Dear Church Family,

This Sunday, November 17th, is ‘Safeguarding Sunday.’ I am sure the irony of this will not have escaped many of us, given the Archbishop of Canterbury’s resignation and safeguarding failures exposed by the Makin Report earlier this week. This is a time of reckoning for the Church of England and will require much soul-searching in the weeks and months to come. On Sunday, we will be asking what our role is—as a church and as individuals—in ensuring that all within our community remain safe. Protecting vulnerable people is at the heart of the Christian message, and the theme for this year’s Safeguarding Sunday is—”let’s talk about it.” A part of talking about it is acknowledging where the church, our leaders, and ourselves have fallen short in not loving our neighbours as ourselves and allowing abuse to continue unopposed. During the service, we will be interviewing our new church Safeguarding Officer as well as creating time and space to pray, reflect and lament. May the peace of the Lord be with you this week.

Every blessing

Mark 甄英深

Notices

Men’s Breakfast | Saturday 16th November 8:30am. Our next Men’s breakfast is TOMORROW Saturday 16th November at 8:30am at the Wee Waif in Charvil. As well as a good chat over a hearty breakfast, this month we will be hearing from Alex Singleton, business reporter for The Telegraph, asking questions about “truth” in a post-truth society. If you have not already done so, please contact Nigel Collins, mobile: 07796284451, email:  thenigelcollins@outlook.com or sign up on the notice in the church porch. All are welcome.

Prayer for Woodley | Saturday 16th November 9.00am-10.00am. Every month, members of different churches gather together to pray for Woodley. The next meeting is scheduled to take place at St. John’s TOMORROW Saturday 16th November from 9am - 10am. Please do join us as we pray for one another and the local community.

Green Pastures Grief Cafe | Saturday 16th November 10.00am. The group will meet in the Church Centre TOMORROW at 10.00am. Open for anyone struggling with bereavement or loss of any kind and who are seeking support.

Mothers' Union Members Meeting | Wednesday 20th November 2.30pm. The Mothers Union is meeting on Wednesday 20th November at 2.30pm in the church centre. The speaker will be Mary Lewis on ‘Hope into Action’. We will also have Christmas cards for sale and last chance to get your name down for the Christmas tea. New members are always welcome.

Returning to normal distribution of Holy Communion. A reminder that it was recently announced that we will no longer be offering intinction (dipping of the wafer into the wine) at Holy Communion. This change took effect in October. If you do not feel able to drink from the cup, you are very welcome to ‘receive-in-one-kind’ (wafer only), which is perfectly acceptable and sufficient across Anglican history and tradition. If you have any questions or concerns, please speak with our Vicar.

A message on behalf of Woodley Foodbank. Thank you for your donations. We continue to experience a very high demand for our services. We are currently low in stocks of sugar, coffee, milk (any sort), juice, soap and toilet rolls. Donations of Sugar, Coffee, Pasta, Cereals, Pasta Sauce, Spaghetti (dried), Noodles (inc. Pot Noodles), Tinned Vegetables (all types, inc. potatoes), Tinned pies (Fray Bentos Meat and Veg varieties), Tinned fish, Tinned fruit, Tinned Soups (Veg and Meat), Meat meals (tinned), Biscuits, Crisps, Custard - tinned and dried, Tinned Desserts Long Life milk, Juice (cordial and long life), Toothbrushes and toothpaste, Shampoo and Shower Gel, Deodorants (M&F), Toilet Rolls are welcome at any time. We are also short of plastic bags.

Envelope Collection. David, our Treasurer, is kindly offering a collection service for those that usually give to St John’s by envelope. Please call him direct on 0118 969 2521 or email.

ChurchSuite - Login Required. You should have each received by now your personal login for ChurchSuite. Please do log in and update your personal contact details and what information you want to share with others in the St John’s church family. This way you can make sure you are kept up-to-date with news at St John’s and stay linked in with others. For those who are not online, we will be contacting them separately to do this.

For our prayers

For our world. Pray for all in our world who are threatened with violence and warfare and for all who work for peace. Pray for all who have been driven out of their own country and are living where they are not welcome. Pray for the leaders of the countries where there is war. Especially pray for the people and leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Gaza, Lebanon and Israel.

For our country. Pray for the judicial system in our country and for all whose responsibility it is to see that justice  is administered fairly and to all. Pray for our police and all involved in the prevention of crime. Pray too for those who work in our prisons. Pray that they will be firm but fair in their treatment of those in their care.

For those who are unwell. Pray for all who we know and love who are struggling with poor health just now. Pray for Margaret, Clive, Laura, Twink, Janet A., Liz, Anne L., David S., Rita, Caroline, Devina, Mo, Alan, Claire and Chris. Pray too for all who care for them.

In our prayers. Pray for all mourning the loss of a loved one. Pray especially for Pauline H. and her family mourning the loss of Diana. For Charlotte, Chris, Barney and their families mourning the loss of David P. For the family and friends of Sheila S. mourning the loss of Sheila. Pray that God will comfort them with His ever loving arms. In light of what has happened regarding the Archbishop of Canterbury this week, pray that justice will prevail. Pray for guidance for future leadership. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims suffering at this difficult time. 

Church Office

The church office is usually open Tuesday - Fridays from 10am - 12pm. Please note that any notices need to be sent to info@stjohn-woodley.com by 10.00 am on Thursday, for inclusion in that week's newsletter.

Upcoming Dates for your Diary

Sunday 17th November

  • 8.00am - BCP Said Service of Holy Communion led by Rev’d. Richard Chistopher.

  • 10.00am - Service of Holy Communion. The Second Sunday before Advent. Safeguarding Sunday. This week’s Bible reading’s are 1 Corinthians 12: 12-27 and Luke 12: 39-48. A video recording of the service will be uploaded to the website at: https://www.youtube.com/@stjohnswoodley

  • 3:00pm - South-Asian Fellowship.

Tuesday 19th November

  • 10.00am - St John’s Toddler Group returns. Contact Dawn for further details.

  • 7.30pm - PCC meeting

  • 7.30pm - Praying Together on Zoom (phone in 0203 481 5237 | Zoom ID: 977 0607 9786)

Wednesday 20th November

  • 10.00am - Midweek Communion Service at St. John’s Church.

  • 11.00am - Study Group “Life of Christ” after Communion in the Church Centre. See Lesley/Lorna for further details.

  • 2.30pm - Mothers’ Union - Mary Lewis speaking on ‘Hope into Action’. See details in Notices.

  • 7.45pm - Fellowship and Study Group - studying the book of Daniel. To phone in, call 0203 481 5237 (UK landline). Zoom ID: 962 9254 2704.

Friday 22nd November

  • 11.30am - Lunch, Munch & Chinwag in the Church Centre. All welcome!

Coming up in December

  • 1st BCP Said Service of Holy Communion. Led by Rev’d. Suzanne Knight. 8.00am

  • 3rd Green Pastures Cafe 2.00pm

  •  6th, 7th & 8th Christmas Tree Festival

  •  15th BCP Said Service of Holy Communion 8.00am

  •  15th Carol Service 7.00pm

  •  21st Green Pastures Cafe 10.00am

  •  22nd Walk on Dress up Nativity during Service 10.00am

  •  22nd Christingle Service 5.00pm

  •  24th Midnight Mass Service of Holy Communion 11.00pm

  •  25th Christmas Day Service 10.00am

Pastoral Support

Would you like a prayer?
If you would like support, please do let us know - you do not need to face hard things alone. Please contact the office to arrange for a Pastoral Visit from one of our team. Alternatively, complete the prayer request form below and someone will be in touch.