Benefice of Goring and Streatley with South Stoke : Sunday 12th January 2025

Sunday 12th January Epiphany 1/Baptism of Christ

Welcome to our weekly newsletter

Whose voice do you listen to?
Who shapes and calls you (Elon, Donald or …)?

Let it be God and his call to belong to him and to join in his kingdom ways.

The Collect, the prayer for the week
Eternal Father,
who at the baptism of Jesus
revealed him to be your Son,
anointing him with the Holy Spirit:
grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit,
that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Readings for this Sunday: Isaiah 43.1-7 or Acts 8. 14-17, Ps. 29 and Luke 3. 15-17, 21-22.

This Sunday:
8:00am      BCP Holy Communion at St Mary’s
9:30am      Holy Communion at St Thomas’
11:15am    Family service at St Mary’s
11:15am    BCP Holy Communion at St Andrew’s

Alleluia!
Goring Primary School had its recent Ofsted inspection report results published this week. It could not be better bed-time or anytime reading. If you like words like exceptional, welcoming and bright, highly skilled, harmonious and happy, motivated learners, wealth of opportunities, please read the full 7 pages by clicking here. It is a pleasure to read. Although officially it was an ungraded inspection, the school was highly commended for all the pupils were doing. The inspector was incredibly thorough and said she could not find any area which needed improvement!
Huge cheers to all the staff, children and give thanks.

Pick-a-Flick, Thursday 16th January, 10:30am
This month Pick-a-Flick will be screening the film “Jane Eyre” (2011 version). As usual, there will be coffee before the film and a light lunch afterwards and we ask for a contribution of £5 towards this.
Pre-booking is required so please contact Sarah Fraser via the church office on 875651 to book in and to ask for transport if you require it.

Prayer Breakfast,
Saturday, 18th January, 8.15am
Please come and pray for the life of our parishes: for our plans for the year, and the new bereavement café starting this month.

The prayer breakfast will take place in the Canterbury Room at St Thomas’. Coffee and croissants from 8:15am, followed by prayer for the life of our churches. Finished by 9.30am. Please do join us.

Heal the Gap Bereavement Café
Our Bereavement Cafe is a new initiative that follows on from our Bereavement Course. Grief is a natural response to a loss, and it affects everyone differently. By being able to offer a comfortable environment to discuss and share your experience of

grief with others without fear of judgement and scrutiny, regardless of how long ago your loss occurred, we felt this was a very important part of our community to be able to offer this to anyone within our benefice.
Starting this month, we will be offering a monthly meet up in the Canterbury Room for some peer-to-peer support, with the opportunity of meeting others from our villages, who are going through similar situations offering some friendship, advice and hope. There will also be tea, coffee and refreshments.
The aims of this group, is to demystify the topic of grief and remove its status as a taboo subject and to equip everyone with the self-assurance necessary to engage in a meaningful conversation with those grappling with loss, focusing primarily on active listening. These sessions will be managed by trained group bereavement facilitators. The dates and times are:
Sunday 19th January
Sunday 16th February
Sunday 16th March
Sunday 13th April
Sunday 18th May
Sunday 15th June
These sessions are from 3pm - 4pm. More dates will be given later in the New Year for July onwards. We look forward to seeing you there. Melissa Walker

Digging Deeper – fortnightly, Tuesdays at 10.30am
All are warmly welcome to come along to this study and fellowship group.
There will be four sessions before Lent begins looking at Paul’s amazing and important letter to the church in Rome.

With coffee and a biscuit our first session will give a brief overview of this letter we will then dig deeper into Romans Chapter 1, verses 1-17.
The first session will be on Tuesday 21st January, 10.30am-12.00pm, in the Canterbury Room.

Goring Chamber Choir concert, Saturday 25th January at St Thomas’
Entitled 'Blow, blow thou winter wind' this concert which starts at 3pm joins together two aspects of winter: the 'freezing, bitter sky' and 'heigh ho, the holly, this life is most jolly'. The programme seeks to balance and rejoice in these two aspects of life in January: the terrible beauty of the still world in winter under snow and ice and post-Christmas joys, a cheerful drinking song, looking ahead to a wedding in the spring. Well-known slow pieces such as Stanford's 'The blue bird', Michael Head's 'The little road to Bethlehem' and Elgar's 'The snow' contrast with the vigour and vitality of Debussy's 'Yver, vous n'estes qu'un villain' and Russell-Smith's toe-tapping 'The wedding ring'. Poetry readings between the groups of choral songs will also highlight this contrast, summed up in Rutter's setting of Shakespeare's text.
Tickets: £15. Free for under-18s. Obtainable from a choir member or from Inspiration in Goring or on the door. Please see http://www.goringchamberchoir.org.uk/ for more information.

Spanish Fantasia for Guitar and Piano, Sunday 26th January
Gary Jordan (classical guitar) and Seth Williams (piano), the Accorda Duo, will be coming to St Mary’s for a concert at 4pm.
Tickets are £10 full and £9 concessions on the door only (cash only please). We will fit everyone in! Enquiries by text to 0776 233 9853

The program will include Joaquin Rodrigo's Fantasia para Gentlehombre and works by Tedesco and Marchelle.
Refreshments will be served in the Morrell Room afterwards.

Start your day listening to God and praying together. Why not join in one day? We listen to the Bible and pray for our world and church members in turn.
Monday: 8.30am Goring, Tuesday and Thursday: 8.30am Streatley.
Friday: 9am Goring.

This week we are asked to pray:

We give thanks for Goring Primary’s OFSTED inspection report.
For kindness in our response to others.
For preparations for our Bereavement café.
For our individual reflections on a year past and a year ahead.
For our PCCs as they meet this week.
For road gritters, drain clearers and pothole menders and all that funds them.

Diary for the week

Monday 13th January
7:15pm      St Andrew’s PCC meeting

Wednesday 15th January
10:30am    Little Lights at St Mary’s
10:30am    BCP Holy Communion at St Thomas’
The readings will be Heb. 2.14-end, Ps 105. 1-9 and Mark 1. 29-39.
7:45pm      St Mary’s PCC meeting

Thursday 16th January
10:30am    Pick-a-Flick in the Canterbury Room

Saturday 18th January
8:15am      Benefice prayer breakfast in the Canterbury Room

Sunday 19th January
8:00am      BCP Holy Communion at St Thomas’
9:30am      Good News service at St Thomas’
11:15am    BCP Holy Communion at St Mary’s
11:15am    Good News service at St Andrew’s
3:00pm      Bereavement café in the Canterbury Room

Prayers for the week from "Roots on the Web"
When we walk through the flood
and the world seems dangerous and unpredictable
May we not be afraid!
Help us to know that you are with us and will never leave us.
Strengthen your people, O Lord.
Surround us with your peace.

When social media spreads misinformation, mistrust and hate
and where many voices compete for our loyalty and attention;
give us wisdom in choosing where we place our trust.
Help us to challenge lies with facts.
Strengthen your people, O Lord.
Surround us with your peace.

When the vulnerable go cold and many children live in poverty
but others enjoy luxury and plenty
and close their eyes and hearts to the need all around:
help us to hear your call to build a more equal world.
Strengthen your people, O Lord.
Surround us with your peace.

When conflict destroys hope and life and reduces neighbourhoods to rubble
across the Middle East, in Ukraine, in South Sudan, in Yemen;
keep us believing that a new future is possible.
Help us to restore what has been shattered by war and fear.
Strengthen your people, O Lord.
Surround us with your peace.

When leadership fails and there is dissatisfaction with political responses
and insurgency seems appealing in the name of change;
give us wisdom and patience for the long-term work that is needed.
Help us to pray continually for all with leadership roles in church and in society.
Strengthen your people, O Lord.
Surround us with your peace.

When people are in danger and homes and businesses
are destroyed by wildfire, floods or earthquakes,
may we remember our true security in you.
Give courage to emergency and rescue services, hospital staff and all who seek to mend broken bodies and lives.
Help us to show compassion to all in need.
Strengthen your people, O Lord.
Surround us with your peace.

When suffering comes and we walk through the dark
not knowing if we have enough strength for tomorrow;
give to us what we need to manage this day
and be close to those we know who are in need.
Help us not to lose hope.
Strengthen your people, O Lord.
Surround us with your peace.

When the way ahead is uncertain
go ahead of us and lead us always onwards -
deeper into the love that made us and that will bring us home.
Help us to hear you day by day calling us by name.
Strengthen your people, O Lord.
Surround us with your peace.

Daily readings for the week beginning 13th January

Monday am:	Ps 80	Amos 1	1 Cor. 1. 1-17	pm: Ps 34	Matt. 21. 1-17
Tuesday am:	Ps 9	Amos 2	1 Cor. 1. 18-end	pm: Ps 45	Matt. 21. 18-32
Wednesday am:	Ps 20	Amos 3	1 Cor. ch. 2	pm: Ps 47	Matt. 21. 33-end
Thursday am:	Ps 21	Amos 4	1 Cor. ch. 3	pm: Ps 61	Matt. 22. 1-14
Friday am:	Ps 67	Amos 5. 1-17	1 Cor. ch. 4	pm: Ps 68	Matt. 22. 15-33
Saturday am:	Ps 33	Amos 5. 18-end	1 Cor. ch. 5	pm: Ps 85	Matt. 22. 34-end

Please send any notices or articles for the next news sheet by noon on Thursdays to vicarofgsandss@yahoo.com.

The Benefice of Goring and Streatley with South Stoke

The Vicarage

Manor Road

Goring, Berkshire RG8 9DR

United Kingdom