Benefice of Goring and Streatley with South Stoke : Sunday 21st September 2025

Sunday 21st September Trinity 14

Welcome to our weekly newsletter

Pray for everyone, especially those in power.
And remember we all have a lot of power and have a huge effect on those around us and far away.
Fairtrade fortnight begins on Monday and leads up to our harvest celebrations.

The Collect, the prayer for the week
Almighty God,
whose only Son has opened for us
a new and living way into your presence:
give us pure hearts and steadfast wills
to worship you in spirit and in truth;
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.

Readings for this Sunday: 1 Tim. 2: 1-7, Psalm 113 and Luke 16: 1-15.

This Sunday
8:00am BCP Holy Communion at St Thomas’
9:30am Good News service (with children’s activities) at St Thomas’
11.15am BCP Holy Communion at St Mary’s
11:15am Good News service at St Andrew’s
3:00pm Bereavement café in the Canterbury Room

It was a joy to see the Poulsons last week. They return for an afternoon tea and to show us a bit more of their work in Honduras:
Wednesday 1st October at 3.30pm in the Canterbury Room.
Please let the office know if you hope to attend to help those planning the refreshments.

Heal the Gap Bereavement Café
Our Bereavement Cafe has its next session this Sunday, September 21st, at 3pm in the Canterbury Room.

The aims of this group are to demystify the topic of grief and remove its status as a taboo subject and to equip everyone with the self-assurance necessary to engage in a meaningful conversation with those grappling with loss, focusing primarily on active listening.

The sessions are managed by trained group bereavement facilitators. The group is open to anyone, regardless of how long ago your loss occurred, and you will be welcome whether or not you have been before.
We hope to offer some friendship, advice and hope as well as tea, coffee and refreshments. We look forward to seeing you there. Melissa

Bring and Share Lunch

Following the 11:15am Harvest Service at St Mary's on 5th October, there will be a Bring and Share Lunch in the Morrell Room.
Please sign up on the list at the back of St. Mary's if you wish to attend and let us know what you will be bringing.

Any finger food or main course (particularly including salads) or
dessert dish would be welcome.
We can warm up specific dishes beforehand; please stipulate on the list.
Most importantly, do ensure that your neighbours and friends know about
this event…
Please contact me if you have any questions. Very many thanks. John

Wanted: treasurers…
Are you competent at keeping a spreadsheet up to date? If so you may be able to help. Following the death of Andrew Taylor and with the treasurer of South Stoke unable to continue, we are in great need of some help.
Please do speak to Ben or Jill or a churchwarden or to Don to know more.
Thank you.

Well done to Henry and JoA and Jo B

Jo A reports "All seasons in a day! Sun, summer showers, thunder and torrential rain!

I spied several names of folk from Goring on the sheets as I signed in at various churches but overall I think numbers were down a bit on last year. It was terrific fun though and it is always lovely to visit other churches and talk to members of their congregations. Some places were very busy; in others the volunteers spoke of happy memories of bygone times but falling numbers, fewer volunteers and an all too common need for costly repairs. Such a mix in the space of 20 miles!"

Henry writes "It was an enjoyable day! Many welcoming folk and much activity in some churches, quiet and even closed (Newington) at others, but a wonderful variety in all.
You could see the impact of OHCT in action at St Mary's Crowmarsh where they are in the middle of installing an accessible toilet and a servery with help from a grant from OHCT....
I visited 28 churches and (mainly) dodged the showers, once by drinking tea in the Wild Pig Farm Shop at Stadhampton as a torrential shower blew over.... "

It is not too late to sponsor them (please click here for Henry's GoodHub page and here for Jo A and Jo B's.) Their total stands at £761... so far.
Thank you to all who supported them and welcomed at our churches.

Thanks for piano recital
at St Thomas’
Many thanks to local pianists Geoff Brown and Mary Daniels for the super piano recital last Saturday. Thank you also to those attending who donated so generously, resulting in over £300 being raised towards church expenses.

Review of Piano Recital
at St Mary’s
The following day Russell and Trudi played a wonderful and uplifting selection of piano duets for their audience in St Mary’s. A full review and details of the next concert in St Mary’s can be found by clicking here.

Come and Sing Workshop
In celebration of John Rutter’s 80th birthday (24th September), the following weekend on Sunday 28th September we are holding a singing workshop at 2pm (registration 1:45pm) at St Thomas’.

During the afternoon, we will sing through several of Rutter’s most well-loved anthems and carols. There will be time for a cup of tea and light refreshments before a short concert at 4:30pm.

Tickets for the choir workshop cost £10, (the concert will be free but donations towards our music outreach would be welcomed). More information about the workshop and details of how to register are available on the church website by clicking here.

Oxford Welsh Male Voice Choir, Saturday October 11th at 7:00pm

St Thomas’ is delighted once again to welcome the Oxford Welsh Male Voice Choir to Goring to entertain us with their wonderful and uplifting singing. They will be singing their mix of traditional and more recent songs and

featuring their own – local! – soloists. Tickets cost £20 and include refreshments (wine or soft drink) in the interval. Any surplus from the concert will go towards church funds.
Tickets are available online by clicking here or from the Inspirations shop in Goring Arcade. There is more information available here: http://www.oxfordwelshmvc.org.uk

This week we are asked to pray:

For this week’s meeting about Treasurers.
The Genesis (year 6, after school) group, now underway.
For our care of the land, discerning ways to protect and improve it for future generations as well as now.
For trade justice.
For our parish councillors and all who serve us.
For the vulnerable and poor in our community and across the world.
For humanity, medicine, food and aid to reach the people in Gaza.

Diary for the week

Tuesday 23rd September
10:30am           Digging Deeper in the Canterbury Room

Wednesday 24th September
10:30am            Little Lights at St Mary’s
10:30am            Coffee morning at St Andrew’s
10:30am            BCP Holy Communion at St Thomas’
The readings will be Ezra 9. 5-9, Ps. 103. 1-6 and Luke 9: 1-6
2:30pm               Memorial service for Rory Phipps at St Andrew’s

Sunday 28th September
8:00am              BCP Holy 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
1:45pm Come and Sing Rutter Workshop choir registration
4:30pm Short concert of Rutter anthems (Free)
5:00pm Discoverers in the Canterbury Room

Prayers for the week based on Roots on the web
Lord Jesus, we are here today, thanking you for the privilege of being in your presence.
O Lord, hear our prayer
And help us as we serve you.

We pray for our troubled world.
Especially the city of Gaza
where the situation is so dreadful.
So much destruction, so many casualties of war.
We pray for the safety and protection of all human life.
We pray for those who live in fear
of the harm others can do them.
For those in fear of their lives.
O Lord, hear our prayer
And help us as we serve you.

We pray for situations where life isn’t valued as sacred.
Where the taking of life unlawfully causes so much heartbreak.
We pray for those who have just found life too much,
and not been able to cope any longer.
For the families they leave behind.
O Lord, hear our prayer
And help us as we serve you.

We thank you for our royal family, and prime minister
especially during this time of
cementing relationships with America.
We pray for all powerful people,
that they might have good advisors around them,
helping to keep them rooted
for the good of the real world.
O Lord, hear our prayer
And help us as we serve you.

We pray for a world where people are often
intolerant of each other’s views,
and struggle to live together in harmony.
We pray for civic leaders,
faith communities and individuals,
that they will be courageous advocates
for truth, justice and peace.
O Lord, hear our prayer
And help us as we serve you.

We pray for the church worldwide.
For those who lead, and those who serve.
May we all try to be real in serving you.
We pray for people of other beliefs,
as they too seek to live godly and constructive lives.
O Lord, hear our prayer
And help us as we serve you.

We pray for our government
as they make financial decisions that may affect everyone.
We pray for those who have little money,
and struggle to make ends meet.
For those who feel exploited.
For those who don’t have proper work contracts.
Or can’t even get a job.
We pray for those who perhaps have too much,
that they may use their resources wisely.
Help us all to be generous with our time and money.
O Lord, hear our prayer
And help us as we serve you.

We pray for people trying to live holy lives
when society lives by different rules.
We pray for your blessing on each one of us gathered here.
That we will represent you
fully and faithfully in our daily lives.
May we all be instrumental
in making your world a better place.
O Lord, hear our prayer
And help us as we serve you.

Forth in thy name, O Lord, I go
My daily labour to pursue,
Thee, only thee, resolved to know
In all I think, or speak, or do. (Charles Wesley 1707–1788)
Remind us, O Lord, to pray continuously for the real world in which we live. And to be ready to be part of your answer.
Amen.

Daily readings for the week beginning 22nd September

Monday am:	Ps 49	1 Kings 19. 15-end	1 Tim. 3. 14-end	pm: Ps 119.33-40, 89-96	Matt. 19. 16-end
Tuesday am:	Ps 5	1 Chron. 13	Mark 10. 1-16	pm: Ps 9	Acts 13.44-14.7
Wednesday am:	Ps 119. 1-32	1 Chron. 15.1-16.3	Mark 10. 17-31	pm: Ps 11	Acts 14.8-end
Thursday am:	Ps 15	1 Chron. 17	Mark 10. 32-34	pm: Ps 18	Acts 15. 1-21
Friday am:	Ps 19	1 Chron. 21.1-22.1	Mark 10. 35-45	pm: Ps 22	Acts 15. 22-35
Saturday am:	Ps 23	1 Chron. 22.2-end	Mark 10. 46-end	pm: Ps 24	Acts 15.36-16.5

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