Services

Advance notice - Holiday Dates

_{Reverend Steve will be away from Monday July 15 until Wednesday July 31. He will resume his duties on Thursday 1 August. Wishing you both a happy and well-earned break from us all!}

Church Services

Services in the Three Rivers Group churches on Sunday July 21
Trinity 8

• 9.30am Isleham – Eucharist
   
• 9.30am Snailwell – Family Service
    
• 11am Fordham – Morning Prayer 
   
• 11am Chippenham –Eucharist
   
• 3.30pm Kennet - Family Service

All the orders of service will be found on our website www.threeriverschurches.co.uk

Services in the Three Rivers Group churches on Sunday July 28
Trinity 9

• 9.30am Isleham – Morning Praie
   
• 9.30am Snailwell – Eucharist
    
• 11am Fordham – Eucharist 
   
• 11am Chippenham –Morning Prayer

All the orders of service will be found on our website www.threeriverschurches.co.uk

Have you ever visited your parish church?

If you are a new resident of Isleham or perhaps have just never ventured inside your parish church why not do so today. 

Or perhaps another time would suit you better; the church is usually open every deay from about 9am until about 5pm. 

There are many surprising and marvellous things to see.

We hold a service every Sunday at 9.30am at which you will be warmly welcomed.

Or why not join us at our 

Isleham Coffee Morning -Tuesdays 10am-12noon 

The Tuesday morning coffee and bacon butty crew are back at the St Andrew’s Social Centre , from 10am-12 noon.  All welcome.

The Rector’s Daily Reflections

Each day I produce a short set of reflections on the readings for
Morning Prayer the following day.

If you would like to receive these by email, please let me know. You
can unsubscribe very easily if you decide you don’t want them any
more please email me:
revdsmday@cantab.net30pm 

All the orders of service will be found on our website www.threeriverschurches.co.uk

Services in the Three Rivers Group churches on Sunday July 21
Trinity 8

• 9.30am Isleham – Eucharist
   
• 9.30am Snailwell – Family Service
    
• 11am Fordham – Morning Prayer 
   
• 11am Chippenham –Eucharist
   
• 3.30pm Kennet - Family Service

All the orders of service will be found on our website www.threeriverschurches.co.uk

Welcome to church today – we are very glad to have you with us.

Face coverings are no longer mandatory in public spaces, but if you are not
exempt, please consider wearing one while in church to help protect others.

All who are baptized and communicant members of their own church are warmly
invited to receive Holy Communion when it is celebrated in our churches.

Children and Holy Communion

All five PCC’s have now agreed that our church family younger children (aged 7 and above) may be admitted to Holy Communion after appropriate instruction. 

Muriel Hood and Ruth Ogden have agreed to instruct our young people. If there are young people in your family who would like to receive communion, then please do speak with them.l

All the orders of service will be found on our website www.threeriverschurches.co.uk

Collect

Almighty Lord and everlasting God, we beseech you to direct, sanctify and govern both our hearts and bodies in the ways of your laws and the works of your
commandments; that through your most mighty protection, both here and ever, 
we may be preserved in body and soul; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for
ever. 

Amen

A reading from the Old testament Jeremiah 23. 1-6

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!
says the Lord.

1 Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!
says the Lord

2 Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who
shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. 

4 So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. They shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.

5 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 

6  In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

Psalm 23

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;

3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you
are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; 
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.

A reading from the New Testament Ephesians 2. 11-22

The Gentiles are told they need not observe Jewish laws ands rituals.

Because Jedsus Christ has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the
two, thus making peace, 

11 So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called
‘the uncircumcision’ by those who are called ‘the circumcision’—a physical
circumcision made in the flesh by human hands—

12 remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no
hope and without God in the world.

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought
near by the blood of Christ.

14 For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has
broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 

15 He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances,
so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the
two, thus making peace, 

16 and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. 

17 So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those
who were near; 

18 for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. 

19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,

20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

21 In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple
in the Lord; 

22 in whom you also are built together spiritually in to a dwelling-place for God.

The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark 6. 30-34, 53-56

As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done
and taught. 

31 He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves 
and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had
no leisure even to eat. 

32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.

 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 

34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

53 When they had crossed over,they came to land at Gennesaret 
and moored the boat. 

54 When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, 

55 and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 

56 And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the
market-places, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe
of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

Post Communion prayer

Strengthen for service, Lord, the hands that have taken holy things;
may the ears which have heard your word be deaf to clamour and dispute;
may the tongues which have sung your praise be free from deceit;
may the eyes which have seen the tokens of your love shine with the
light of hope; and may the bodies which have been fed with your body
be refreshed with the fullness of your life; glory to you for ever.

 Amen

Funerals: 

• Mary Deary on Thursday July 128, at Kennett, at 2pm.

Baptisms:

Weddings:

• Philip Clayton-Smith & Laura Diplock on Thursday July 25, at 11am
  at Isleham.

• George Higginson & Katie Presland on Saturday August 10, at 2pm
  at Chippenham.

Midweek services update

Revd Steve writes:

Morning Prayer is a great way to start the day: for those of you who would  like to join in, we gather at 8.15 in the church social centre in Isleham on Tuesdays, and in the church at Fordham on Wednesdays and Fridays

I aim to have Morning Prayer available on the churches’ Zoom link at 8.15 each day  on Tuesday to Saturday. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, this will be from the  gathering; on other days it will be just online. Please email me for details of how to join in (see address below).

Each day I produce a short set of reflections on the readings for Morning  Prayer the following day. If you would like to receive these by email, please  let me know. You can unsubscribe very easily if you decide you don’t want them any more!

You can get in touch with me in a number of ways: my email address is
revdsmday@cantab.net; my home phone number is 01638 354866; my 
mobile number is 07871182394 (but please note it spends almost all of its 
time on silent, so I may not notice it ring – please either leave a message or 
send a text); and for old-school paper, I’m at 24 Mildenhall Road, Fordham, 
CB7 5NR.

A reminder that all are welcome to join our midweek services, which currently include

• Technology permitting, we aim to have Morning Prayer available on the churches’ Zoom link at 8.15 each day  Tuesday to Saturday. On Tuesday and Wednesday anbd Friday, this will be from the  gathering; on other days it will be just online. Please email Revd Steve Day for details of how to join in revdsmday@cantab.net
   
• Tuesday Morning Prayer at Isleham (in church or at Social Centre) – 8.15am
   
• Wednesday Morning Prayer at Fordham (in church) – 8.15am
   
• Wednesday Compline at Snailwell (in church) – 6.30pm
   
• Wednesday Compline on Zoom (online) – 7pm
   
• Friday Morning Prayer at Fordham (in church) – 8.15am

The mailing list for online Compline is currently being refreshed, so if you would like to stay on it, or join it anew, please email threeriversgroupcambs@gmail.com to let us know1

In person services in church

With due consideration to national guidance from the government and the Church of England in the meantime, I'm pleased to say that we are going ahead with services in-person in church.

However, it's clear that as in all things at present, we must be careful, of ourselves and each other, and for that reason we do ask for your cooperation and understanding where modifications have been made. 

We must, of course, leave the decision whether or not to attend to you and your judgment. While it is generally good to be with other people, we realise that this is not comfortable or sensible for everyone at present, and we continue to pray for and ask God's blessing on all in our parishes, not just those we see in person. 

Two important considerations:

Firstly, in common with all public indoor spaces, we ask that you do not attend an event if you are feeling unwell or experiencing any of the recognised symptoms of COVID. 

As the virus spreads successfully between people without symptoms, please also consider taking a lateral flow test before attending a service, especially if you have been in contact with people beyond your household in recent days.

Secondly, Face coverings are no longer mandatory in public spaces, but if you are not exempt, please consider wearing one while in church to help protect others as local infection rates remain high.

We will continue to ensure good ventilation in our churches, so please come prepared for draughts.

Christian Aid prayer for Ukraine 

God of all peoples and nations, who created all things alive and breathing, united and whole, show us the way of peace that is your overwhelming presence. 

We hold before you the peoples of Ukraine and Russia, every child and every adult. We long for the time when weapons of war are beaten into ploughshares. When nations no longer lift up sword against nation.

We cry out to you for peace.

Protect those who only desire and deserve to live in security and safety. 

Comfort those who fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones

Be with those who are bereaved.

Change the hearts of those set on violence and aggression and fill leaders with the wisdom that leads to peace.

Kindle again in us a love of our neighbour and a passion for justice to prevail and a renewed recognition that we all play a part in peace. 

Creator of all hear our prayer and bring us peace. Make us whole.  

Amen.

Weekly notice sheet by email  

We still distribute a copy of the weekly notice sheet by email every Sunday to those who want to keep up-to-date with what's happening in the Group, even when they can't get to church. 

Please let the Parish Administrator know if you'd like to receive a copy.

.......................................................................................................

Prayer for the Nation

If you want to continue, David came across this from the diocese of Oxford which you could read/pray at 6pm each evening:

When we are isolated and alone, we remember God is with us; we place our hands in his hands

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

When we are tired and confused…

He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;

When we are worn out with worry

He restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.

When we are sick and afraid and if we lose those we love…

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff - they comfort me.

When we face difficulties today and we hope for a better tomorrow…

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

In the face of trouble & difficulty of all kinds, we remember Jesus’ promise of life beyond death…

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.

Voluntary suggestions

For lovers of the Anglican choral tradition and Isaiah 6: John Stainer, ‘I saw the Lord’ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC-vCl8Aga4

Part of the current wave of recorded musical Blessings providing comfort and inspiration from different perspectives, here’s one from Ireland, using an ancient text very apt for Trinity Sunday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TascsWZPj8U

Early music fans with time on their hands may like to revel in the glorious sound of John Taverner’s ‘Missa Gloria Tibi Trinitas’: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNwIhVDVKDg

And another chance to hear our former organist at Fordham David Poulter playing J.S. Bach’s ‘Fugue’ in C major (BWV 545)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4Qd4wWKMpc

Dementia Friendly Village - Fordham

Fordham is working towards becoming a Dementia Friendly Village. 

Laura Cox-Watson has agreed to be our Dementia Friends Champion. and Has atteneded some training in Cambridge. and has held two sessions to share with the community what she has learned and discuss how Fordham can move forward with this. Laura is also very keen to gain insight from families who have direct experience of living with Dementia.

If anyone would like to contact Laura direct then please do so on either 
07974 409228 or laura1978watson@mac.com

Children and Holy Communion

All five PCC’s have now agreed that our church family younger children (aged 7 and above) may be admitted to Holy Communion after appropriate instruction. 

Muriel Hood and Ruth Ogden have agreed to instruct our young people. If there are young people in your family who would like to receive communion, then please do speak with them.

Is God calling you to something?

There are a few things around which it might be good for our churches to be involved with. If anyone would like to take a more active part in prayer, reading the bible, working with young people, thinking about church growth, visiting baptism families, thinking about our faith, and many other things, then please contact David if this is something God might be nudging you towards.

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