Everyone is welcome to attend our services at St Peter’s
Here’s our Calendar at St Peter’s this Winter/Spring
FEBRUARY
23rd Feb 11am Morning Service
MARCH
2nd March 10am BENEFICE SERVICE
16th March 11am Holy Communion
30th March 11am Mothering Sunday
FAREWELL to our Rector
Our Rector, Rev Canon Richard Thorniley, is leaving the parish in July to retire to the south coast of England.
Richard has served the four parishes in the ARCH Benefice of Abbots Morton, Rous Lench, Church Lench and Harvington for almost 25 years. We are immensely grateful for all the hard work and dedication he has shown and he will be greatly missed.
Richard’s last service will be on 6th July.
INTERREGNUM
We’re now in between Incumbents and the church process has begun to find a new rector for the four parishes. Profiles of each parish are being drawn up to help applicants get a good idea of the churches and the people they would be serving.
In the meantime, we will still have the services of:
a) Rev Chris Sheehan (below), our Pioneer Deacon
b) Suzanne Magee, known as Sooz, who is on a short-term secondment, around 3 months, as a Curate in Training. She’ll be doing a variety of roles/tasks to help develop her ministry and get ‘rural experience’.
c) Pippa Heenan from Goom’s Hill who has been leading us in services for many months now.
RENEWAL
GATES
We’ve had a period of renewal for our two sets of gates.
1) Kevin’s Gates
First, at the top of the steps, the brand new oak gates which we now know as Kevin’s gates in memory of the late Kevin Clarke our churchwarden for 16 years. A plaque has been installed on the gates in Kevin’s honour.
2) Porch Gates (below)
These gates were decaying badly but they have been brilliantly restored by a local carpenter, Ollie
Frost from Salford Priors. They should serve their purpose for many years to come.
PRAYER CORNER
With the help of Jacki and Stephen Allum in the village, the Rector has created a prayer corner in the church near the font. It’s a quiet space to spend some time with God.
KEY DATES for 2025
FLOWER FESTIVAL 2025
Make a Date in your diary . The Flower Festival Weekend will be the last weekend in June (Saturday 28th /Sunday 29th)
HARVEST SERVICE & HARVEST SUPPER
Harvest Service in October is on Sunday 5th and the Harvest Supper on Friday 10th Oct.
FLOWER ROTA
There is a rota of volunteers to make flower arrangements for display inside the church. The rota is organised by Tina Hill who is keen to find new volunteers to join the rota. You don’t have to be an experienced flower arranger to join in. Please call Tina on 07740 447809 if you would like to help out.
PASTORAL FLOWER FUND
The church also gives flowers or plants to parishioners who are recovering from hospital treatment to help aid their return to good health. Occasional collections gather money for what we call the Pastoral Flower Fund. It is run by Tina Hill who is always pleased to be told of someone who has been in hospital. Feel free to call/text her on 07740 447809.
YOUR CHURCH NEEDS YOU
St Peter’s urgently needs people in the parish to join the PCC. If you would like to get involved in looking after St Peter’s Church, please come onto the Parochial Church Council. We meet once every two months to plan and carry out developments to the church and churchyard, organise fundraising activities and contribute to the forms of service used. The current members of the PCC are the Rector, Rev Richard Thorniley, Lynne Pemberton 07900 246413; Colin Pemberton, (PCC secretary) 07766 524833; Roma Jones, Lynda Payne, Pippa Heenan and Guy Ledger. Please contact any of them if you would like to join.
CONSERVATION AREAS
St Peter’s church now has four conservations areas …in each corner of the churchyard. As part of our eco-conscious agenda we let grass grow uncut to allow wildflowers to flourish with the associated benefits to insects and wildlife. The PCC hope that people using the churchyard will accept that though the churchyard may look a little less smart it brings benefits in terms of flora and fauna.
