Newsletters
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.
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Issue 34 – July–August 2024 |
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Issue 33 – June 2024 |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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Some sage words from Jean Pierre 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) |
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‘Choose Life’
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‘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. |
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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. |
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If ever you have found yourself wondering what life is all about, here is a short but profound thought from Caryll Houselander: ‘Sometimes it may seem to us that there is no purpose in our lives; that going day after day for years to this office or that school or factory is nothing else but waste and wariness. But it may be that God has sent |
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‘Things will soon pick up’; ‘Why don’t people come to church anymore?’; ‘it never used to be like this’; ‘Where are all the children?’; ‘What is going to happen to us?’; ‘Who will take over when we are gone?’ |
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.
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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.
