Church

52 The West Dorset Magazine, October 21, 2022 Church Faith and hope flow with the word of God

By The Rev Peter Stevens Retired Anglican Clergyman who lives in Crossways

Crossways is the largest in population of the four churches which makes up the benefice, the other three being Moreton, Woodsford and Tincleton. Crossways had a new church building opened in 2015, the other churches being older by several hundred years. St Nicholas at Moreton is famous for its engraved clear glass windows and for the grave of Lawrence of Arabia in its nearby cemetery. The other two are St John the Baptist Woodsford and St John the Evangelist at Tincleton. What these three older churches have in common is that they are all close to the River Frome which starts at Evershot and enters the sea at Wareham going into Poole Harbour. All over England, Wales and Scotland there are rivers. Children play in them, people go swimming in them and others go fishing in them. Recently we have heard a lot about wild swimming, with folk much preferring rivers with natural surroundings of trees fauna and wildlife, instead of enclosed heated chemically treated public swimming pools. However wild swimmers don’t trust river water anymore due to a lot of pollution particularly sewage, so they prefer to swim in the sea instead. The Bible begins and ends with rivers, both in the book of Genesis and the book of Revelation. In the first book a river flows out of Eden to nourish the ground, and in the last book a river flows from the throne of God to fill our hearts and souls with love. In between, rivers in the Bible are seen as places of encounter and healing, also of meeting and praying. The rivers in the creation account flow from one to another, and so too can the rivers of our faith, so that they nourish and support not only our lives but the lives of others around us. When we come to the last book called Revelation we find that it was written at a time when people were suffering appalling persecution and were in daily terror of death. Sadly this is still going on in today’s world. As we live in this flawed and fractured planet however the book of Revelation provides us with a vision of hope of a world beyond this one. It is described as a place where the City of God is which is full of light and joy. Paul writes that if we have hope in this world only, everything looks hopeless. Revelation speaks of a holy city, a new Jerusalem, where there will no longer be any mourning, crying or pain for the old order will have passed away. There is also a river described as the water of life from which we are invited to freely drink. This is not polluted but provides healing and comfort in God’s heavenly kingdom. If we have faith in God as revealed in His Word and experienced in this life then we no need to fear death but we have something to which we can really look forward.

Services

Sunday, October 23 Sherborne Abbey Weekday Services Monday to Saturday at 8.30am, Morning Prayer - The Sepulchre Chapel Every Monday at 9am, Holy Communion - The Lady Chapel Every Tuesday at 12noon, Holy Communion - The Lady Chapel Every Wednesday at 10.30am, Holy Communion with Homily –The Lady Chapel Every Thursday at 12noon, BCP Holy Communion - The Lady Chapel Every Friday at 9am, Ecumenical Holy Communion - The Lady Chapel The first Friday of the month at 9am, Requiem Holy Communion - The Sepulchre Chapel - Every Saturday at 9am, Holy Communion - The Sepulchre Chapel Sherborne Abbey 8am Holy Communion 9.30am Eucharist 6pm Evensong James the Great, Longburton 10am Quiet Communion St Martin of Tours, Lillington 10am Morning Service St Paul’s at the Gryphon 10.30m Morning Worship Mary Magdalen, Castleton 11,15am Mattins Roman Catholic Mass 8.30am Chideock 10am Beaminster Dorchester United Church 10.30am Morning Worship and Junior Church Dottery 9.30am Harvest Holy Communion Symondsbury 11am Benefice Eucharist Askersewell 6.30pm Evensong North Poorton 6.30pm Harvest Thanksgiving East Chelborough 9.30am Breakfast Church Frome St Quintin 9.30am Holy Communion Cattistock 10am Morning Prayer Burton Bradstock 10.30am Songs of Praise Puncknowle Hall 9.30am Breakfast Church Little Bredy 10am Holy Communion Each week a service is recorded by a member of the clergy team. Listen to this by calling 01308 293062.

Sunday, October 30 Sherborne Abbey 8am Holy Communion 9.30am Parish Eucharist 6pm Evensong St James the Great, Longburton 10am Sunday Service St Martin of Tours, Lillington 10.30am Morning Service St Paul’s at the Gryphon 10.30am All Age Worship St Mary Magdalene, Castleton 11.15am – Holy Communion Loders, St Mary Magdalene 9.30am - Celtic worship Roman Catholic Mass 8.30am Chideock 10am Beaminster Dorchester United Church 10.30am Morning Worship and Junior Church Maiden Newton 8am Holy Communion Evershot 10.30am Holy Communion Dorchester United Church 10.30am Morning Worship and Junior Church

October 31 Maiden Newton – A light Party, time to be confirmed