Newsletters

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The benefice newsletter is intended to be a means of sharing information about events and news of particular interest and relevance to members of our churches across the benefice. We are blessed by having excellent parish magazines already, which publish articles of more general interest - we are not trying to cover the same ground as these magazines.

To view our Newsletters:

You can view (or download and print) the current and past issues of our newsletters by clicking on the links below. For instructions on how to subscribe, please scroll down to the bottom of this page.

: Issue 36 - October 2024

Issue 36 - October 24

: Issue 35 – September 2024

Issue 35 – September 2024

Although the legal formalities have not yet been completed, in practice, St Nicholas, Bratton Seymour has joined our Benefice with effect from this month. The current pattern of services at St Nicholas is a service of the Word, with more modern worship songs as well as some traditional hymns, on each fifth Sunday of the month during the year.

: Issue 34 – July–August 2024

July–August Newsletter

Issue 34 – July–August 2024

: Issue 33 – June 2024

June 2024 Newsletter

Issue 33 – June 2024

: Issue 32 - May 2024

Apple Blossom May 2024

As many people will know, as a Deanery we have been working for some time on a plan to re-organise the grouping of the parishes in our Deanery into a smaller number of benefices, in order to be able to reduce the number of stipendiary incumbents (from 8.5 to 7). This need to reduce the number of stipendiary clergy exists because the level of giving through Parish Share has dropped, such that we are no longer able to afford all those posts.

: Issue 31 – April '24

April Blossom

At the time of writing, I am very much hoping that Spring will soon arrive and we will enjoy some warm  sunshine after all the recent rain and cold. On one of the rare sunny days in March, in a fit of misguided  optimism, we sowed some vegetable seeds. Ever since, I have felt slightly guilty, thinking of them shivering in the still, cold soil as the sleet lashes down above them. I hope they survive and eventually germinate and grow.

: Issue 31 – April '24

April Blossom

At the time of writing, I am very much hoping that Spring will soon arrive and we will enjoy some warm  sunshine after all the recent rain and cold. On one of the rare sunny days in March, in a fit of misguided  optimism, we sowed some vegetable seeds. Ever since, I have felt slightly guilty, thinking of them shivering in the still, cold soil as the sleet lashes down above them. I hope they survive and eventually germinate and grow.

: Issue 30 - March 2024

Newsletter March 2024

Is there anyone who does not love the arrival of Spring? While some people struggle with some of the other seasons for one reason or another, I’ve yet to meet anyone who does not love the arrival of Spring, with warmer, longer days and the emergence of blossom and shoots and buds.

: Issue 28 January 2024

Issue 28 Jan 24

‘Choose Life’
At the end of his life, Moses gathered the people of Israel together and addressed them (Deuteronomy Ch. 30). He urged the people to remain faithful to the covenant God had made with them, and promised them that they would flourish as a people if they did so. Moses offered them a choice: obedience or disobedience; prosperity or adversity: ‘I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him’ (Deut. 30: 19-20).

 

: Issue 29 February 2024

February Newsletter 2024

Some sage words from Jean Pierre
de Caussade:

To avoid the anxieties which may be caused by either regret for the past or fear of the future, here in a few words is the rule to follow: the past must be left to God’s measureless mercy, the future to his loving providence; and the present must be given wholly to his love through fidelity to his grace.

(from Abandonment to Divine Providence)

: Issue 27 December 2023

St Mary's Gate Lantern

‘Must we? Should we? Can we? Shall we?’

At a meeting of Diocesan Synod on 25 November, the Diocesan Board of Finance announced proposals to reform the way in which mission in our Diocese is funded. This may sound dull and technical, but please do read on: this is important stuff and raises some huge questions for us.

: Issue 26 November 2023

S Mills Photo Fungi

Whether it is ‘Dry January’, ‘Veganuary’, ‘No Mow May’, ‘Movember’ or some other programme, we often come under pressure during a particular month or season to change our behaviour in some way for the better. Diets, de-tox, ‘wellness’, fitness: the list goes on.

To subscribe:

We are distributing the newsletter primarily by email in order to save paper and postage costs. To subscribe to the newsletter (this will add you to an email distribution list and you will then receive an email attaching the newsletter) please use this link:

https://teams.stmarysbruton.org/mailman/listinfo/news

This will open a page on your web browser.

In the section headed 'subscribing to news', please enter your email address and your name where indicated.

You then have the option to enter a password of your choice. If you elect not to do this, a randomly generated password will be sent to you.

Please then click 'submit'

You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time.

To suggest content:

If you have news, events, short articles, poems, photos etc that you would like to see included in a future newsletter, please email your suggested content to the Benefice office at benefice@stmarysbruton.org and we will consider it for inclusion.

Please note that if you wish to include a request for prayer, or notice of someone's death, we will need to have written consent from the person / next of kin before we can publish that information. 

To pass on a copy to someone else:

If you know of someone who might like to read the newsletter, you can either direct them to this website, or you could print a copy and give it to them - please do consider whether you know people who do not have access to the internet but might like to receive a paper copy.