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.

Rev'd Andrew Lightbown

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE 1ST MARCH 2021

Worship

As you will be aware, the decision was made just after Christmas to close Winslow and Great Horwood

for public worship. Although we were legally allowed to remain open, we were asked by Public

Health Buckinghamshire and encouraged by the Diocese to shut. 

With many of our congregation now having received their first injection, and some their second, we are

planning to reopen for public worship on Palm Sunday, 28 March. We are pleased that this year we will

be able to celebrate Holy Week in St James, Great Horwood, and St Laurence, Winslow (please refer to

the weekly newsletter for details). Sadly, we do not yet feel able to reopen St Mary's, Addington, for public

worship.  We will continue to offer online worship alongside physical, in-church worship, and this will

include services for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Day. It will take some time for worship

to return to its pre-lockdown norms, but we hope and pray that by the end of June, things will look and

feel more normal. 

We have been living through difficult and challenging times, and I know that some feel that we should

have kept the churches open for public worship, whilst others might think that we are being too quick

to reopen, so can I finish by offering some words of wisdom from St Paul:

'Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you,' 

(Ephesians 4.32)

If we can keep these three virtues - kindness, tenderness, forgiveness - as our guiding principles, 

then we will not only be an open church, but a healthy and attractive church.

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.