Benefice Letter
Dear friends,
Like the changing seasons of the year the church moves through its liturgical cycle. On 18th February we observed Ash Wednesday which also marks the beginning of Lent. Sadly, this is not a great tradition in the four churches of our benefice and only ten of us gathered for a very moving service in Higham. The Ash Wednesday service included the opportunity to receive the sign of the cross on our foreheads with ash made out of burnt palm crosses. This custom reminds Christians of our human mortality and the importance of reconciling with God. But we also reflected on God, our loving Father who wants nothing more than to be reconciled with us, as shown in him sending his son Jesus for our redemption.
During March we journey through the season of Lent. We mark Mothering Sunday on 15th March with Café Church in Stratford’s Parish Room at 9.30 and a service in Holton at 10am. We then remember Jesus’ Passion during the days of Holy Week before we come to the great feast of Easter Day on 5th April.
April will also bring a big change for our Benefice. As many of you already know, I will be retiring from stipendiary parish ministry after nearly 5 ½ happy years in our benefice and the Easter Day service at 10am in Raydon will be my last service. It would be lovely if many of you from all our villages could come and mark this special occasion.
It has not been an easy decision, but the past few years have not only been extremely busy for me but also very difficult on a personal level. Now I need some time and space to reflect and refocus, and to do some of the things I had hoped to have time for when I came here at the end of 2020 in between the two Covid lockdowns.
I won’t be moving far away and I hope that friendships will continue. I am certainly planning to be back for the occasional event …
During the vacancy, our churchwardens will be very busy as they will have many additionally responsibilities, as will some of our other volunteers. Perhaps, if you haven’t got involved in our churches yet, you could do so now and join one of our PCCs or lend a helping hand here or there? We would love to hear from you.
This year our annual meetings (APCMs) will take place on the following dates:
Higham – 28th April, 7.30pm in Church
Stratford St Mary – 5th May, 7.15pm in the Parish Room
Raydon – 6th May, 11am in Church
Holton St Mary – 7th May, 7pm in Church.
I wish you all a good Lent and I will pray for you and for our churches as I hope you will for me.
With every blessing,
Rev’d Manette
- The Rectory
- Hadleigh Road
- Raydon
- Suffolk
- IP7 5LH
07947 737789
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