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Sunday 29th October                                                         Last after Trinity
Welcome to our weekly newsletter
1HrBack
British Summer Time ends so the CLOCKS GO BACK ON 29th OCTOBER.
autumn leaves all saints WM
A special day to be together across our 3 villages. Our usual services are cancelled so we can all be together for our Benefice Holy Communion and encourage each other.
10.30 am in St Mary’s (after an extra hour in bed).
Please ask for lifts or offer a lift by noon on Saturday via 01491 875651 or vicarofgsandss@yahoo.com
Also at St Thomas’ at 4.00pm our All Souls service to remember those who have died, to give thanks for and to celebrate their lives.
The Collect, the prayer for the week
   Blessed Lord,
   who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
   help us so to hear them,
   to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them
   that, through patience, and the comfort of your holy word,
   we may embrace and for ever hold fast
   the hope of everlasting life,
   which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ,
   who is alive and reigns with you,
   in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
   one God, now and for ever.
Readings for this Sunday:  Leviticus 19, 1-4, 15-18, 31-34, 1 Thessalonians 2. 1-8 and Matthew 22. 34-40.

This Sunday:
8:00am        BCP Holy Communion at St Thomas’
10:30am      Benefice Holy Communion at St Mary’s
4:00pm        Thanksgiving for the Departed service at St Thomas’
CoffeeAndCroissant
Prayer Breakfast, Saturday 28th October
will take place in the Canterbury Room at St Thomas’ from 8:15am.
Join us as we pray for the life of our churches.
Gaza, Israel and the region
Gaza prayer (3) 23.10
Following the inhuman and horrifying murderous acts of Hamas and now what is happening in Gaza, we are called to pray for people on all sides to find a way to a long term healing and solution.
This 6-minute video from Jewish Voice for Peace offers a simple but telling historical background, and can help us understand and pray for all there. Sent to me by someone who has recently returned from work with both communities there.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y58njT2oXfE
We give thanks for any small signs of humanity, such as the hostage being released and going back to shake hands with her captor.
Digging deeper
A chance to learn and grow?
Digging Deeper - Exploring God together
Each session stands alone so why not come this week?
Tuesday 31st October, 10.30am for 10.45am-12 noon in the Canterbury Room.
For more information please ask Ben or Jo.
Session 4 will be on Faithfulness. 
Goring Chamber Choir Concert – We Will Remember Them
The concert on the theme of remembrance will take place at St Thomas’ this Saturday 28th October at 3pm.
Tickets are £15 (free for under 18’s) and obtainable from Inspiration or from a choir member or on the door.
The concert includes familiar music such as the In paradisum from Fauré's Requiem and Purcell's Thou knowest, Lord (sung at the funeral service for HM the late Queen Elizabeth ll), set beside new and contemporary settings giving a positive light, such as Richard Shepherd's Holy is the true light. The choir will also sing glorious ecstatic music, such as Bainton's And I saw a new heaven, Ireland's Greater love and Wood's Hail, gladdening light, which will ensure that everyone comes away uplifted! The audience will also have a chance to join in amidst choir and readings.
Thanksgiving for the Departed, Sunday 29th October
autumn leaves all saints WM
The Ministry Team invite all who have lost loved ones, whether recently or longer ago, to come together at St Thomas’ on the 29th October at 4.00pm to remember those who have died, to give thanks for and to celebrate their lives.
The service is gentle and allows time for reflection and thanksgiving as well as an act of remembrance for those who have died. 
Following the service light refreshments will be served in the Canterbury Room, giving an opportunity to talk with others and with members of the Ministry Team, if you wish.
All are most welcome to come and join in this celebration of the lives of departed loved ones and do please invite others you may know to the service.
2023 Advent Course
You are invited to join an Ecumenical Advent group study, Journeying with the Magi by Keith Duke. This is a fresh approach to thinking and praying about our own inner journey through Advent. Each session includes a time for scripture, prayer, music, poetry, reflection and discussion focusing on the theme of spiritual journeying in the Celtic tradition.
There are four study groups to choose from to best suit your location and availability. There are four weekly sessions in the lead up to Christmas starting in the week commencing 20th November 2023. Groups are usually 8 to 10 people and are hosted in someone’s home, with refreshments provided at the start of the session. The only cost is a donation to cover the price of the course booklet.
Join a group for 4 weeks of fellowship as we study God’s word and prepare for the arrival of Christ into our lives. Sign-up sheets are available in the back of the church.
For further information, please contact Catherine via the church office (officeofgsandss@yahoo.com)
Advent candles and calendars
We will soon be ordering chocolate Advent calendars from the Meaningful Chocolate company, if people are interested in these. They are no longer sold in supermarkets and would cost £5 (to cover postage costs). Please put the money with your order through the Vicarage door by November 12th.
Advent candle jk
Advent candles are now available in church with a new card this year, an ideal present for yourself, a friend or grand/godchildren, offering calming hope at the opening moment in each day in December.
These cost £4. Cash please.
Demonstration Organ Recital by Paul Hale
Paul Hale
Another date for your diary! On Saturday 4th November Paul Hale, Cathedral Organist, organ advisor and consultant, will be putting the recently re-built organ at St Thomas’ to the test!
Paul will be playing pieces by a variety of composers including Bach, César Franck and Sigrid Karg-Elert. The recital at 2:30pm followed by refreshments, will be free.
Donations to our musical outreach programme welcomed.
Full programme details on the website (What’s On, Events).

St Thomas’ churchyard working party
Saturday 11th November 9.30am-12 noon

Coffee and Scottish shortbread half way through….  Please put it in the diary!

Care Bus Trip
The next trip will be on 1st December departing from St. Mary's at 13:15.
Due to popular demand, it will be a return trip to Toad Hall Garden Centre, near Henley-on-Thames, at a time when their famous Christmas grotto will be in full swing; there were tempting preparations going on when we last visited.
As before, there is no charge for the trip, but you must register as soon as possible with me; space is limited, and several people have already put their names down.
You can contact me via the church office (officeofgsandss@yahoo.com)            
John 
Grange harvest 23.10
You thought it was all over– well Harvest Festival season anyway, then I remembered The Grange had had to postpone.
A great Thanksgiving was had and generosity shared with the Foodbank on Monday. 
Daily Prayer continues its usual pattern. Why not join in one day? We listen to the Bible and pray for our world and church.
Monday: 8.30am Goring,     Tuesday and Thursday: 8.30am Streatley.
Friday: 9am Goring.

This week we are asked to pray for

  • Israel and Palestine, for peace and equal life for all there.
  • Those held hostage anywhere. For any incapable of defending their family and their home.
  • Those who work to provide us with water, fuel and clean air.
  • We give thanks for those who have died who have given us glimpses of eternal love.
Diary for next week
Tuesday 31st October
10:30am      Digging Deeper in the Canterbury Room

Wednesday 1st November
10:30am      BCP Holy Communion at St Thomas’
                     followed by coffee in the Canterbury Room
The readings will be Rev. 7. 9-end, Ps. 34. 1-10 and Matt. 5. 1-12.


Saturday 4th November
2:30pm        Organ recital by Paul Hale at St Thomas’

Sunday 5th November
8:00am        BCP Holy Communion at St Thomas’
9:30am        Family Service at St Thomas’
11:15am      Family Service at St Mary’s
11:15am      Holy Communion at St Andrew’s
4:00pm        Choral Evensong at St Thomas’
The monthly calendar for November can be downloaded by clicking here

Prayers for this week
Thank you to Alun for this week’s prayers. 

Almighty God, the God not of the dead but of the living, we praise and bless your holy name for your saints of every time and place who have served you faithfully in their generation, who have enriched the world by their lives, their witness and their example. Help us by your grace to follow them as they followed Christ, that with them we may be partakers of your everlasting joy; through the merits of Jesus our Saviour and our Lord.                                  
Lord, in your mercy                                                                        Hear our prayer

O God our Father, we bring to you in our prayers those who suffer in body or mind as a result of suffering or war, or because of the fear and suspicions that separate nation from nation, race from race. We think especially of the people of Ukraine, of Israel, of the Palestinian people, of children in the Yemen, and of so many other uneasy places in the world. We pray for all refugees, for those who have lost family members, parents or children, livelihood, security or home. Have mercy upon them, O Lord, and prosper all who seek to help them in their need. May we all be persistent in our support.                                                                  
Lord, in your mercy                                                                        Hear our prayer

Lord, you have chosen men and women to serve you in the ministry of your Church and have given them a perfect example in the person of your Son, Jesus Christ. We ask your blessing on all ministers, particularly the members of our Benefice Team here in Goring, Streatley and South Stoke. Let them never forget the privilege of their calling nor shirk its responsibilities. Keep them in your love that they may be good shepherds of your people and true servants of our great High Priest.    
Lord, in your mercy                                                                        Hear our prayer

Father, we offer you our thanks for the communities in which we live: for those who accept political and social responsibility, and the leaders whose decisions are so important for our welfare and happiness, for those who teach in our schools, for those who work in our health centres and hospitals, for those who maintain law and order, for those who serve in voluntary organisations, caring for the elderly, the handicapped and the needs of minority groups, and for those who live responsibly and peacefully with their neighbours.
Lord, in your mercy                                                                        Hear our prayer    

Lord Jesus Christ, in the days of your life here on earth the sick were brought to you for healing: hear us now as we bring to you in our prayers those we know to be unwell, in body or in mind. May your presence be with them to relieve suffering and distress, and if it be your will, to restore them to fullness of life.

Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Daily readings for the week beginning 30th October
Monday am: Ps 2 Eccles. ch. 1 John 17.  1-5 pm: Ps 4 1 Tim. 6. 1-10
Tuesday am: Ps 5 Eccles. ch. 2 John 17. 6-19 pm: Ps 1 Rev. 19. 6-10
Wednesday am: Ps 84 Isa. ch. 35 Luke 9. 18-27 pm: Ps 148 Heb. 11.32-12.2
Thursday am: Ps 15 Eccles. 3.16-4.end John 18. 1-11 pm: Ps 18 2 Tim. 1.15-2.13
Friday am: Ps 19 Eccles. ch. 5 John 18. 12-27 pm: Ps 22 2 Tim. 2.14-end
Saturday am: Ps 23 Eccles. ch. 6 John 18. 28-end pm: Ps 24 2 Tim. ch. 3
 
Please send any notices or articles for the next news sheet by noon on Thursdays to vicarofgsandss@yahoo.com.
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