7th June - The Parish of Abbots Langley

NOTICES
A NEW GREEN ALTAR FRONTAL and
vestments will be in use from next Sunday.
These have been made possible by a generous
donation, to replace the set which has served for
many years but is now somewhat tired and
faded. Thanks be to God for this generous gift to
enhance our worship.
The company building the CHURCH
EXTENSION have moved in this week - there
will be a site office, extra vehicles and building
materials etc. please be aware of this when using
the church car park.
CTAL is entering the ‘stroller’ section of the
ABBOTS LANGLEY CARNIVAL procession
on Saturday 13th June. The theme will be
‘Noah’s Ark’ so we need lots of people, in pairs,
to dress up as animals. Please sign the list if you
can join in or speak to David for more
information. You need to be at School Mead at
10.45 for judging at 11.00 am.
COFFEE MORNING at Abbeyfield,
11 Greenways on Tuesday 16th June between
10.30 am and 12.00 noon. All welcome.
Wendy Meldrum is going to the Christian Aid
CLIMATE CHANGE EVENT in London on
Wednesday 17th June; please contact the office if
you would like to join her and others, or for
more information.
OUTLOOK (church magazine - 40p) is
available for June. Please take a copy.
QUIZ in aid of the Organ Restoration Appeal
- Saturday 20th June at 7.00 pm. Tickets from
the church office: £12 per person, including a fish
and chip supper; BYO drinks. Tables of 8 if you
would like to get a group together.
Ian Bond, as part of “TEAM NEW HOPE”
is pleased to say that they completed the tough
25 mile Three Peaks Challenge walk in the
Yorkshire dales in under 12 hours on Saturday
31st May. Great thanks to all those who pledged
sponsorship money, which Ian will be
collecting. The team have raised over £1,400
towards New Hope services at a time when a
rising number of people are rough sleeping.
CONGRATULATIONS to Katie (nee
Edgerton) and Matt Shaw on the birth of Freya
on 4th June a sister for Beth.
Find us and
Like us on
THE PARISH OF ABBOTS LANGLEY
OPEN CHURCH SUNDAY
Sunday 21st June 2015
Both churches will be open between
11.00 am and 4.00 pm.
ST LAWRENCE CHURCH FETE
Saturday 27th June 2015
Please sign the list in church to indicate what stall
you can help with and also if you can make a
cake; donations are needed for the Tombola
please pass them to Marcus Coultrup
or the office.
All proceeds shared between New Hope and
Watford Town Chaplaincy.
The small wooden CRUCIFIX which hung in
the chapel in the East End of St Lawrence has
gone missing - does anyone know of its
whereabouts please?
Peter and Sue Tomson are hosting the highly
acclaimed local band, CON-FUSION, for an
evening of harmony, humour and swing in the
Abbots House Barn on 4th July, at 6.00 pm.
There is a suggested contribution of £15 per
person, which includes a glass of wine and
nibbles. Proceeds to the St Lawrence Organ
Restoration Appeal. Places by application to Sue
only - please pick up a form from the back of
church.
CONTACT NUMBERS
Vicar:
The Revd Dr Jo Spreadbury
01923 263013
Curate:
The Revd David Warner
01923 518262
Assistant Priest: The Revd Angela Milton
01923 519453
Assistant Priest: The Revd Guy Buckler
via the Church Office
Reader:
Mrs Sally Sanderson
01923 265963
Church Office: 01923 261795
If anyone needs the ministry of a priest
or in any emergency at anytime, day or night,
please contact Jo or David directly.
StLawrenceChurchAbbotsLangley and TheTinChurchBedmond
St Lawrence the Martyr, Abbots Langley
with the Church of the Ascension, Bedmond
7th June 2015
THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
TODAY
WELCOME
8.00 am
Holy Communion
President & Preacher: The Revd Angela Milton
Reader:
Dennis Spooner
9.30 am
Parish Communion with
Seekers and Crèche
President:
The Revd David Warner
Preacher:
The Revd Angela Milton
Hymns:
293 - 167 - 295 - 342 - 208 - 565
Intercessions: Bill Sanderson
11.00 am Holy Communion at Bedmond
President & Preacher: The Revd David Warner
Hymns:
293 - 167 - 208 - 565
Reader:
John Noonan
12.30 pm
Sunday Lunch Club
6.30 pm
Leader:
Evening Prayer
The Revd David Warner
SERVICES THIS WEEK
Holy Communion
10.15 am
Wednesday
9.30 am
Thursday
9.30 am
Friday (inc. Morning Prayer)
Morning Prayer
9.30 am
Monday to Wednesday & Friday
Evening Prayer
5.15 pm
Monday to Friday
including prayers for peace on
Monday and prayers for healing on
Tuesday
Prayer Extra
8.15 am
Thursday: prayers for the parish and
local community
Welcome to everyone at our worship today
especially to those who have come to hear their
Banns of Marriage read, visitors and newcomers please introduce yourself if you are new or a
visitor.
If you have been confirmed or usually receive
Communion in your own church, please do so
here. If not, you are welcome to come to the
altar rail for a Blessing, and if you carry a book
with you the priest will know not to offer you the
bread and wine.
Please tell a sidesman before the service if
you would like a gluten-free wafer.
A T-loop is provided for hearing aid users.
For our younger members at 9.30 am:
Crèche - there is a room in the
church hall with suitable toys
(0-3 years)
Seekers in the church hall
(3-10 years)
except Second Sundays
(the Church Hall is at the end of the car park)
Quiet Children’s Corner in Church
Before the service,
listen to God;
and after the service,
listen to each other.
If you have come to the service at
9.30 am please stay for a cup of
tea or coffee and a chat in the
church hall.
A collection is taken at each main service. If you are a UK tax payer, please use a gift aid envelope.
This money is fundamental to the life of the church: its ministry, mission and charitable giving.
As we receive no income from the Government or any other external body, we are reliant on the generosity of
the community and our fundraising endeavours to ensure that the important work of the parish continues.
If you would prefer to set up a standing order, as many others are, please contact Marcus Coultrup (334387).
www.abbotslangley.org.uk
THE PRAYERS AND BIBLE READINGS
FOR OUR PRAYERS
COLLECT: O God, the strength of all those who put their trust in you, mercifully accept our prayers
and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing without you, grant us
the help of your grace, that in the keeping of your commandments we may please you both in will and
deed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
GIVE THANKS FOR
» our families
» this community in which we live
» the mystery and joy of creation
FIRST READING
SECOND READING
GOSPEL
PRAY FOR
» those who chose to ignore God and not
accept his invitation
» the peoples of Ukraine and Nigeria, Iraq and
Syria, Palestine & Israel; Nepal and all
seeking to end terror and conflict
» Mark and Tracey Catlin on their
Wedding Anniversary Blessing yesterday
» those who worship at
The Methodist Church
» Seekers (Sunday school) and its leaders
» those who live in Hillside Close,
Hilltop Road and Hunters Lane
Genesis 3.8-15
2 Corinthians 4.13-5.1
Mark 3.20-end
Pew Bible page 3
Pew Bible page 177
Pew Bible page 35
Sorry, we don’t have a stock of explanations for these readings so this is an abbreviated version of that written in
the Church Times by the Revd Rosalind Brown:
This is the first time in his Gospel that Mark has mentioned Jesus’ family. When reading Mark, we have to
forget what we know from the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke because, for Mark, Jesus is a
charismatic young man who appeared on the scene in a whirlwind of activity, with no background
information except that he came from Nazareth and lived in Capernaum. The pace of Mark’s story is
breathtaking. Jesus drew crowds wherever he went: this is the ninth time in three chapters that Mark has
reported enormous crowds around Jesus, or that he had no privacy, or was too busy to eat. He
performed miracles, including exorcisms, and people flocked to be healed. Local life was turned upside
down as news spread. This frenetic pace of life was unsustainable, and took its toll on Jesus; so people
questioned his mental state. Whereas the Scribes placed themselves outside God’s family, Mary tried to
close the natural family around Jesus for his protection. We can picture this strong Jewish mother, bringing
her other children with her for support, arriving on the scene to tell her eldest son off. Any mother of a
young man who appears to be going off the family rails will understand. This miracle-worker had a family
history, was human, and his mother was concerned. But she could not get into the house, and so resorted
to sending a message. Jesus was not to be distracted, and his brusque response was the passion of a young
man caught up in the intensity of his mission. His answer was not to reject his family as his nearest kin, but
to expand his family circle, drastically, to include anyone who did the will of God and wanted to follow
him. This was not easy for Mary.
In pairing the Gospel story of Mary seeking out Jesus with the poignant episode in the creation myth from
Genesis, the lectionary draws our attention to the pain of rejected love. Mary searched out her son with
his well-being at heart; God searched for the man to whom he had given life with his well-being at heart.
We read that God missed the close fellowship for which Adam was created, and which brought joy to
God as well as to Adam. Mary sought Jesus because she wanted to protect him from his popularity; but his
impulse, like that of God with Adam, was and is to seek human company, and to include more people than
might be on our invitation list for family events. If we find that disconcerting, so did the religious leaders of
Jesus’ day. From the other perspective, some people find it hard to believe that they are welcomed, and,
like Adam, may hide for shame. God’s presence among us today may be equally disturbing to our way of
life before it can be liberating.
POST COMMUNION PRAYER: Eternal Father, we thank you for nourishing us with these heavenly
gifts: may our communion strengthen us in faith,
build us up in hope, and make us grow in love; for
Almighty God,
the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
READINGS NEXT SUNDAY
Ezekiel 17.22-end;
2 Corinthians 5.6-10, 14-17;
Mark 4.26-34
AVAILABILITY
Jo - day off: Friday
David - day off: Thursday
we pray for the family of the Church;
that all Christians may work together
in harmony
for the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
and the building up of your peace.
Amen.
THOSE WHO ARE ILL OR IN NEED
» Owen Nelson : Tom Stuart : Ellis Haggith :
Lesley Durtnall : Chris : Michael Beadle :
Christine Corners
R.I.P.
» Betty Crook (Jenny Sanders’ cousin) :
Mary Ballinger (Dave’s mother) :
Barbara Taylor : Ian Holmes
THE COMING WEEK
MONDAY 8th Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath and
Wells, Non-Juror, Hymn Writer, 1711
7.30 pm
TUESDAY 9th Columba, Abbot of Iona, Missionary,
597
10.15 am Tuesday Coffee in St Lawrence
7.30 pm Finance and Fundraising Committee
meets
7.45 pm Dynamite Youth group
WEDNESDAY 10th
10.15 am Holy Communion including
MU Corporate Communion
3.30 pm Messy Church at the Methodist Church
THURSDAY11th Barnabas the Apostle
8.15 am Prayers for the local community
9.30 am Holy Communion
10.30 am Home Communion at Hanover Gardens
FRIDAY 12th
9.30 am Morning Prayer
with Holy Communion
6.15 pm Youth Choir
SATURDAY 13th
11.00 am Burial of the Ashes of Mollie Bailey
12.00 noon Abbots Langley Carnival procession
leaves School Mead
Amongst the charities we support financially
and with our prayers, this week we pray for
the work of Citizens Advice Bureau
(CAB).
The CAB provides free, independent,
confidential and impartial advice to everyone
on their rights and responsibilities. They value
diversity, promote equality and challenge
discrimination.
Give thanks for the CAB and its volunteers
who help the 2 million people who turn to
them for advice each year.
Pray for those who have economic hardship,
debts, housing problems and those with
divorce and separation issues.
www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Bell Ringing practice
NEXT SUNDAY
THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER
TRINITY
14th June 2015
8.00 am Holy Communion
President & Preacher: The Revd David Warner
9.30 am
Second Sunday Communion
Service
President & Preacher: The Revd Jo Spreadbury
12.00 noon Baptism of River Boland
2.00 pm Burial of the Ashes of Alfred Wray
6.30 pm Evening Prayer
Leader:
The Revd Jo Spreadbury