marks of his torture, the wounds in his hands and his feet, the hole in his side made by the soldiers spear. The sacrifice of the cross is not forgotten, but transformed. New, resurrection, life is gained through the cross, not despite it. The way of selfless love, of standing up for justice for the marginalised and the downtrodden, of always seeking the Father’s will – this is the new, resurrection, life. And we live it in the strength that Jesus gives us through the Holy Spirit – encountered through prayer, through worship, and through the words of the bible. It’s a very personal and joyful encounter with the living Lord Jesus.
On the way through Holy Week, we pause on the evening of Maundy Thursday to remember how Jesus met with his friends one last time before his death – the Last Supper. The service on Maundy Thursday has a poignancy all of its own, moving from Jesus washing his disciples feet as a gesture of love, showing his disciples how they will meet with him in future through the power of the Eucharist, and ending with a time of silence in church as we remember Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, facing what is to come on Good Friday.
We have a full programme of services for Holy Week and Easter as follows:
Palm Sunday 28th March:
8am Stubbings Blessing of Palm Crosses and Holy Communion (BCP)
9.15 Littlewick Green Blessing of Palm Crosses and Eucharist (CW)
10.30 Hurley Blessing of Palm Crosses and Eucharist (CW)
Maundy Thursday 1st April:
7.30pm Littlewick Green Evening Eucharist (commemoration of the Last Supper) and Watch until 10pm
Good Friday 2nd April:
10.30–11.30am HurleyAt the Foot of the Cross: Prayers and Reflective Music (come and go as you wish)
1.30 – 3pm Stubbings At the Foot of the Cross: Prayers, Music and Meditations (come and go as you wish)
Easter Day 4th April:
9.15 Littlewick Green Easter Day Family Eucharist (CW)
10.30 Hurley Easter Day Family Eucharist (CW)
11 am Stubbings Easter Day Holy Communion (BCP)
I look forward to seeing many of you in Church in coming weeks. Note that we will still have to abide by social distancing rules and wear face coverings in church, and there is to be no social mixing or conversation within church buildings before or after services, and (so far) no congregational singing.
As our churches are open once again for Sunday worship, we are for the time being suspending the weekly recorded services.
Our Tuesday time of Fellowship and Prayer on zoom continues this week.
You are welcome to join us, as many already do week-by-week. Just click the following link a few minutes before 5pm on Tuesday:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8593562928 Meeting ID: 859 356 2928
Our churches are open for private prayer this week as follows:
St John’s Littlewick Green – open every day 11am – 4pm
St Mary the Virgin Hurley – open every day 8am – 5pm
For our prayers.
We pray for peace in the world; especially for the Holy Land and the countries of the Middle East; for Yemen and for Myanmar.
For those who are persecuted for their faith, and those who are unjustly imprisoned. For all displaced persons and refugees.
For the leaders of nations, that they would seek peace with justice and the flourishing of all peoples, and not narrow self-interest or nationalism.
In our own country we pray for improvements in the courts and criminal justice system, for fair and equitable access to justice, and for proper rehabilitation and resettlement of offenders. We pray for social services and all who seek to rescue, particularly our young people, from following lives of violence, substance abuse or criminality.
We give thanks for the rapid roll-out of the coronavirus vaccine across the UK, and we pray for the widespread and rapid deployment of the vaccine across the world. We pray for those countries where the virus is growing rapidly, and for those healthcare systems that are struggling.
In our own country, we pray for the homeless, those in poverty, and the marginalised. We pray for Maidenhead Foodshare and all who depend upon it. We pray for those of our community who are in any kind of need, distress, sickness or anxiety. We pray for those who will find Easter a struggle without the comfort of loved ones close at hand, or who are mourning the loss of a loved one at this time. We pray for the recently departed, and amongst them Teresa Rubnikowicz, Allison Bowler and John Gray.
O lord Jesu Christ who, for love of all humankind, endured the suffering of the cross; pour out your healing strength and love upon all who are in any kind of suffering, anxiety or distress, and grant them peace of heart, strength of body and healing of the mind. Amen.
I can be contacted on revjohnainslie@gmail.com and 01628 629827 (do leave a message on the confidential answering machine if I don’t answer). Emails to our Parish Office office@burchettsgreenparish.org are being monitored and responded to.
The Oxford Diocesan online Sunday Eucharist can be found at its usual 10am Sunday slot at https://www.oxford.anglican.org/coronavirus-covid-19-2/livestream/ I also recommend the daily and Sunday services from Canterbury Cathedral.
I continue to hear how much people value the dial-in hymns, prayers and reflections available free by telephone. Many find great comfort in listening last thing at night. This can be found at: DAILY HOPE Tel: 0800 804 8044
Keep safe, be gentle on yourself, and remember that with God by your side you need never be alone.
With love and prayers,
Fr John Ainslie
Passion Sunday
A very warm welcome to all our friends and neighbours in the Parish of Burchetts Green.
This Sunday is traditionally known as ‘Passion Sunday’ – the start of Passiontide, leading up to Good Friday and Easter Day. It is the time of year most closely associated with the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross of Calvary, when we reflect on the great love of Jesus for us (“greater love hath no man than to give his life for his friends….”) and on the victory won by Jesus on the Cross. We will have services in Church for Holy Week and Easter (see below) – do come and join us as we reflect on, and give thanks for, Jesus journey to the Cross and beyond into Resurrection.
Since the first UK Covid-19 lockdown began in March 2020, millions across the UK have been affected by bereavement. This coming Tuesday, one year from the start of UK Covid-19 lockdown, is designated a National Day of Reflection coordinated by the charity marie curie and the Church of England. The restrictions we’ve all been living under have meant that many people have had to grieve without the comfort of family and friends around them – whether it was death due to Covid, or another cause. The National Day of Reflection acknowledges the pain, grief and loss over the last year.
A National one minute’s silence is planned at 12 noon on 23rd March to pray for those who have died and to show support to those who have been bereaved. Our Churches at Littlewick Green and Hurley will be open through the day for private prayer and reflection. You might like to make a special effort to join us for fellowship and prayer online at 5pm on Tuesday (see below), and our prayer suggestions below follow this theme. If there is someone you know who has been particularly affected, you might like to phone, send a card or make a small gift of spring flowers, perhaps from your garden.
Holy Week and Easter. Our churches are re-opening for Services starting with services at all three churches on Palm Sunday. We have a full programme of services for Holy Week and Easter as follows:
Palm Sunday 28th March:
8am Stubbings Blessing of Palm Crosses and Holy Communion (BCP)
9.15 Littlewick Green Blessing of Palm Crosses and Eucharist (CW)
10.30 Hurley Blessing of Palm Crosses and Eucharist (CW)
Maundy Thursday 1st April:
7.30pm Littlewick Green Evening Eucharist (commemoration of the Last Supper) and Watch until 9.30pm
Good Friday 2nd April:
10.30–11.30am HurleyAt the Foot of the Cross: Prayers and Reflective Music (come and go as you wish)
1.30 – 3pm Stubbings At the Foot of the Cross: Prayers, Music and Meditations (come and go as you wish)
Easter Day 4th April:
9.15 Littlewick Green Easter Day Family Eucharist (CW)
10.30 Hurley Easter Day Family Eucharist (CW)
11 am Stubbings Easter Day Holy Communion (BCP)
Note that we will still have to abide by social distancing rules and wear face coverings in church, and there is to be no social mixing or conversation within church buildings before or after services. So far, the prohibition on congregational singing has not been removed which is a great sadness – but there is some hope that this will be reviewed before Easter.
The recorded service this week comes from St Mary the Virgin Hurley, and is a Common Worship Eucharist service. It can be found HERE.
Our Tuesday time of Fellowship and Prayer on zoom continues this week.
You are welcome to join us, as many already do week-by-week. Just click the following link a few minutes before 5pm on Tuesday:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8593562928 Meeting ID: 859 356 2928
Our churches are open for private prayer this week as follows:
St John’s Littlewick Green – open every day 11am – 4pm
St Mary the Virgin Hurley – open every day 8am – 5pm
For our prayers.
For those who have died over the past year, for whatever reason, especially for those who have died alone or separated from loved ones. We pray that they would be welcomed into the loving arms of God, to rest in peace and rise in glory.
For those who have been bereaved. For those who were unable to attend a funeral of a loved one. For those who have had to grieve alone, separated from the hugs of family and friends. May they know the loving and healing presence of Jesus, our compassionate Shepherd, Lord and God.
For those who have tended the sick and the dying, selflessly working long hours in stressful conditions. May they have the consolation of knowing that when people were in the deepest need, they were there for them; and may they find the time off, rest and relaxation that they need to replenish themselves.
For funeral directors and Ministers who have served the bereaved, and for our churches that they may bring hope and comfort to those who grieve, and be a caring community for all in need at this time.
Dear God,
Be with us as we think about all that has changed this year,
And help us to trust that you are always with us.
Be close to us as we remember those who have died,
And help us to trust they are at peace with you.
Show us how to reach out to others with kindness and care,
So that hope shines out in every heart and home.
Amen.
I can be contacted on revjohnainslie@gmail.com and 01628 629827 (do leave a message on the confidential answering machine if I don’t answer). Emails to our Parish Office office@burchettsgreenparish.org are being monitored and responded to.
The Oxford Diocesan online Sunday Eucharist can be found at its usual 10am Sunday slot at https://www.oxford.anglican.org/coronavirus-covid-19-2/livestream/ I also recommend the daily and Sunday services from Canterbury Cathedral.
I continue to hear how much people value the dial-in hymns, prayers and reflections available free by telephone. Many find great comfort in listening last thing at night. This can be found at:
Keep safe, be gentle on yourself, and remember that with God by your side you need never be alone.
With love and prayers,
Fr John Ainslie
Fourth Sunday of Lent – Mothering Sunday
A very warm welcome to all our friends and neighbours in the Parish of Burchetts Green.
The fourth Sunday of Lent is traditionally kept as ‘Mothering Sunday’ – not to be confused with the more secular ‘Mothers Day’. In fact its origins have more to do with the idea of the Church as our ‘spiritual Mother’ than with our physical birth mothers: In 16th century England, Mothering Sunday was a time when people would make a journey to their ‘Mother Church’ in thanksgiving for the blessings they received through membership of the Church. By ‘Mother Church’ they would have meant the Parish Church in which they had been baptised – usually the Parish Church of their parents; hence this gave origin to the tradition of those working away from the parental home travelling back to their parents’ home on Mothering Sunday. So daughters in domestic service, and sons working away in agriculture, would have a day off to travel home to be with their parents and make their visit to the church of their baptism. Anyone who did this was said to have gone ‘mothering’.
And for us, many will be spending time with, or zooming and telephoning, family members and especially Mums and Dads; many also will make a visit to our Churchyards at this time to remember with love and gratitude parents who have died; but you might also think about making a visit to Church to remember and give thanks to God for your baptism and all that the Christian faith means to you.
Mothering Sunday rightly has something to say about the value of family life and social stability, but it also has something to say about recognising the blessings we (and our society) receives through membership of, and the pastoral work undertaken by, the local Parish church.
So our prayers this week concentrate not just on family and community life, but also on our local churches here in Burchetts Green Parish, and for the pastoral work in the name of Christ to our local villages and communities; and for our baptism and life within the Christian Community.
Re-opening of Churches for Sunday Worship. As recorded last week, I am delighted to confirm that our three churches will be re-opening for Sunday worship on Palm Sunday, 28th March, with a Communion service in each church. This is tremendous news, and it means that we will be able to celebrate Holy Week and Easter together with worship in our church buildings. Note that we will still have to abide by social distancing rules and wear face coverings in church, and there is to be no social mixing or conversation within church buildings before or after services. So far, the prohibition on congregational singing has not been removed which is a great sadness – but there is some hope that this will be reviewed before Easter.
The recorded service this week comes from St John the Evangelist Littlewick Green, and is a Common Worship Eucharist service. It can be found HERE.
Our Tuesday time of Fellowship and Prayer on zoom continues this week.
You are welcome to join us, as many already do week-by-week. Just click the following link a few minutes before 5pm on Tuesday:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8593562928 Meeting ID: 859 356 2928
Our churches are open for private prayer this week as follows:
St John’s Littlewick Green – closed this week until Wednesday 17th March due to filming, open again daily from Thursday 18th 11am – 4pm
St Mary the Virgin Hurley – open every day 8am – 5pm
For our prayers.
As we celebrate Mothering Sunday, we give thanks for our parents and we pray for the health and well-being of our own family.
We pray for families who are separated for whatever reason; for migrant families who are separated from loved ones and from all that is familiar; for those, especially children, with a family member in prison, hospital or long term care; and families separated by the demands of work. We pray for chaplains in prisons, care homes and hospitals, and for the Mission to Seafarers. For all children who have lost a parent at a young age, and for all parents who have lost a child. We pray for those bearing the pain of not being able to have a child, for whatever reason. And we pray for those in dysfunctional families.
We pray for our three local churches in the Parish of Burchetts Green, and for the communities they serve. We pray that we would find ever better and more imaginative ways of serving the local community and building our common life together.
We give thanks for the hope and encouragement that we find through our Christian faith; for our church buildings that symbolise the love and care of God in the centre of our communities; for our baptism and journey of faith; and for all the blessings that we find in our faith in God, and the support of the faith community of which we are a part.
We pray for our departed loved ones and for the recently departed, among them Dennis Oliver, Teresa Rubnikowicz and Allison Bowler. We pray for those who mourn the loss of a loved one at this time, and for all in our community in any kind of need, sorrow, sickness or anxiety.
O Lord,
we give you thanks that you welcome each one of us
into the fellowship of your Holy Church.
We thank you for our baptism,
and for all those who have shown us the way faith.
We thank you for our parents
and all who have loved us and cared for us.
Help us in our turn to be loving and caring
towards all whom we meet,
and all with whom we share our homes.
For the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
I can be contacted on revjohnainslie@gmail.com and 01628 629827 (do leave a message on the confidential answering machine if I don’t answer). Emails to our Parish Office office@burchettsgreenparish.org are being monitored and responded to.
The Oxford Diocesan online Sunday Eucharist can be found at its usual 10am Sunday slot at https://www.oxford.anglican.org/coronavirus-covid-19-2/livestream/ I also recommend the daily and Sunday services from Canterbury Cathedral.
I continue to hear how much people value the dial-in hymns, prayers and reflections available free by telephone. Many find great comfort in listening last thing at night. This can be found at: DAILY HOPE TeL: 0800 804 8044
Keep safe, be gentle on yourself, and remember that with God by your side you need never be alone.
With love and prayers,
Fr John Ainslie
