Weekly Notices

[ See here for Notice archives ].

Sunday 16th and 23rd August Trinity 11 & 12

Welcome to our newsletter for the next two weeks

Please continue to pray for rain, for all creatures and the farmers in their labour to provide food for us. And that we learn how to live more simply, using no further fossil fuel or energy to meet our daily bread.
But may we also be people of hope, trust and joy in God’s all sufficient providing of our true eternal needs.

In the next two weeks we hear of Joseph’s costly reconciliation with his brothers, and then will lead into the Moses story.

Collect for 16th August
O God, you declare your almighty power
most chiefly in showing mercy and pity:
mercifully grant to us such a measure of your grace,
that we, running the way of your commandments,
may receive your gracious promises,
and be made partakers of your heavenly treasure;
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.

Collect for 23rd August
Almighty and everlasting God,
you are always more ready to hear than we to pray
and to give more than either we desire or deserve:
pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid
and giving us those good things
which we are not worthy to ask
but through the merits and mediation
of 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.

Readings for 16th August: Gen. 45: 1-15, Ps. 133 and Matt. 15: 21-28.
Good News services. Gospel reading: Matt. 18: 21-22.

Readings for 23rd August: Exod. 1.8 -2.10, Ps. 124 and Matt. 16: 13-20.

This Sunday:
8:00am      BCP Holy Communion at St Thomas’
9:30am      Good News service at St Thomas’
11:15am    BCP Holy Communion at St Mary’s
11:15am Good News service at St Andrew’s

Next Sunday, 23rd August:
8:00am      BCP Ante-Communion at St Mary’s
9:30am      Holy Communion at St Thomas’
11:15am    Mattins at St Mary’s
11:15am Holy Communion at St Andrew’s

Prayer Breakfast, Saturday, 22nd August

Please come and pray for fellowship and prayer for our plans and the life of our churches. This will take place in the Canterbury Room at St Thomas’. Enjoy coffee and croissant breakfast together at 8:15am, followed by a thought for the day and prayer.
Finished by 9.30am.

Ante-communion. At the 8am service on the 23rd August Jane will lead, following the first part of the BCP order up until the prayer of consecration, and bless the congregation on their way. (No priests are available.)

Songs of Praise service, Sunday 30th August at 10.30am

Last chance to have your say and choice... Please contact Liz or Jane who are planning this. All welcome to join together in songs of praise at St Andrew’s for our benefice service that day. The organist and choirs from Streatley and Goring will be there to help raise the roof.

Pick-a-Flick, Thursday 20th August, 10:30am

The postponed July screening of the film, “Calendar Girls” will take place on the third Thursday of this month instead. As usual, there will be coffee before the film and a light lunch afterwards and we ask for a contribution of £5 towards this.
Pre-booking is required so please contact Sarah via the church office to book in and to ask for transport if needed.

South Stoke Anniversary coffee morning
The monthly coffee morning with cakes will take place in St Andrew’s on Wednesday 26th August from 10:30am.
All welcome!

August Bank Holiday Teas at St Mary's

As usual, St Mary's will be serving teas outside the Church on 31st August from 2pm until 5pm.

Lydia Davies has kindly agreed to play an eclectic selection of light music on the piano for us inside the Church from 2:45pm-3:30pm.

If you are able to help serve tea for an hour, and/or to make cakes, please let John, the church warden, know by contacting the church office (875651) , as he is acting as co-ordinator.

South Stoke’s annual Open Gardens event will also take place on 31st August from 1pm to 5pm (last ticket sales at 3:30pm). There will be tea and cake in the village hall, you can visit the Lime Tree Alpacas and the class of 2026 and the Community Gardens.

Mid week prayer together. worship, listen to the Bible and pray for our world and church members in turn.
Morning Prayer: Monday: 8.30am, Goring
Tuesday and Thursday: 8.30am Streatley. Friday: 9am Goring.
Evening Prayer is said on Wednesday afternoons in St Andrew’s at 5pm.

This week we are asked to pray for:

Restraint in ordering air conditioning units, but effort in thinking how else we respond and change our ways and schedules, as we face what the climate is doing because of our and our recent predecessors’ actions.
Fruitful rain this week.
Joy in our real treasure and identity in God.
The legal justice system and our collective dealing with criminals and support of victims of crime. For our Prime Minister and all planning public services.
Our Prime Minister and all of us working on budgets, but also that which is available in and to us all by God’s Spirit, but is not money.

Diary for the next two weeks

Monday 17th August
11:30am    Funeral of Celia Eaststaff at St Thomas’

Tuesday 18th August
10:30am    Nicene Creed study group in the Canterbury Room

Wednesday 19th August
10:30am    BCP Holy Communion at St Thomas’
The readings will be Eze. 34: 1-11, Psalm 23 and Matt. 20: 1-16.

Saturday 22nd August
8:15am      Prayer breakfast in the Canterbury Room

Sunday 23rd August
8:00am      BCP Ante-Communion at St Mary’s
9:30am      Holy Communion at St Thomas’
11:15am    Mattins at St Mary’s
11:15am Holy Communion at St Andrew’s

Wednesday 26th August
10:30am    Anniversary coffee morning at St Andrew’s
10:30am    BCP Holy Communion at St Thomas’
The readings will be 2 Thess. 3: 6-10, 16-end, Ps. 128 and Matt. 23: 27-32.

Thursday 27th August
2:00pm        Funeral of Chris Houston at St Thomas’

Sunday 30th August
8:00am      BCP Holy Communion at St Thomas’
10:30am Benefice Songs of Praise service at St Andrew’s

Monday 31st August
1:00pm      Open Gardens in South Stoke
2:00pm      Afternoon teas and music at St Mary’s

Wednesday 2nd September
2:30pm      Funeral of David Beddall at St Thomas’

Prayers for the week from Roots on the web
God of peace,
we pray from the heart for those impacted so terribly by violence and conflict...
those places that make the headlines and those that are forgotten...
remembering especially children traumatised by all they have seen and all they have lost.
We pray for those who are displaced because of civil war
and we remember especially the people of Sudan in their desperation and their suffering...
The news reports numbers but you Lord know each person's name and the hopes of their hearts.
Loving God, hear our prayer.

God of all creation,
we pray from the heart for those impacted by severe weather and ongoing drought...
for the people of China and Colombia, for those across Europe and Canada whose lives have been devastated by wildfires, for farmers in this country and the firefighters risking their lives day after day...
Loving God, hear our prayer.

God of the young and the old,
we pray from the heart for those waiting for, or with, exam results,
for those who will be delighted and are confident about their next steps
and those who will be devastated and feel lost...
We pray for all young people struggling to find their place in the world...
And we pray for those who feel their life is slipping away...
for those who are forgotten now they are older,
for those who have lost their independence...
and for those struggling to come to terms with diminishing mobility and declining health...
Loving God, hear our prayer.

We pray from the heart for families that are estranged,
for those whose families have been torn apart by violence, deceit or betrayal...
for those who have family members struggling with addiction...
and or those struggling with debt...
We pray for those who have had someone close to them go missing,
for those who hope for news day after day...
and for those who, for whatever reason, have found themselves alone and in crisis...
Loving God, hear our prayer.

Finally we pray from the heart for our own families, our friends and all those we worship alongside and pray with and for...
We pray for our companion animals and the natural world that enriches and inspires us...
We pray for those who guide and shape our daily lives...
and for those with the responsibility of shaping the life of our church, and our nation...
We pray for those we encounter in shops and in our local communities...
and for those who have no-one to pray for them by name.
Loving God, hear our prayer.

and may the hearts of all we have prayed for be touched by
joy, hope and courage
in Jesus' name, Amen.

Daily readings for the week beginning 17th August

Monday am:	Ps 80	2 Sam. 3: 12-end	Acts ch 6	pm: Ps 85	Mark 5: 1-20
Tuesday am:	Ps 89: 1-18	2 Sam. 5: 1-12	Acts 7: 1-16	pm: Ps 89: 19-end	Mark 5: 21-34
Wednesday am:	Ps 119: 105-128	2 Sam. 6: 1-19	Acts 7: 17-43	pm: Ps 91	Mark 5: 35-end
Thursday am:	Ps 92	2 Sam. 7: 1-17	Acts 7: 44-53	pm: Ps 94	Mark 6: 1-13
Friday am:	Ps 88	2 Sam. 7: 18-end	Acts 7.54-8.3	pm: Ps 102	Mark 6: 14-29
Saturday am:	Ps 97	2 Sam. ch 9	Acts 8: 4-25	pm: Ps 104	Mark 6: 30-44

Daily readings for the week beginning 24th August

Monday am:	Ps 86	Gen. 28: 10-17	John 1: 43-end	pm: Ps 91	Matt. 10: 1-22
Tuesday am:	Ps 106	2 Sam. 12: 1-25	Acts 9: 1-19a	pm: Ps 107	Mark 7: 1-13
Wednesday am:	Ps 111	2 Sam. 15: 1-12	Acts 9: 19b-31	pm: Ps 119: 129-152	Mark 7: 14-23
Thursday am:	Ps 115	2 Sam. 15: 13-end	Acts 9: 32-end	pm: Ps 116	Mark 7: 24-30
Friday am:	Ps 139	2 Sam. 16: 1-14	Acts 10: 1-16	pm: Ps 130	Mark 7: 31-end
Saturday am:	Ps 121	2 Sam. 17: 1-23	Acts 10: 17-33	pm: Ps 118	Mark 8: 1-10

Please send any notices or articles for the next news sheet by noon on Thursdays to vicarofgsandss@yahoo.com.

The Benefice of Goring and Streatley with South Stoke

The Vicarage

Manor Road

Goring, Berkshire RG8 9DR

United Kingdom

14/08/2026