| † St Andrews Proclaiming Christ in Clewer 22 October 2023 The 20th Sunday after Trinity |
 A Joint Statement on Violence in Israel and Gaza We watch with grief and horror as the violence in Israel and Gaza intensifies, following the dreadful terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas. We remember that all people are created in the image of God, and therefore deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, to live lives free of fear and violence. As the archbishops said in their joint statement last week: “We are grieved and deeply concerned at the violence in Israel and Gaza, and we unequivocally condemn the attacks by Hamas. We pray for those who are mourning, those who are injured, and all those fearing for their safety. We pray for restraint on all sides, and renewed efforts towards a just peace for all. The way forward must be for both sides to build confidence in a secure future through which Israel and its people can live in security within its internationally recognised borders, and Palestinians have their own state and live in their lands in security, and with peace and justice.” We condemn the acts of violence, particularly those that are targeting innocent civilians – men, women and children who are killed and held hostage while simply trying to live. We ask that leaders seek a way forward that ends the vicious cycles of violence and finds a way to build peace among peoples and nations, in which everyone can flourish and prosper. We pray that the peace of God will reign; that justice and mercy will bring an end to war and terror. We pray for the freedom of all peoples, that they may live in unity with their neighbours, that their humanity may be respected and that they may live without fear. We pray too for an end to violence in this country, particularly for an end to anti-Semitic violence; our Jewish brothers and sisters deserve to live lives free from fear. No school should have to close because of security threats; places of worship should not need security guards to keep worshippers safe. We stand in solidarity with those in our communities who may not feel welcomed and respected. Prejudice has no place in our society, whether anti-Jewish or anti-Muslim, and the war between Hamas and Israel must not be used to demonise whole communities and destabilise the peace that we so value in our cities and towns. In the words of Archbishop Hosam, with people around the world, we pray: O God of all justice and peace we cry out to you in the midst of the pain and trauma of violence and fear which prevails in the Holy Land. Be with those who need you in these days of suffering; we pray for people of all faiths – Jews, Muslims and Christians and for all people of the land. While we pray to you, O Lord, for an end to violence and the establishment of peace, we also call for you to bring justice and equity to the peoples. Guide us into your kingdom where all people are treated with dignity and honour as your children for, to all of us, you are our Heavenly Father. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. COLLECT God, the giver of life, whose Holy Spirit wells up within your Church: by the Spirit’s gifts equip us to live the gospel of Christ and make us eager to do your will, that we may share with the whole creation the joys of eternal life; 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. Amen READINGS Isaiah 45.1-7 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and strip kings of their robes, to open doors before him— and the gates shall not be closed: I will go before you and level the mountains, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I surname you, though you do not know me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no god. I arm you, though you do not know me, so that they may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is no one besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe; I the Lord do all these things. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. 1 Thessalonians 1.1-10 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of people we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place where your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. THE GOSPEL READING Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew . Glory to you, O Lord. Matthew 22.15-22 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 1how me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away. This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ. INTERCESSIONS Faithful God, sometimes our faith feels weak. The trials of life test our faith and we find it hard to rejoice. Help our faith to grow and help us realize that it is the most important thing in our lives. Show us how to rise above our human weaknesses and to grow stronger in our Christian Faith. Lord in your mercy: hear our prayer. Mighty God help us to see that things which seem completely impossible becomes possible, if they are approached with faith. Help us to see that If we approach a thing saying, “It can’t be done,” it will not but if we approach it saying, “It must be done,” the chances are that it will; always remembering that we approach no task alone, but that You and all Your power is with us. Lord in your mercy: hear our prayer. Creator God, we pray for your world. Forgive us when we are ungrateful, when lack of faith and spiritual blindness prevents us from appreciating the wonder of your creation and the endless cycle of nature. Forgive us for taking without giving; reaping without sowing. We pray for the farmers of the world many of whom still use those methods described by Jesus and we especially pray that they may be treated with fairness for their labours. We especially remember those who work with the land around the world suffering so badly from the lack of rain. Lord in your mercy: hear our prayer. Father God, we pray for our loved ones; for those who lift our hearts and those who turn our hair grey. We pray for those we instinctively warm to and those with whom there are frequent misunderstandings. We thank God for our opportunities of forgiveness. Lord in your mercy: hear our prayer. Living God, we pray for the hungry and the homeless, the broken and bereaved. For all for whom this day brings sadness and little joy, for the sick, lonely and the helpless, for those whose hope has been shattered and their faith destroyed. Lord in your mercy: hear our prayer. Everlasting God, we pray for those approaching death, that through our prayers they may know themselves accompanied with love on that journey. We pray for those who have died, that they may come to know the full joy of heaven. Lord in your mercy: hear our prayer. Christian Aid’s prayer about tax justice May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half truths and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts. May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that we may work for economic justice for all people. May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, hunger, homelessness and rejection, so that we may reach out our hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy. And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in the world so that we can do what others claim cannot be done. Merciful Father: accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. From the Chaplaincy of the Holy Spirit Costa Blanca POST COMMUNION Holy and blessed God, God our Father, whose Son, the light unfailing, has come from heaven to deliver the world from the darkness of ignorance: let these holy mysteries open the eyes of our understanding that we may know the way of life, and walk in it without stumbling; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Listen to Canon Brian’s Sermon last Sunday evening LISTEN NOTICES SERVICES FOR THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS Tuesday and Thursday 5.00pm Evening Prayer on Zoom Church Open every day 10.00am – 6.00pm Sun 22 Oct 10.30am Parish Eucharist (Mass for Peace) 5.00pm Evening Prayer – Zoom Sun 29 Oct 10.30am Parish Eucharist – Bible Sunday No Evening Prayer (5th Sunday) Sun 05 Nov 10.30am All Age Eucharist – All Saints Day 5.00pm Service for All Souls Sun 12 Nov Remembrance Sunday – No 10.30 service in Church 10.45am Service at the War Memorial in the Rec 5.00pm Parish Eucharist for Remembrance Sunday EVENING SERVICE ON SUNDAY Sunday’s evening service at 5.00pm is Evening Prayer via Zoom. Readings Psalm 142 Proverbs 4.1-18 1 John 3.16-4.6 PLEASE PRAY FOR The Suffering: Blake, Sam, Hugo, Don, Karl, Sarah, Joanna, Holly, Frank and Barbara, Bill, Suzanne, Christopher, Jackie, Diane, Sylvia, Mary, Gracie, Carmel, Christine, and Vivienne. Refugees, Prisoners, the Homeless and those who mourn. The Departed: David Wallace, all those recently departed this life, and those whose anniversaries fall at this time. Those baptised: Weddings: David & Jennifer. Community Prayers: Clewer Green School, the head teacher Martin Tinsley and all the pupils, staff and governors. For all our Care Homes, for the safety of residents and staff. We pray also for Windsor Christian Action, and the work of the Homeless Project, Street Angels, FoodShare, and The Night Shelter. Parish Cycle of Prayer: Please pray for all who live or work in Nelson Road, Bridgeman Drive, St Johns Drive, Clewer Green School, St Edwards First School, St Edwards Middle School, and Windsor Girls School. Anglican Cycle of Prayer: please pray for the Church of Korea. Please pray also for the Churches in these Dioceses: Northwest Ankole (Uganda), South Ankole (Uganda), West Ankole (Uganda), Antananarivo (Indian Ocean), Antsiranana (Indian Ocean), and Aotearoa (Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia).Please continue to pray for and support your neighbours and families in any way you can whilst keeping yourself safe. REMEMBRANCE DAY SERVICE – 12 NOV 2023 10.45 Our Remembrance Day Service will be at the Clewer Memorial Park, not in Church, our Eucharist service will be at 5pm in Church. MY TIME COFFEE MORNING – 14 NOV 2023 The next My Time event is Tues 14th Nov at Dorney. CHRISTMAS MARKET – 09 DEC 2023 This Year the Christmas Fair/Market will be on Saturday 9th December from 12.00 until 3.00pm. Note change of start time. Donations of plants, home-made jams etc appreciated, also chocolate for the tombola. FROM THE BABY BANK – 17 OCT 2023 Hi Baby Bank Followers, This is our latest list of items that we need in order to fulfill some outstanding requests. The clothing boxes are currently nearly EMPTY for these ages. ???? We desperately need winter coats, hats and scarves ???? We kindly ask that all donations are thoroughly cleaned and checked before donating. Items on our needs list will be gifted without delay so need to be in a good to go condition. ???? We are still collecting our Underwear for October. Thank you for all the donations so far ???? We are open Monday, Wednesday & Friday mornings between 9:30-12. Please note we will be CLOSED for half term week (Monday 23rd-Friday 27th Oct) ???? Our address is Tectonic Place, Holyport Road, SL6 2YE or items can be purchased from our Amazon wish list ???? We are fortunate to have an additional nappies/toiletries drop off at Craft Coop Windsor. We always say yes please to these ⭐️ Thank you so much for your continued support https://www.amazon.co.uk/baby-reg/thebabybank-windsor-december-2023-windsor/3GW3VJCEDTJCC  WINDSOR FOODSHARE  From their Facebook, Twittter and Website Pages: https://www.facebook.com/windsorfoodshare https://twitter.com/WindsrFoodshare https://www.windsorfoodshare.org.uk CAN YOU HELP? We are currently very short ofCooking SaucesUHT MilkBiscuitsTinned FruitTea bagsWe get less food donations in the spring and summer, even though we are still feeding the same amount of people. We have a permanent donation box at Tesco Superstore and also at Waitrose & Partners. So if you are shopping it is easy to pop a carton or 2 in. Or why not try our Wishlist on Common Good and Amazon. https://www.forcommongood.co.uk/…/giftr…/registry/215636 https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/23EUESGGRMAVZ… You can drop off to us on Wednesdays 9.30-1.30 or Thursdays 9.30-3.00 at Dedworth Green Baptist Church. We do not like to ask as we know times are tough for lots of people right now. Imagine if your whole street donated one tin each to us how this would help our stocks. CHURCH FINANCES – MESSAGE FROM ANDREW Thank you to everyone for all you have been able to give in this difficult time. We prefer the Parish Giving Scheme, which we promoted in previous years. Details are on our page on their web site: https://bit.ly/2XCLuCr [https://www.parishgiving.org.uk/donors/find-your-parish/clewer-st-andrew-windsor/] We also have the printed application forms available in Church, or contact the Parish Office by email office@clewerparish.org Alternatively, by paying directly to our bank account, the details of which are: HSBC Bank, High Street, Windsor Sort Code: 40-47-37 Account number: 11373366 Account name: PCC St Andrews Church or if your bank doesn’t like this Parochial Church Council St Andrews Clewer Parish  If anyonone requires a piano to be tuned, David will be in Windsor in early November. Please contact him directly, or via the parish office office@clewerparish.org CONTACTS The Parish Office is now closed. email: office@clewerparish.org Revd Rosie 01753 852334 email rector@clewerparish.org Parish Website: www.standrewsclewer.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/standrewsclewer Rector: Revd Rosie Webb 01753 852334 rector@clewerparish.org Churchwarden: Stuart Cockman Contact via email: office@clewerparish.org Safeguarding Policy: www.standrewsclewer.org/safeguarding-policy Safeguarding Officer: clewerparishsafeguarding@gmail.com |