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Billingsley and Glazeley Churches, Events, November 2023
Sunday 12thNovember,10.15am, Glazeley Church; Remembrance Sunday.
There will be a service in the church, followed by the Act of Remembrance at the war memorial at 10.45. There will also be a short Act of Remembrance in Billingsley Church at 10.55am.
Saturday 18thNovember, 9.00am, Breakfast at the Down. Contact David Poyner (details below) or Marion (marion.corfield@talktalk.net) if you wish to come; cost £8. A social event in aid of Chetton church, to meet people from our local communities. All welcome.
Sunday, 19thNovember, 10am St Bartholomew’s Glazeley; Holy Communion
Sunday, 26th November, 8am St Mary’s Billingsley
Holy Communion
David Poyner, assistant curate. Tel 01562 68638 /0780 100 9693; email D.R.Poyner@aston.ac.uk Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BillingsleyChurch/ or a Church Near You, https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/10415/ (Billingsley)/ Glazeley&Deuxhill: St Bartholomew – A Church Near You (Glazeley)
The Middle East
I have set up a table in Billingsley church with prayers and readings for the situation in Israel and Gaza, for those who wish to have a place to reflect on the terrible events there. The church is always open.
Apology for non Communion Sunday 23rd July
Profuse apologies from Kina and myself to everyone who turned up this last Sunday, 23rd July at 8am expecting a service of Holy Communion at Billingsley at 8am, only to find there was no vicar. Unfortunately there was a rota malfunction; I thought Kina was doing it, she thought I was doing it. The next service at Billingsley will be at 6pm on Sunday 13th August which I will take and then there is the 8am communion on Sunday 27th August which Kina will take. Kina and myself have now synchronised diaries and are each writing out 100 times “We must check the service rota”…. David
A busy morning at St Mary’s
It has been a very busy morning at St Mary’s. We were visited by Richard, our appointed architect, who came to carry out the statutory quinquennial inspection on behalf of the diocese. We await his report with great anticipation.
Today was the scheduled date of the 100 Club May draw and who better to invite to do the honours than Gary who just happened to be visiting. He is a volunteer for the Shropshire Churches Tourism Group and was conducting his own survey in order to update the next edition of ‘The Churches of Shropshire’. Another publication that we will await with excitement.
Gary was truly delighted to make the draw and have his photograph taken. He drew number 14 out first winning Amanda £48. It was kept in the family when ball number 80 was then drawn belonging to her mother Jenny who won £24 and finally number 31 came out of the bag securing a similar prize for Richard.
The bunting is out and the church has had a spruce up in anticipation of the congregation for a service of celebration for the coronation that will be held at 4pm on Sunday. Refreshments will follow and a glass of bubbly to toast King Charles III. Everyone is welcome to come along.
We welcome Rev. Kina Robertshaw
We are delighted to welcome the Rev Kina Robertshaw as our new rector, who was formally installed as rector of all the parishes in our benefice on April 18th. Kina was previously Associate Minister at Bromyard where she gained considerable experience of working in rural communities. Kina was born in Angola and left home at 17. She was a successful entrepeneur in the fashion industry until she started to train for full-time ministry. She carried out research on Christian entrepreneurs for a master’s degree and has co-authored a book on the subject. Kina can be recognised by her broad smile, her enthusiasm for meeting and talking to people and her dog, which she takes for walks.
For those who want to know more about Kina, her website is Kina Robertshaw
David
Thought for the week, 31st December; God Knows
This is the original title of the poem “The Gate of the Year”, first written by Minnie Louise Haskins in 1908. Her first version is barely known, but in 1912 she added the introduction about the Gate of the Year; this was quoted by King George V in his 1939 Christmas broadcast as the country was in the early stages of the Second World War and it has been famous ever since. Haskins was very talented woman; she wrote the poem whilst serving as a missionary and subsequently became an academic at the London School of Economics. The poem gives a traditional response to times of challenge and uncertainty.
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown”.
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way”.
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.
So heart be still:
What need our little life
Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.
God knows. His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim
To our imperfect vision,
Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature; In Him,
All time hath full provision.
Then rest: until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life’s stern face we hail,
Fair beyond all surmise
God’s thought around His creatures
Our mind shall fill
We welcome Rev. Kina Robertshaw
We were delighted to learn today that the Rev Kina Robertshaw, currently Associate Minister at Bromsgrove, has accepted the post of rector to the Severn Valley Benefice; this covers Glazeley, Billingsley, Chelmarsh and Highley. Kina will start around April. Welcome Kina!
For those wanting to know more about Kina, a brief account can be found at this website; https://kinarobertshaw.com/about-kina/
St Mary’s welcomes all!
We welcomed some very special overseas visitors last month who had travelled from the USA. They share their family name with that of our village, Billingsley. We hope they enjoyed their visit; their comments in the visitor book would seem to suggest they did.
Looking through the visitor book no fewer than 29 entries have been made so far this year. This is something of a record and certainly makes up for the times when visiting was difficult during the pandemic. Many of the comments left by visitors make note of how special St Mary’s is and they are pleased to find the church open. We are quite sure that many more have visited but preferred not to leave a comment.
The church is always open and welcomes all regardless of faith or those of non faith. The church and it’s grounds offer a quiet space for contemplation, reflection and prayer. It is also full of many significant historical features, local history and interesting artifacts.; leaflets are available to guide you around the church and provide background information. There is also a well used book exchange which visitors are welcome to take advantage of.