Welcome
The Shirwell Mission Community comprises eight Churches in seven rural parishes in North Devon:
Bratton Fleming; Challacombe; East Down & Arlington; Kentisbury; Loxhore; Shirwell and Stoke Rivers.
The Mission Community
Services during August 2019
The Mission Community lies within the Shirwell Deanery and covers an area of just under 50 square miles with a population of approximately 2600.
The parishes extend north east of Barnstaple to the Exmoor National Park and the Somerset border.
The Rector is Revd Rosie Austin, who lookes after the seven parishes. She is assisted by a curate Revd Martyn Tyrrell, two retired clergymen, Rev Chris Tull from Challacombe and Rev Mike Miller from South Molton.
Rosie lives in Bratton Fleming, the largest of the parishes and placed centrally within the Mission Community.
Martyn lives in Shirwell, the second largest parish.
All enquiries for weddings, funerals and baptisms should be made to Rev Rosie Austin:
Telephone 01598 711962
Email: rosieaustin@live.co.uk
|
Date |
Place |
Time |
Service type |
Readings |
|
4thAugust Trinity 7 (P13) Green |
Bratton Fleming |
9.30 |
Holy Communion |
Colossians 3:1-11 Luke 12:13-21 |
|
Shirwell |
9.30 |
Morning Worship |
||
|
East Down |
11.15 |
Holy Communion |
||
|
Loxhore |
3pm |
Evening Prayer BCP |
||
|
11thAugust Trinity 8 (P14) Green |
Bratton Fleming |
9.30 |
All Age Worship |
Hebrews 11:1-3,8-16 Luke 12:32-40 |
|
Shirwell |
9.30 |
Holy Communion |
||
|
Challacombe |
11.15 |
Holy Communion |
||
|
18thAugust Trinity 9 (P15) Green |
Bratton Fleming |
9.30 |
Methodist HC |
Isaiah 5:1-7 Luke 12:49-56 |
|
Shirwell |
9.30 |
All Praise (Celtic liturgy) |
||
|
Kentisbury |
9.30 |
Holy Communion |
||
|
ARLINGTON |
11.30 |
Informal summer service |
||
|
Loxhore |
11.15 |
Holy Communion BCP |
||
|
25thAugust Trinity 10 (P16) Green |
Bratton Fleming |
9.30 |
All Praise (Celtic liturgy) |
Acts 5:12-16 Luke 22:24-30 |
|
Shirwell |
9.30 |
Holy Communion |
||
|
Challacombe |
6.30pm |
Evening Prayer BCP |
The Rector's Ramblings . . .
At Kentisbury in July, the church hosted a wonderful flower festival – with the theme of ‘Our Changing World’. It was wonderful to see how different people interpreted that theme through their displays. Thank you to all who supported and participated in that.
Change, in many of those displays, was celebrated. We see progress in travel, in how we light our houses, in medicine, education, shopping, women’s rights, etc.
But we sometimes need to recognise that change can be feared. Sometimes we express a discomfort with change by harking back to the comfort of the past... getting nostalgic, forgetting the difficult things and only remembering the good.
Change can be a challenge, and not always comfortable. The Bible reassures us that, in the changes that we find ourselves facing – God remains the same. I find comfort in verses such as:
PSALM
90:1: “Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout
all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
or
you brought forth the whole world,
from
everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
We can rely on God’s unchanging love for us in our changing world. The ground remains firm beneath our feet.
But yet, faith often also takes us on a journey. Life does not and cannot remain still, and our faith needs to move too. It’s the story of the people of Israel, travelling for forty years on a journey which could have been done in months, perhaps because it is as they travel God is revealed to them. Jesus rarely stays still in the gospels; he asks the disciples to travel with him and he challenges people to question and think in new ways. The apostle Paul travels throughout the Mediterranean, called to journey across borders and preach God’s love for all people (not just people like us).
I have often found my own faith strengthened by change and by difficult circumstances where I am encouraged to question, seeking God’s lead for a way forward.
Some of our congregations are beginning to think about what we might do to become ‘eco-churches’. Not because it sounds quite cool... but because this is the challenge that lies before all of us as ‘stewards’ of God’s creation (Genesis 1). We recognise the change that is threatening the most vulnerable communities, as well as our own. And we want to show God’s love by responding to this – even in small changes that we can make.
God may stay the same – but he calls us on a journey of change. This, if you like, is the big story of the Bible. A people called to follow, not to stay still.
Blessings,
Rosie
Safeguarding
If you have a concern about the safety of someone or the actions of someone working with children or vulnerable adults, please speak to someone:
The link to the Diocesan Safeguarding Team’s contact details - https://exeter.anglican.org/resources/safeguarding/safeguarding-team/