The G46 Scouts meet on Friday evenings, in their HQ behind the Church Hall. For further details, please see the attachment below.

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Our main Sunday service takes place at 10.00, and all are welcome. We follow a modern and accessible Common Worship order of service, with Junior Church for children and young people roughly every other week: for details, please see the individual listings on the 'Services and Events' page.

Holy Communion for the Second Sunday of Epiphany: celebrant the Revd Tola Badejo.
Junior Church takes place at the same time in the hall.

First reading: 1 Corinthians 12. 1–11
Gospel: John 2. 1-11

Today's Gospel recounts Jesus's first 'sign' or miracle. The story can of course be understood in very different ways, from an allegory of Christ's transformative impact on human life to a literal illustration of his divine power; what stands out is that he does not claim credit for the miracle, but allows it to reflect well upon his host at the wedding. In Veronese's painting (above) Christ is pictured as though he has no involvement in the action at all while the servants (in the bottom corners) do as he told them.

The Cub and Beaver sections of our G46 Scout Group meet on Tuesday evenings: for details, please see the attachment below. The Group's HQ is behind the Church Hall.

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Family Communion for the Third Sunday of Epiphany: celebrant the Revd Tola Badejo.

First reading: 1 Corinthians 12. 12-31a
Gospel: Luke 4. 14–21

Today's first reading emphasises, that the Church, as the Body of Christ, depends on all of its members just like a physical human body. We need only remember the discomfort caused by a sensitive tooth or a blistered toe to begin to understand the point; moreover, Paul wants to make it clear that every role in the church is important. As church members, then, we should value and care for each other, be tolerant of divergent points of view, and respect the contribution that others make; this would be a good approach for any organisation, but for the Church seeking to be Christ-like, it is an absolute requirement.

The Gospel, like many other Epiphany readings, takes place years after the Nativity, but it continues the Epiphany theme of Christ's revelation as the Messiah. Here, he faces the challenging task of explaining to people who have known him since his youth that the prophecies of Isaiah refer to him. The implication of Luke's narrative, as it continues after the verses we hear today, is that the Nazarites expect some kind of special favour towards them, are enraged when Jesus explains that the universal Kingdom of God doesn't work like that, and attempt to kill him. He simply walks through them; sometimes his escape is explained as a miracle the Nazarites are too angry and self-obsessed to notice, but it might equally be seen as the natural outcome of courage and moral authority.

In a way, the episode of the Nazareth synagogue foreshadows the events of Holy Week. The immediate reaction is positive, but soon - perhaps because Jesus doesn't behave as people expect him to - the mood turns against him. Tissot's nineteenth-century painting of Jesus preaching captures a sense of unease, as though some of his listeners resent the challenge he poses to their status and their patterns of belief.

Holy Communion for the Presentation of Christ in the Temple: celebrant the Revd Tola Badejo. Junior Church takes place at the same time in the hall.

First reading: Hebrews 2.14-18
Gospel: Luke 2.22-40

The events celebrated in the season of Epiphany are not in chronological order - Christ's baptism by John and the Wedding at Cana took place at the start of his ministry when he was a young man, but his presentation in the Temple was a ritual of childhood. Taken together, however, they describe his recognition by people of all kinds: by Simeon, who had long looked forward to his birth, and by the Magi, to whom he was a mystery and surprise; by Jew and by Gentile; by the wealthy and powerful as well as the poor; by the stranger as well as those who had known him from childhood.

Holy Communion for the fourth Sunday before Lent: celebrant the Revd Tola Badejo.

First reading: 1 Corinthians 15. 1-11
Gospel: Luke 5. 1-11

The central Gospel event described in today's service is the 'Miraculous draught of dishes', the extraordinary event in which Jesus the carpenter tells experienced Galilean fishermen where to cast their nets. How easily they could have told him to face facts (there are no fish to be caught) or to stick to the trade he understood. The story is essentially about faith: doing as Jesus says, however unconventional or apparently pointless, can lead to profound results.

A linking characteristic of the two readings is sheer physicality; both are rooted in the material world, where the resurrected Jesus appeared in person and fishermen wrestle with overladen nets. This reality is powerfully represented in the Rubens painting above.