Newsletter 21st June 2024
Dear Friends
The Sunday before last I was in church in Tywyn, while on holiday. The first hymn was announced as 433, but if we would prefer to sing in English, we should sing hymn 434, noting that if had a different number of verses from 433 and therefore we should omit verse 3! By the same token, some of the biddings, responses and prayers were repeated, first in English and then Welsh. No one applauds attempts at inclusion more than me, but this anecdote highlights the challenges that face us. To actively include one person is too often to exclude someone else.
While we must actively reflect on how people of colour, the LGBT+ community and those with neurodiversity feel when they encounter worship in our churches, we must never lose sight of the fact that over half of the country never set foot in church and are therefore completely unfamiliar with what we do. Anything that makes working out what is going on (like singing two hymns at the same time in two different languages) is a barrier. And all this is not allowing for the fact that people who have been worshiping for several decades don’t get out of bed on a Sunday morning for the Ladybird version of church. In other words, you can’t please all of the people all of the time! Something to pray about, I would suggest.
Van Morgan
We regret to announce the death of Van Morgan last week at the age of 96, a much-loved member of the Minsterley community. Her funeral will take place at Holy Trinity on Friday July 12th at 10 a.m.
Romans Course
A course on the Book of Romans, St Paul’s great masterpiece, continues on Monday June 24th at 7 p.m. at the New Vicarage, Minsterley. The date was advertised incorrectly last week.
Pontesbury Festival
The planning committee for next year’s Pontesbury Festival are meeting on Monday at 6.30 p.m. at the Pavilion to draft a timetable for next Summer’s festival. Anyone is welcome to attend to offer activities or make suggestions. For further information, please contact Greg or email pontesburyfestival@mail.com
Archdeacon’s Visitation
Many thanks to all those who supported our wonderful churchwardens at the Archdeacon’s Visitation this week. And a special thanks to the home team at St George’s for a magnificent reception afterwards.
Tea-Time Church
The latest instalment of Tea-Time church takes place this Sunday at Minsterley Parish Hall, with an opportunity to discuss and debate the lost parables of Luke 15.
Greg’s birthday party
Greg is hosting a 64th birthday party at Minsterley Parish Hall on Saturday July 27th at 7 p.m. and you are invited. Yes, that means you if you are reading this. It is planned that it should be a bring and share supper, and Mary Worrall worrallwaverley@hotmail.co.uk has kindly offered to coordinate this. Please advise Mary of what you’re intending to bring. I do understand that it’s the start of the summer holidays, and many will not be able to attend, but it would be lovely to see as many of our Shropshire friends as possible (there is only a small handful of others coming from elsewhere).
Group Service
St Mary’s Habberley will be hosting our Group Service on Sunday June 30th at the usual time of 10.30 a.m. All welcome, especially those who have never enjoyed a service at Habberley before. Please note the limited parking in Habberley and arrange to share transport if you can.
Catering Team
St George’s is looking to recruit a catering team who will occasionally be called into action to supply food for one-off events such as Harvest Supper or a Marriage Preparation Day. If you are potentially interested in joining the team, please contact a churchwarden or one of the clergy.
The Gathering
The monthly worship event for the whole deanery takes place this Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Marton Village Hall.
Holiday Club
The St George’s Holiday Club is scheduled for the week commencing July 22nd and volunteers have been working very hard to get ready for it. We now need children to sign up for it, which they have been reluctant to do up to now. Would you therefore please pray hard about this, that the church will be full of children that week.
Rea Valley Foodbank Appeal
Rea Valley Foodbank has been operating for more than 18 months, supplying food to families in need in the Rea Valley area (Pontesbury, Minsterley and surrounding villages). During that period, we have been working in partnership with Foodbank Plus, the Shrewsbury Foodbank, run by Barnabas Church. Foodbank Plus has provided a storage facility and supplemented our parcels, and as a result we have been able to feed over 200 clients.
From September, our partnership is coming to an end, and RVF will be operating independently to be more responsive to clients’ needs, often quite different from those approaching a town-based foodbank. Our vision is one of local people being supported by local people. To this end, we estimate we need additional income of £150 per month to be able to feed all our clients. We are therefore launching a community appeal, inviting our supporters to pledge £5 or £10 a month to ensure we can continue to operate and provide food for families in need.
At this stage, we are looking for pledges rather than cash so that we can plan effectively. Offers of pledges should be sent to Greg Smith at rectorpontstip@gmail.com or by calling 07902 794653.
Minsterley Show
The Minsterley Show is back again on the 17th of August, and we need people to start making delicious cakes! If you think you can bake some cakes and pop them in the freezer then please do start as your support is very much appreciated! This is a big fundraiser for Holy Trinity and our stall is very much appreciated by the show attendees due to our reasonable prices – we can keep our prices down due to the fact that cakes and sandwiches are donated. Keep the date in your diary and on your marks, get, set, bake!
The show ground is situated 5 miles Southwest of Shrewsbury on the B4386, Shrewsbury to Westbury Road.
SatNav users should input SY5 8PW as the postcode.
Fran’s Holiday
Please note that Fran Brealey will be on leave from this weekend for a week. Any urgent enquiries should be addressed to Richard or Greg.
Newsletter
From today, this newsletter will be distributed via Emma, our administrator, and via her alone to ensure consistency of our communications across the benefice. Anyone is welcome to submit a notice to be included in the weekly newsletter, and this should be submitted to Emma at officepontstip@gmail.com by 5 p.m. on Wednesday. If you would prefer not to receive the newsletter, do let Emma know, and if you know of anyone who doesn’t receive it, but would like to, again please contact Emma. Having thanked Val last week, we want to pay tribute to Pam who has faithfully distributed the newsletter to 40 people, who will now receive this message from Emma.
Calendar for the Week
Fri 21st Coffee Stop at St George’s from 10-12
Sat 22nd Crown & Sceptre Fayre
Sun 23rd Morning Prayer at Hope at 9 a.m.
Holy Communion at Pontesbury at 10.30 a.m.
Tea-time church at Minsterley Parish Hall at 4 p.m.
Mon 24th Youth Café at HTM at 3.30 p.m.
Pontesbury Festival Planning at 6.30 p.m.
Tues 25th Foodbank at Minsterley 10-12
Little Dragons at St George’s 10-11.30 a.m.
The Gathering at Marton Village Hall at 7 p.m.
Weds 26th Coffee Hub at HTM 10-12.
Youth Café at Pontesbury Baptist Church at 3.20 p.m.
Thurs 27th Pontesbury Foodbank 10-12 noon
Trinity Tots at HTM 10-11.30 a.m.
Men’s games group at the Pavilion from 11-1 p.m.
Fri 28th Coffee Morning at St George’s 10:00 a.m.
Sat 29th Baptism of Max Franklin at St George’s at 1.30 p.m.
Sun 30th Group Service at Habberley at 10.30 a.m.
Countryside Church midsummer service at the Stone Circle (Mitchell’s Fold) 6.00 p.m.
