Milborne Port churches

News and Information

This page includes various news items from the Benefice. Just click on any title bar to view the news item and download any associated document and, if there is an image, to click on it to see a larger version. Also please use the links on the right to select other news types including Pew News and Magazines.

Monday 3 February 2025

New Baby & Toddler Group

New Baby & Toddler Group
X New Baby & Toddler Group New Baby & Toddler Group

New Baby & Toddler Group –  hoping to start in May 2025.
In Church House from 9.30 - 11am.

Join us on Friday mornings for our brand-new Baby & Toddler Group, a welcoming space for little ones and their caregivers to connect and have fun.

We’re grateful for our wonderful volunteers, but we really need another one or two, so if you’d like to join the fun and get involved, please speak to Rev. Rona.

Refreshments available

Sunday 2 February 2025

Lent Course 2025

Lent Course 2025
X Lent Course 2025 Lent Course 2025

Starting Mon 10 March 2025 in Church House from 10-11am

A Lent group with a difference.  We will be using a course called ‘The Rest is Worship’.  Many of you will have heard of mindfulness or meditation, but I wonder if you knew that they are two different words for a way of quieting the mind which have ancient roots in Christianity and other religions as well?

Join us once a week for some quiet time. Lent begins on 5th March (Ash Wednesday). 

 

Friday 31 January 2025

Charity and Mission

Charity and Mission
X Charity and Mission Charity and Mission

During February 2025 St John's will be supporting ShelterBox. They help to provide emergency shelter and essentials to areas affected by conflict and disaster including Gaza.

Our sincere thanks to everyone who came to our Christmas services and generously donated to the loose collections. As a result we will be sending £265 each to Christian Aid and the homeless charity Arc.

 

Tuesday 28 January 2025

The Finances of the Church of England

The Finances of the Church of England
X The Finances of the Church of England The Finances of the Church of England

Save The Parish has just published Church of England financial data updated for 2023.  This is the most recent financial data that has become available through the annual publishing of accounts.

The accounts reveal a shocking imbalance between Parishes and ‘Head Office’. 

  • The Parishes have very few assets but, mainly thanks to parishioners’ generosity, they pull in a colossal annual income of £1bn.
  • The Parishes paid £315m (in 2023) to their Dioceses through the Parish Share scheme. The Dioceses spent £348m on parish ministry (also 2023) and £47m on clergy pension contributions, making £395m in total.
  • The difference between parish share ‘income’ and parish ministry expenditure (£315m-£395m) is £80m (2022 was similar at £84m).  Dividing that into the £574m Head Office investment income, it represents 14%. This tells us that only 14% of Head Office investment income goes directly to parishes; 86% goes elsewhere!
  • Moreover, large amounts of ‘diocese’ investment income come from glebe land, which was originally donated to parishes, but transferred to dioceses for administrative reasons in the 1970s.   So it should be managed by them to produce the best outcome for parishes.

Please see the Save The Parish website for more information.

Thursday 23 January 2025

A New way of Giving...

A New way of Giving...
X A New way of Giving... A New way of Giving...

St John’s Church now has a contactless “giving station”, which can  be used to make donations  to church funds by using a mobile device or credit/debit card. It is situated under the hymn board, next to the lectern.

In these days of people carrying less cash, it is hoped that it will encourage people to donate when visiting the church.

Wednesday 22 January 2025

New Baby & Toddler Group – Starting in May!

New Baby & Toddler Group – Starting in May!
X New Baby & Toddler Group – Starting in May! New Baby & Toddler Group – Starting in May!

Join us on Friday mornings for our brand-new Baby & Toddler Group, a welcoming space for little ones and their caregivers to connect and have fun. We’re grateful for our wonderful volunteers, but we really need another one or two, so if you’d like to join the fun and get involved, please speak to Rev Rona.

Tuesday 21 January 2025

Memory Lane – A Service for Those with Memory Impairment

Memory Lane – A Special Service for Those with Memory Impairment

Starting Saturday, 19th April at 4pm (and every third Saturday of the month) in Church House, we invite you to join us for "Memory Lane" – a gentle gathering of music, singing, short readings, and prayer for those living with Alzheimer’s, Dementia, or memory challenges, alongside their loved ones. Refreshments will be provided at both.

Thursday 9 January 2025

Epiphany Letter from the Archbishop of York

Epiphany Letter from the Archbishop of York
X Epiphany Letter from the Archbishop of York Epiphany Letter from the Archbishop of York

Mindful of the ongoing challenges facing the Church of England, I write to you, the clergy, lay ministers and people of the Church of England on this Feast of the Epiphany, trusting that with God’s guidance, we can look to the future with great hopefulness in Christ.

Saturday 4 January 2025

Epiphany House Blessing

Epiphany House Blessing
X Epiphany House Blessing Epiphany House Blessing

From 5th January onwards we can 'chalk our doors' with the traditional house blessing - 20+C+M+B+25

Usually, these symbols are chalked above the house door. This tradition has biblical roots going back to the story of Moses in the Bible when the Israelites were asked to put the blood of a lamb or goat on the doorposts and above the doors of the houses. 

What Do The Epiphany Symbols Mean?  
The Epiphany door blessing includes the initials of the traditional names for the 3 kings, plus the numbers from the current year. The first number “20″ is for the first 2 numbers of the year, and the last number “25” is for the last 2 numbers of the year. The 3 letters are the first initial of each of the kings (Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar), who, legend says, visited at this time. The “C, M, B also stands for the Latin blessing Christius Mansionem Benedicat which means “May Christ Bless this House”.

If you would like me to, I will chalk your lintel with those letters and numbers, and say a prayer of blessing. If you would prefer to do this yourself the prayer is below. 

Epiphany house blessing

God of Light, bless this home.
Make it a haven of rest
for all in need of your warmth and care.
And when we go out from this place,
may we never lose sight of the
Epiphany star.

May all who enter throughout the year find love and light; for Christ has come to dwell in this home and in these hearts. Amen

Rev. Rona 

Wednesday 1 January 2025

Church House 100 Club

Church House 100 Club
X Church House 100 Club Church House 100 Club

A few dates are still available. Pay £15 per year and get a chance to win a part of the £60 per month prizes! Funds go towards the upkeep of Church House.

Contact Jacquie Hall for more information on: 07740 862 823 or jacquie.hall@me.com.

 

Monday 30 December 2024

Benefice news

We are delighted to welcome the parishes of Compton Pauncefoot, Blackford and Maperton. They will be gradually joining us over the next few months, and we are really looking forward to working with them and having their fellowship and company.

Compton Pauncefoot, Blackford and Maperton ChurchesCompton Pauncefoot, Blackford and Maperton Churches

Monday 30 December 2024

Epiphany House Blessing.

From 5th January onwards we can 'chalk our doors' with the traditional house blessing - 20+C+M+B+25. Usually, these symbols are chalked above the house door. This tradition has biblical roots going back to the story of Moses in the Bible when the Israelites were asked to put the blood of a lamb or goat on the doorposts and above the doors of the houses.

If you would like me to, I will chalk your lintel with those letters and numbers and say a prayer of blessing. If you would prefer to do this yourself the prayer is below.

Epiphany house blessing

God of Light, bless this home.
Make it a haven of rest
for all in need of your warmth and care.
And when we go out from this place,
may we never lose sight of the Epiphany star.
May all who enter throughout the year find
love and light; for Christ has come to dwell in
this home and in these hearts. 
Amen

Monday 30 December 2024

Charity and Mission January 2025

Charity and Mission January 2025
X Charity and Mission January 2025 Charity and Mission January 2025

During January 2025 St John's will be supporting the Church Army. Founded in 1882, in association with the Church of England, they are an evangelical and mission community dedicated to showing God's love to all and especially the poor.

Their work is unconditional, tackling social deprivation through partnership and collaboration to help empower individuals and communities.

https://churcharmy.org

Wednesday 18 December 2024

Bringing Hope by Michael Beasley, Bishop of Bath and Wells

Bringing Hope by Michael Beasley, Bishop of Bath and Wells
X Bringing Hope by Michael Beasley, Bishop of Bath and Wells Bringing Hope by Michael Beasley, Bishop of Bath and Wells

"A leader” said Napoleon Bonaparte, “is a dealer in hope.” At the start of 2025, this is a tough challenge for leaders everywhere! Conflicts continue around the world. The climate emergency is ongoing. At the polls, voters in many countries express their dissatisfaction with the status quo. As we look around us, can hope mean anything more than mere wishful thinking? As we look on all the challenges that exist, have we anything more to say than “I hope that that somehow, somewhere, something will turn up”. 

More than ever, the Christian understanding of hope is what we need. Christian hope is broader, deeper, stronger altogether than any ‘wishful thinking’. In scripture, hope is not just a vague desire that something good in the future will somehow happen. Rather, the Biblical understanding of hope is of a confident expectation and desire that good in the future will come. It’s an assurance based in our pre-existing experience of God’s goodness, God’s love, the faithfulness that he has already shown towards us. 

Scripture also contains the idea that while hope is something which comes primarily from God, it is also something in which human beings have a part to play, a contribution to make. The letter to the Hebrews says this: “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized.” (Hebrews 6:10-11) 

God graciously calls us to join in bringing hope into the world. Our work, our love, our diligence matter. The contribution we make is important in bringing into being the future that God wants for us. At the start of this new year, we are called to take the lead: to be signs, symbols, dealers in the hope for which our world longs today.

Thursday 28 November 2024

Extra giving

Extra giving
X Extra giving Extra giving

During the Christmas season this year, St John's is splitting the loose cash collections from the main services between Christian Aid and Arc, a charity that  supports homeless people in Somerset.