Dear friends
Friday 6th September 12:45 pm
w/c Sunday 8th September 2024
Dear Friends,
On Tuesday Rev Laura McAdam will be licenced as Associate Priest at Paignton.
Please pray for Laura and Trace in this new phase of their lives, that they may know God’s blessing and peace.
Rev Gina
Thought for the week James 2 1-10, 14-17; Mark 7 24-end
There’s no denying it, the Bible can be hard to understand sometimes.
Take Jesus’ encounter with the Syrophoenician woman in this week’s Gospel.
It seems as if He is avoiding healing her child because she isn’t Jewish.
According to Jewish teaching, the woman, as a foreigner, had no claim on His help.
He knew it and so did she.
It seems as if He is discriminating against her.
This is puzzling coming from a teacher who had said “Do not judge” – a teaching that is very hard to observe, and on the face of it, Jesus found it hard too.
Let’s be honest, we judge all the time.
Some judgements are considered and thoughtful, but many are immediate, instinctive, based on appearance and prejudice.
James in his letter to early Christians understood this.
They were clearly pandering to those who were rich and powerful and discriminating against those poorer members.
So much of human history is about discrimination – between rich and poor, outsiders and insiders, black and white, men and women.
This type of discrimination provides a crude kind of security, for we know our place and who to look up to and down on.
The Christian Gospel presents a radical dismantling of human hierarchy.
We erect walls to keep people in their place, but the Gospel knocks them down, and we see Jesus living this out.
His initial response to the woman was what would have been expected in His time, yet He acts to challenge these views, and not only engages with this foreign woman but then heals her child.
This story in Mark and James’ sharp words should challenge us to be honest with ourselves about our own attitudes and behaviours.
None of us can escape, we all fall short of that seemingly simple command of Jesus “Do not judge.”
This message is powerfully enacted as we come together to receive Holy Communion. There we all share the same sacred meal, the same bread and wine, we are all reminded that Jesus died for each of us, and each is forgiven and loved by God.
We are all welcome and should welcome all.
In God’s kingdom, no one is an outsider, no one is a foreigner, all are welcomed, all are able to receive God’s grace.
And we are called to reflect that message in our own lives.
All we are asked to do is to budge up and make room for all at God’s table, and who knows who we might meet and what we might discover!
Notices and Diary
Sat Sept 7th Landscove wedding at 1.30pm
Tues Sept 10th Laura’s Licensing at Paignton Parish Church TQ3 3AQ 6.30pm
Wed Sept 11th St Petroc’s Morning Prayer at 8.30am
Thought for the week at 10am by zoom and telephone
Ministry team at 12pm
Fri Sept 13th Morning Prayer at 9am by zoom and telephone
M C Church Wardens meeting at 2pm at Ros Edwards
Sat Sept 14th St Petroc’s Coffee in the Car Park from 10am
Staverton wedding at 2pm
Mission Community Services for September
Sunday September 8th | ||
South Brent Dean Prior Buckfastleigh Rattery | 9.30am 9.30am 11.00am 11.15am | Holy Communion Holy Communion (BCP) Holy Communion Morning Worship |
Sunday September 15th | ||
South Brent South Brent Dean Prior Buckfastleigh Littlehempston Staverton | 8.00am 9.30am 9.30am 11.00am 11.00am 5.30pm | Holy Communion (BCP) Holy Communion Morning Worship Morning Worship Harvest Thanksgiving Evening Worship |
Sunday September 22nd | ||
South Brent Landscove Buckfastleigh Rattery | 9.30am 9.30am 11.00am 11.15am | Holy Communion Holy Communion Holy Communion Holy Communion |
Sunday September 29th | ||
Buckfastleigh (United service) | 10.00am | United Mission Community service |
Know you are in my heart and in my prayers.
Rev Gina
Friday 7th October 2022
SOUTH BRENT COMMUNITY FRIDGE
SHARE FOOD – Save waste
Have you ever wondered what to do with that spare food?
The South Brent Community Fridge has finally arrived and is installed at the entrance to the Old School Community Centre in the centre of the village.
It will open on Tuesday 18th October and will be open 24 hours a day.
Surplus and end of line food is collected by volunteers from supermarkets and local businesses who would otherwise be disposing of it, and put in the community fridge for anyone to come and take what they wish.
If you have spare food yourself, if you are going on holiday or have extra vegetables in your allotment, you can also put it in the fridge to share.
The guidelines of what food is safe to share are posted by the fridge, and the fridge will be checked daily by a dedicated team of volunteers.
It’s a win-win situation for the environment and the people of South Brent as we move into a winter when many ordinary people will be feeling the pinch.
Please use it!!!
If you would like to volunteer to help the community fridge please contact fridge@ssb.org.uk . In particular we are looking for a back up for the coordinator, Their role will be, when the main coordinator is away, to
– liaise with the driver and fridge monitor coordinators who are responsible for the day to day running of the fridge, and work with them to resolve any issues that come up
– Be responsible for the maintenance of the room where the fridge is (in collaboration with the old school Community Centre)
– Act as liaison with outside organizations.