Services

Officers

Friends of St John's

Priest in charge

Rector's letter

Daily Office

The History of this charming church is contained elsewhere in this site.  

The Church is part of a United Parish with St Perter's Freshford, and St Mary's Limpley Stoke.  It has a seating capacity for about 160 people and is set in a beautiful well maintained churchyard on the outskirts of the village. The tower contains a carillon of three bells.

There is a small choir that takes part in sung services, and there is a space set apart towards the back of the Church for small children to occupy themselves during  the services.

 PRIEST IN CHARGE

 The new Priest in Charge, the Reverend Jonathan Hoffmann, was licensed by the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Right Reverent Peter Price, on 24 July 2006.  He is married to Kate and has one daughter called Olivia.

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       SERVICE TIMES

A typical pattern is shown under but variations will occur each month and details will be on church notice boards.

RECTORS LETTER

SEPTEMBER

All I Want is You

So I’ve re-entered the parish after my wonderful 3 month sabbatical only to find out that you have all had lots of fun without me. I thought I told you not to!

During my sabbatical and for the month of August it was necessary to change the service rota. It meant fewer services and on occasion a church going two consecutive Sunday’s without a service. From the beginning of September we will be returning to a more normal pattern. We’ve decided to keep the United Parish Holy Communion Service at 1O.3Oam. on the second Sunday, which will continue to rotate around the three churches. On the 1stm 3rd and 4th Sundays there will be a service in each of the three churches as before. So make sure you keep an eye on the services advertised on the back of this magazine or on the church notice board.

It’s true what someone once said, that the best way to make God laugh is to tell him your plans! I found that the plans I made for my sabbatical were revised once I realised God had other plans for me. The first and most important was that he wanted me to spend time with him. And that the words I sensed him saying to me were, ‘All I want is you.’ As simple as that. If this is true for me it is certainly true for everyone, because surely it is the main theme in scripture. ‘All 1 want is you’ is God’s loving desire for us all.

This led me on an interesting journey into what I would call, ‘The Father’s Heart of love.’ The parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11 end) has always captivated me and I believe that Jesus was revealing in this parable what God, whom Jesus told us to call Father or Abba (which means Dad), is really like. At the centre of this story is the wayward son returning home, and his Father running to welcome him, throwing his arms around him, arid kissing him. Various artists including Rembrandt have painted this scene often showing a dirty and dishevelled son being lovingly embraced into the heart of the Father.

I believe this message. which is so important, can be easily missed. So I’ve decided to lead the Parish Away Weekend at Brunel (15^th – 17^th October)on exactly this subject. Do come along, I’m sure there will still be places available when this goes to print, and details can be found elsewhere in this magazine and in the church.

Every blessing

Jon Hoffman

MORNING PRAYER AT ST JOHN’S

St John’s has a long tradition of using Morning Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer (Matins), and this version has a loyal following. But the congregation at St John’s will now find the Common Worship version handed to them as they enter the church. It is a beautiful way to start the day and will have very different music from the chants that are normally sung

FILLING STATION

This gathering for Christian worship will be taking place monthly in Hinton Charterhouse at Tuggies Barn starting on Thursday 25 February at 7.30 pm.  It will then take place at the same venue on the last Thursday of each month.

 OFFICERS