Bowland Benefice
Pews News 12 January 2025
The Baptism of Christ - Collect
Eternal Father, who at the baptism of Jesus
revealed him to be your Son,
anointing him with the Holy Spirit:
grant to us, who are born again by water

and the Spirit,

that we may be faithful to our calling
as your adopted children;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
This week in the Benefice

Sunday
12 January

10.30am

Holy
Communion in
Upton
Snodsbury

10.30am

Christingle
Service in
White Ladies
Aston

Sunday
19 January
Epiphany 2

10.30am

Benefice Holy
Communion in
White Ladies
Aston
A message from Revd Claire
All are welcome to our new Café Church
on Sunday 26 January at 11am in Peopleton Church. 
This will be a short, relaxing gathering with time to
chat, sing and hopefully learn together. 
A time open to everyone to bring along friends,
younger family members and neighbours who
perhaps don’t normally join us for regular services but
who would enjoy time together.
Croissants and hot drinks will be provided. 
We look forward to seeing you on 26 th for something a

little bit different.

There will be a Holy Communion service in the
Benefice earlier that morning at the normal time of
9.30am in White Ladies Aston and Upton Snodsbury
will hold its Hymns and a Prayer service at 10.30am.
A prayer for the rest of January
We give thanks for our health, our family and our
friends. We thank you for all the gifts in our lives.
We ask that you help us to release our resentment,
jealousy and grudges towards others, as these feelings
can only hamper and diminish us.
Help us to live each day in love, serving all who are in
need, following the examples set by Jesus.
Help us not forget how fortunate we are to be living in
the warmth and comfort of our own homes with
family and friends. Help us set out in 2025 with hope,
courage and the determination to make a difference in
some way, however small. Amen.

I am sure we have all been listening and reading about
the state of our church after the resignation of
Archbishop Justin Welby with a great mixture of
feelings, anger, despair, disgust and hopelessness.
The Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell has written
an open letter to senior church leaders, the General
Synod and local church members and it can be found

here:

https://www.archbishopofyork.org/news/latest-
news/epiphany-letter-clergy-lay-ministers-and-

people-church-england

This Sunday in many rural communities is marked as

Plough Sunday

The observance of Plough Sunday on the First Sunday
of Epiphany (marking the baptism of Christ too) goes
back to Victorian times, but behind it there is a much
older observance to mark the beginning of the

agricultural year.

The service includes the blessing of the plough, milk
churn, soil and seeds and is generally followed by a
Plough Supper of bread and cheese with cider.
Although the nature of farming has changed over the
centuries, Plough Sunday is still seen as a way of
generally celebrating farming and the work of

farmers.

Some church communities have also reintroduced it
as a focus for asking a blessing on human labour near
the start of the calendar year. It is an opportunity to
cherish the land and human labour, and to remind us
all of our dependence upon it and upon God.
A reminder that many people, in our communities
and beyond are struggling with the cost of living,
particularly with the cold winter weather we are
experiencing at the moment.

Please remember our local Food Banks – collections
in our villages and supermarkets – and collections of
warm clothing and toiletries for the Maggs’ Day
Centre and St Paul’s Hostel in Worcester.
For those who seek a Saviour
we lead them to the Stable
To the One who was born
To bring freedom
Forgiveness
Liberty.

For those who seek Assurance
we lead them to the Light
To the One who opens eyes
to understanding
God's Word
Truth.

For those who seek Forgiveness
we lead them to a Grace
beyond comprehension
To wholeness
Healing
Peace.