Churches October 2023

Special Service

Sunday 22nd October - 10am. Harvest Thanksgiving Service.

Everyone is welcome. All non-perishable goods from the harvest will be donated to the Wansbeck Food Bank.

St Helen's Contact Details

During the Interregnum the Area Dean will be responsible for the Parish.

Rev. Chris Groocock   01670 813358

Website: www.achurchnearyou.com

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For our other group meetings, please see the Group Activities sections.

Visitors are always very welcome to all our events.

Contact Ian Pagan 788263 idpagan@btinternet.com

Website: www.longhorsleymission.org.uk

Thought for the Month

The flies were bothersome.

It was early on a warm July morning and I was walking the old track behind the dunes. I caught the salty tang of the sea every now and then, carried by the breeze.

The cattle had been moved, from the field on the right to the field on the left. Red cows, white faces. All lying down in the long grass, chewing the cud. Probably dodging the flies.

Except for one cow on its own. Lying a distance apart from the herd, in a circle of bare earth. I wondered why.

Perhaps there were fewer flies there. More cows, more flies… Perhaps she didn’t feel part of the herd, or didn’t have the herd mentality. Did she want time out? Had the herd moved away from her?

We are herd animals, we have the herd mentality; we need each other. Sometimes we find ourselves separated from the herd, perhaps by choice but often by circumstances beyond our control.

In Genesis 16 we read about the complicated situation Sarah and Abraham and Sarah’s slave girl Hagar found themselves in. The relationship had broken down and become unbearable and Hagar had run away. She found herself alone and pregnant, in a hostile environment. This was not God's plan, but he saw Hagar in her difficulties and met with her. He promised he would turn her situation around, and he did; and Hagar called him El Roi 'the God who sees me'.

It was not all smooth sailing for Hagar, God told her to go back to Sarah, which she did, but he was faithful to his promise, and when her son was born she named him Ishmael meaning 'God listens’.

We find ourselves feeling alone at times, for many reasons. Sometimes of our own making, often not. Relationship breakdown; bereavement; old age; can isolate us, but God sees us when others don't; and we can turn to him and be aware of him speaking into our conscience. Psalm 142 was written by David while hiding in a cave, fearful for his life and alone, “when my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way... listen to my cry... rescue me... set me free…"

I don’t know why the cow was on its own, but I do know that God sees her, just as he sees you and I, wherever and whatever our circumstances.

Lesley Smith, Longhorsley Mission

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