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
December 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
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Date |
Place |
Time |
Service type |
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1 December Advent Sunday |
Bratton Fleming East Down Loxhore Shirwell |
09.30 11.15 15.00 16.00 |
Holy Communion Holy Communion Evening Prayer Christingle Service
|
|
8 December |
Bratton Fleming Shirwell Challacombe |
09.30 09.30 11.15 |
All Age Worship Holy Communion Holy Communion |
|
13 December |
Bratton Fleming |
14.00 |
School Christmas Service |
|
15 December |
Bratton Fleming Kentisbury Arlington Shirwell |
09.30 09.30 15.00 18.30 |
Holy Communion M Holy Communion Carol Service Carol Service |
|
18 December |
Kentisbury |
10.30 |
School Nativity |
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20 December |
Shirwell |
10.00 |
School Christmas Service |
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21 December |
Bratton Fleming |
19.00 |
United Village Carol Service |
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22 December |
Bratton Fleming Shirwell Challacombe Stoke Rivers Kentisbury Loxhore Methodist Chapel |
09.30 09.30 15.00 16.30 18.00 18.30 |
Quiet Christmas Service Holy Communion Carol Service Carol Service Carol Service United Village Carol Service |
|
24 December Christmas Eve |
Bratton Fleming Challacombe Bratton Fleming |
16.00 20.00 23.30 |
Unrehearsed Nativity Holy Communion Midnight Communion |
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25 December Christmas Day |
Loxhore Shirwell Bratton Fleming |
08.00 09.30 10.00 |
Holy Communion Family Communion Family Communion |
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29 December |
Bratton Fleming |
11.00 |
Team Service |
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Rector’s Ramblings
Did any of you want or expect a Christmas election? Was it on your wish list for Santa? I can’t imagine so. As well as Christmas cards through our door, we’ll have party political literature, and a doorbell might signal carol singers – or our local candidates. Our politics remains uncertain for a time to come.
But it is a reminder that Jesus himself was born at a deeply perilous time. His birth story is surrounded by the politics of his time, with a Roman occupation, a census for tax, a murderous King, persecution and migration, the holy family fleeing for their lives to Egypt to live as refugees.
Much as we love to ‘tidy up’ the nativity story - with a baby who never cries – the fact is that Jesus came to us in all our uncertainty and chaos, in our hurt and pain, in the poverty surrounding a family in a stable, in the disgrace and danger at that time of a pregnancy before marriage. This, for me, is the miracle of Christmas and lies at the heart of our faith; a God who does not care about getting dirty feet in order to be with us and to love us. We celebrate a God who not only looks out for the poor and vulnerable but made himself poor and vulnerable and one of us.
This is not a God who kisses babies while trying to keep them at arm’s length as our politicians are seen to do – but a God who becomes a baby and lives our life with us. This is a God who does not hide truth from us but becomes truth for us.
The vote we cast this Christmas is a gift and a privilege which so many around the world do not have. It is a gift we must treasure, and respect. Let’s use it not just for ourselves but for our communities, as we seek a world which looks out for each other and especially those with least say or power. And while you are there, with a thank you (and maybe a mince pie) for those who work or volunteer at the polling station.
In an uncertain world – may you be blessed this Christmas, and as you make your choice and use your vote, be a blessing to others.
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/