On behalf of the of the Benefice, we would like to welcome you to our three parishes, each

with a significant Church building and a different approach to worship. 

At St Laurence, Winslow, our worship is a lively mixture of the choral, liturgical and

sacramental. We have a large and genuine all-age choir spanning an age range of 78 years!

St Laurence is a member of the Royal Society of Church Music.

St James, Great Horwood, offers a breadth of services celebrating Holy Communion twice

a month at the 11 o'clock service and a more informal service of the Word on the second

and fourth Sundays. Music in Great Horwood includes both the traditional and contemporary.

St Mary's, Addington, are supported in their traditional prayer book style worship by a small

choir from Winslow.  

A range of liturgies has been developed for use across the Benefice and these include

alternative ways of celebrating established patterns of worship such as 'Pimms and Hymns'

and a Eucharist set to nursery rhymes and well-known folk tunes as well as more traditional

services such as Sung Complines and Prime. 

All of the parishes in the Benefice share a common set of aspirations : Hospitality, Healing

and Holiness. All are welcome.  Please click on 'Calendar' in the top menu for exact times

of services. Each individual church has its own web pages, click on the name of the church

in the menu to be taken there.

Finally, we now have a weekly Benefice newsletter which carries our latest announcements

and news.  Please click here to view the latest issue.

Rev'd Andrew Lightbown

CORONAVIRUS: 

I thought I would write again regarding the pattern of worship across the benefice which started on

5th July. Before I provide some details of what to expect, I would like to express my thanks to all who

have made online worship possible over the last few months: Mark and Didier for leading worship, Derry

for the music and of course Emma for all of the over and above duty hours she has put in. Your support,

encouragement and challenge are deeply appreciated.

We are now entering into a new phase where we will be offering both online and physical worship. The

online service will be recorded Thursday evenings and issued, as a premiere, at 9.30 on Sunday

mornings. If you are still shielding or are nervous about attending church in person, this might remain

the best option for you. 

In order to view the service please click on the following link

 https://www.facebook.com/StLaurenceChurchWinslow/videos/

As you know, we are, broadly speaking, adopting the pre-lockdown pattern of

benefice worship, but sadly won't be able to provide services at Addington in the short term. The only

significant difference is that we will also be providing an additional service at 6pm in Winslow. Except

for the 8am Book of Common Prayer services at Winslow, there will be recorded music at every service;

thank you to Charlotte and Janthea in Great Horwood and Derry and the choir in Winslow. The 6pm

service will be a little shorter than the 9.30 and 11am services. I also need to thank the wardens, who

have been working incredibly hard to produce comprehensive risk assessments and have thought long

and hard about how we manage seating and flow. 

We are operating in a complex environment and inevitably we will all (clergy very much included) need

to make considerable compromises in our approach to worship. It would be pointless to try and explain

every aspect of how worship will work (we will on Sunday), but I thought I thought I would provide a

few pointers to manage expectations: 

- We do need to record the name and contact details of everyone who attends a service. Please do

consider arriving earlier than you normally would so this information can be collected.

- You will then be guided to a pew by a steward. It is important that you then remain in your pew.

- Please do not turn to speak to those in the pews in front or behind you. We will be using every

other pew to maintain 1 metre plus social distance. Please also try to keep touch to a minimum.

- We are asking that you remain seated for the entirety of the service (including for the Gospel, the

Creed and Eucharistic Prayer). The only time you stand should be when you come forward under

the guidance of a steward to receive communion, which will be made available in one kind only.

- Please do participate in the liturgy but at a normal speaking level of volume and from memory as

will not be distributing orders of service.

- We have placed a piece of marking tape on the floor, please do not move beyond this to receive

communion. 

- The priest will be wearing medical gloves and a protective visor for the distribution of the sacrament.

- No words will be exchanged. 

- The wafer will be gently dropped into your hand to avoid touch.

- There will be no collection during the service, but you will be able to give through a retiring

collection. If you don't currently give through a direct debit/standing order, can we encourage you to

consider doing so.

During the Eucharistic Prayer, including for the act of consecration, only the priest's wafer will be

uncovered. The ciborium, in which the consecrated bread is kept, will only be opened when the priest has

put on the medical gloves and visor.  At the end of the service, a steward will invite you to leave on a

pew-by-pew basis.

We have worked incredibly hard to make the worship, online and physical, as dignified and vibrant as we

can. We are all looking forward to a return to normal and we will get there in time. Please, in the

meantime, take heart that whenever and wherever we say, 'The Lord is here,' he genuinely, always, in all

times and in all places, is, by his 'Spirit is with us.' We look forward to continuing to hear from you and

see you on Sundays, either in person or online.

In Christ, Andrew

SAFEGUARDING: WHAT TO DO IF YOU'RE CONCERNED ABOUT SOMEONE

               Seek advice from our Benefice Safeguarding Officer :

                                          Chris Ryalls

                                This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

                   or visit oxford.anglican.org/safeguarding

This Benefice has adopted the Church of England's Safeguarding Policy as our local policy.