Friday 19th June 12.25pm 

w/c Sunday 21^st June 2026

Dear Friends,

The Diocese has just held it Clergy Conference whose theme was Roots, Shoots and Fruits (see Rev Alex’s reflection below.)
Rt Rev’d Dr Rowan Williams, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, spoke – “You don’t go out into the garden and dig up the plants to see how they are growing.
The timetable of grace is not up to us. Seeds grow at the rate they grow and souls grow at the rate they grow.” 
We are in the business of planting seeds, trusting in God for His grace.
As a Mission Community we have a vision to plant more seeds, particularly amongst those we may not currently connect with.
The appointment of a Pioneer Minister in Buckfastleigh is part of this vision, and I am pleased to say the post has now been advertised nationally.
Please do pray that the right person will be led by God to join us.

Thought for the week

I thought I’d take a leaf out of George’s book and write about one of the themes that has been

prominent at the clergy conference this week.
And the theme has been similar ministering in a fragmented society and in fragmented communities.
It is something that has come

up in a number of different sessions, from keynote addresses to bible studies and workshops.
The

church is asking itself, what role does it have in this increasingly divided world, and how can it best

serve its communities?

The emphasis has been on having a ministry of reconciliation that offers hope and peace to the

world. In a bible study on the prodigal son, Bishop James ended with the reflection that the Father

always wants to reconcile, as shown by his actions with both the elder and younger sons.
This

was followed by a workshop from the Reconciling Leaders Network, in which we considered what

fragmentation we saw in our own contexts – the list covered everything from economic divisions to

divisions between generations, political divisions, racial divisions, cultural divisions, religious

divisions and more.
They suggested that in seeking to be people of reconciliation we need to

adopt three habits: being curious (listening to other people’s stories and seeing the world through

their eyes), being present (encountering others with authenticity), and having the ability to

reimagine how things could be as we are people of hope.

But the most powerful reflection on the ministry of the church in the face of division came, not

surprisingly, from the Archbishop of Jerusalem, Hosam Naoum, who joined us by video.
In a place

with so much religious division he said that the church has to stick to its narrative of peace-building

and reconciliation. Christians have to be ambassadors for peace and we have to continue our

activities that challenge the hate narratives.
We have to condemn all acts of anti-Christianity,

antisemitism and Islamophobia and show we won’t tolerate any form of discrimination as all are

created in God’s image.

When asked what sustained him in his ministry and why he hadn’t left, he replied that just a few

metres from where he was sitting, was the sepulchre of the empty tomb.
Despite all the reasons to

despair at the violence and division, he knew that hope has the final word.

It has been a very thought-provoking conference and there is much to ponder over what being a

reconciling and hope-instilling Christian community looks like in the Dart and Avon Mission

Community.
Rev Alex

Notices and Diary

• Year of Prayer – informal communal prayer times: –

2^nd Sunday           Rattery during Morning Worship at 11.15

3^rd Sunday          St Petroc’s at 8.45 (8.30 coffee)

                                                                        Dean Prior during Morning Worship at 9.30

                                                                        Staverton during Morning Worship at 9.30

St Luke’s during Morning Worship at 11am

Littlehempston during Holy Communion at 11am

4^th Sunday          Landscove during Holy Communion at 9.30am

• St Petroc’s Flower Festival – a huge thanks to everyone from across the Mission Community who supported this event – it was so good to see so many over the weekend. We made over £8000 in aid of the bell frame – an incredible achievement, well done to all concerned.
• Thursday June 25th- Littlehempston Coffee Morning30 to 12.00
• South Brent MU outing to Saltram House on Thurs 25^th June.  We are leaving the village at 10.30am.  If you need a lift, please contact Sue Addy on 01364 73069
• National Emergency Briefing film show in South Brent Village Hall Sun July 5 – 5 to 7pm.An eye-opening film featuring Chris Packham and ten leading UK scientists and experts presenting clear, evidence-based insights on the growing risks to our weather, food, health and cost of living. To book https://www.itsorted.org.uk/neb

Wed 24^th June                    St Petroc’s Morning Prayer at 8.30am

Thought for the week at 10am by zoom and telephone

St Petroc’s Parish Lunch 12.30-1.30pm

Thurs 25^th June                  South Brent MU outing to Saltram House

                                                      Littlehempston coffee morning 10.30-12

Fri 26^th June                         Morning Prayer at 9am by zoom and telephone

                                                      Church wardens’ meeting at Val Hoare’s at 10am

                                                      Ministry Team meeting at 12.30pm

 Know you are in my heart and in my prayers.
Rev Gina