There will be Remembrance Day Services in each of the churches of the Benefice on Sunday 13 November 2016 at 10.15 am. We will observe the two minutes silence at 11 am.
We will remember
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Benefice Rota
We are trying to bring all the various rota’s from the churches of the Benefice into a single Benefice Rota. This is very much still a work in progress!
We have added a new page to the website which can be accessed from the menu on the left of the screen – Service Rota. It is automatically updated so as long as Mark or Beth is informed of changes, it should be correct! You can take a look at it by clicking here.
Theology of homelessness
Sunday 4 December 2016 at 7 pm
Training for Ministry
Picture of + Colin with new LLM’s – November 2014
An extra meeting of the JPCC was called on 20th October, not because of any dire church emergency, but to consider the very exciting news that Ilona wished to be nominated for training as a Licensed Lay Minister (LLM) in the Benefice. Mr John Leach, the Lay Ministry Adviser for Dorchester Archdeaconry, was present to give a short talk about LLM ministry and training. There was, of course, unanimous support from the JPCC for Ilona’s nomination. LLMs are also known as Lay Readers in some dioceses. It is a calling by God to preach, teach, lead worship, and assist with pastoral, evangelistic and liturgical work. The theological and practical training takes three years, at the end of which LLMs are Licensed by the Church.
We send our best best wishes to Ilona as she prepares for the selection process next month and assure her of our continuing support and prayers.
Drawn from Life
Sunday 6 November 2016 at 7:30pm
St Mary’s Church, Charlbury, Oxfordshire
George Butler is the son of Cotswold artist Amanda Cooper. He has been to some pretty hairy places like Afghanistan and Syria to draw the people and places and their stories. Proceeds will be divided between All Saints’, Shorthampton, St Mary’s, Charlbury and the charity which George set up with some friends – The Hands Up Foundation – which helps people in Syria so badly affected by the awful events there.
Tickets £12.50, to include a glass of wine and nibbles before the talk, from art@amandacooper.co.uk
Let their lives speak
Quaker meetings in Chipping Norton
A History of Spelsbury
Jon Carpenter, former publisher and owner of Evenload Books in Charlbury, has kindly given us a limited supply of A History of Spelsbury by Elsie Corbett. We are selling them in aid of Spelsbury Church at a discounted price of £10. If you would like to purchase a copy, please contact us by clicking here.
A History of Spelsbury
Including Dean, Taston, Fulwell and Ditchley
by Elsie Corbett
The history of the parish of Spelsbury (which includes the hamlets of Dean, Taston and Fulwell and the great house and estate at Ditchley) was written by the Hon. Elsie Corbett and first published in 1931, but Miss Corbett continued to work on the history of the parish and a revised edition – reproduced here without the plates and with a few corrections by the Charlbury historian, the late Lois Hey – appeared in 1962.
Ditchley was purchased in 1583 by Sir Henry Lee, whose descendants lived there until 1933. But if the parish has a claim to fame today, it is as the birth and burial place of John Wilmot, second earl of Rochester.
Concert by the Reading Phoenix Choir
Saturday 15 October 2016 at 7:30pm
St Nicholas Church, Chadlington, Oxfordshire, OX7 3LX
Come and hear the Reading Phoenix Choir, internationally acclaimed choir, sing a varied and beautiful selection of choral music at St. Nicholas’ Church in Chadlington this Saturday. The choir will be singing a range of music to include works by Parry, Morley, Rachmaninoff and Billy Joel. The concert starts at 7.30pm and tickets are priced at £10 (£5 for under 16s). We hope to see many of you there!
Creation, Climate & Caring for our World
Creationtide came to an end this week and Climate Week runs from October 8th to Sunday 16th. The link between the two is easily made. If we are to respect God’s creation then climate change and all it entails must be must be uppermost in our minds.
But ‘creation’ doesn’t just mean the natural world, or if does then we are part of it! We are created beings with a responsibility to all creatures and created things, be they sentient or not, and it is probably not too odd to start with our responsibility to ourselves. How many of us take care of our own wellbeing with as much diligence and concern as we do for our cars, pets or gardens? If God created us to enjoy and be actively concerned for the world, we’d better start by making sure we’re not running to fat and putting extra stress on our hearts: otherwise what use will that be to God?
Then when we look around us we will see a beautiful created world which also needs restraint, extra care and compassion. What use would be a world which is also over-stressed and liable to collapse? Which is true at the local, the national and the global level, none of which can be taken for granted. Small steps as well as grand gestures and serious change in political priorities will be required if we are to change direction as a 21st century world with 20th century habits. As the Bishop of Salisbury has memorably said, There is no Planet B!
We’ve all heard of the Paris agreement – which, thank God, was ratified this week by enough ‘Parties to the Convention’ for it to come into force on November 4th. And there were important steps forward in Montreal this week on emissions from international aviation. In Witney this month we will elect a new MP: how aware of environmental issues will he or she be? Some of us were at Kencot Solar Farm this week for a photo opportunity organised by Christian Aid to try and influence our new representative at Westminster.
But our own daily actions all make a difference, to us as well as to the air that our neighbour breathes, and cumulatively to the world we share with our international neighbours near and far, as well as to our own generation and the next and the next. Could we possibly consume less, use less fuel, throw less away? Could we do more to influence the world around us, the people and politicians, and the atmosphere we all share? You can read about ‘carbon offsetting’ on local firm Climate Care’s website which also gives tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint. 
8th October 2016
For the love of … God’s creation
Creationtide, a Church season initiated in 1989 by the Orthodox Church and since adopted by Anglicans and Catholics, began on September 1st with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and it runs throughout the month until October 4th. Then on 8th October begins Climate Week – a ‘week of action’ initiated by the Climate Coalition which includes over 100 organisations, from Christian Aid to WWF ( https://weekofaction.org.uk/about/). Continue reading For the love of … God’s creation
Chase Benefice 