Weekly News

 Sunday Next before Lent

Almighty Father, whose Son was revealed in majesty before he suffered death upon the cross: give us grace to perceive his glory, that we may be strengthened to suffer with him and be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen

News and Notices!

The Spring edition of the Parish Newsletter may be accessed here:  Please click here for your digital edition!! 

Notes from the Vicar

A Quick Look Back

New Area Dean and Associate Area Deans

On Wednesday, David Carter and I went to St Mary’s Amersham to witness the licensing of the New Area Dean, Revd Jonny Rapson who is Vicar of Amersham with Coleshill. Alongside him were Revd Christoph Lindner of Denham and Revd Lucy Fyfe-Jamison of Beaconsfield who were licensed as Associate Area Deans.

It was a lovely service with the Bishop of Buckingham, the Right Reverend Dave Bull, preaching on the Philippians 2 hymn of Christ’s servant like emptying of himself as a model and example to all of us of ministering to one another and the communities in which we live.

The new Area Dean and Associates were anointed by Bishop Dave and then split north, east, south and west around the Church and all who wished to be anointed and prayed for were able to do so.

They then prayed for all the Churches of the Amersham Deanery and as it happens we were the final Benefice on the list and I thought I would share this prayer with you all.

We pray for Holy Trinity and St Margaret’s,
especially for their fledgling Youth Group.
Build deep roots in young lives.
Give energy to those who lead,
and openness to those invited.

May new people come, belong, and find their home in Christ.

And in all our parishes, Lord,
make us less anxious about survival
and more urgent about mission;
less protective of comfort
and more surrendered to your Spirit.

Commission us afresh today,
not simply to maintain churches,
but to make disciples.

So that ultimately, we may be more like Christ as we follow him.          Amen

I invite you to reread this prayer. Be encouraged that we are being prayed for by others, and let us also make this prayer our own as we seek God here in Penn and Tylers Green.

Looking Ahead

Youth Group

The next Youth Club will be on Sunday February 22nd, 5pm-7pm.

Please do be praying for the young people in our area as we advertise more widely to invite people along.  We have held two sessions so far and it has been going well!

Praying Together

If you ever feel you’re not sure you have the ‘right words’ for prayer then please do come along on a Wednesday at 1:30pm for thirty minutes, to sit, breath deeply, absorb the silence and listen.   God doesn’t need your words he wants your attention.

Each week we shall gather in the Lady Chapel at Holy Trinity to bring our hearts before God and to pray in silence for the things in our lives which our on our hearts, as well as to focus on those who are on our prayer lists and in our Churches and Communities.

Pancakes  

Tuesday  17 February in the Sanctuary between 5pm and 7pm; soft drinks, teas and coffee also available.  Our experienced team of flippers will be in action; save yourself the trouble of making your own and come and enjoy pancakes in company of others!

Ash Wednesday

Wednesday 18 February  7.30pm at Holy Trinity: Holy Communion with Ashing Service

Lent Groups

This year we’re going to be offering two Lent+ Groups following along with David Ford’s book “Meeting God in John”.

“Lent plus?” I hear you ask. David Ford writes:

“Every attempt I made to do justice to John in five sessions suitable for the usual Lent Group pattern resulted in failure. Partly, this is because John, as I read it, is a carefully crafted Gospel that, like the tunic of Jesus, is ‘seamless, woven in one piece’ (John 19:23) and needs to be understood as a whole, in line with its stated purpose of enabling readers to come to trust who Jesus is and then let that relationship shape their lives (20:30-31)… Squeezing this all into Lent seemed impossible. … [The solution was] obvious: of course, I should make it a “Lent Plus” book.”

We’ll have five sessions through Lent, a special one in Holy Week and then a week or so after Easter have an additional “Plus” session to reflect on Easter and the resurrection. The first session will be on Monday 23 February in the North Room at Holy Trinity at 7pm and its subject is: “the Big Picture”.  Alternatively this session will also be held on Wednesday 25 February in the Sanctuary at 2pm    If possible, please let me know if you would like to come but otherwise we shall be delighted if you join us for one or more of the sessions.

If you’re interested please do let me know.

Buying a copy of the book is entirely optional but if you’d like to do so to follow along (and revisit during the weeks) then you’d be more than welcome to do so. For the Church Times review of the Book Click Here

A prayer for new people to join us

Our next Invitation Sunday will be Sunday 22nd February for the first Sunday of Lent.

Let’s be praying for new people to join us and thinking who we might invite to come with us.

Lord God,
We thank you for sending your Son to be the Good Shepherd of the Sheep.
We pray for those sheep who are not yet part of your flock,
who for so many different reasons are wandering elsewhere.
We pray for them that they might hear your voice
and be brought into the fold
to encounter your love, your forgiveness of their sins,
and the hope of eternal life.
Be with us and give us courage,
to reach out and invite them to join us;
in the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.

Prayer Lists

Anne Griffiths of Holy Trinity is now maintaining our prayer list for us.

Please email her on prayer@holytrinityandstmargarets.co.uk and include ‘prayer list’ in the subject line.

Names can be kept anonymous, if desired. Please provide a short summary of what the intention is for, though the email list will only list the names.

Please remember in your prayers:

Amanda R
Bob V
Chris and his family
Emily and her family
Graham Lang, undergoing treatment and his family
Philip Cooper
Sheila Cossons

The Youth Club
The Sanctuary Cafe

A Note from the Vicar

On Thursday I was at the youth work planning course called Launchpad that I’d mentioned before and each week we have been asked an icebreaker question.

The question this time was:

What advice would you give to your teenage self?

I ended up answering:

“This too is a part of faith.”

By that I mean that during the various struggles I had when I was a teenager I often felt that they were a sign that my faith wasn’t strong enough. That somehow I had “let God down”. Yet in truth looking back on my life I can see (now) where God was in those moments. I don’t know that I would change much of my story because my story is a testimony of God’s goodness to me in those moments, but if I could have given my teenage self some advice it would be that rather than those moments being a sign of failure they were a chapter in my pilgrimage through the storms of life as a Christian in a world which is marred and broken by sin.

Whatever our struggles, whether with health, finances, grief, anxieties or quandries:

“This too is a part of faith”.

Or, as someone far wiser than I once said:

“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”
– Julian of Norwich

I wonder, what advice would you give your younger self?

With Every Blessing,
Revd Samuel S. Thorp

SAFEGUARDING: There are safeguarding officers attached to both churches. Contact details can be found in the porches.