Welcome to Weobley & Staunton Joint Benefice

One of the choruses I remember singing as a small child was ‘When the roll is called up yonder’ which celebrates the names of those called out by angels and summoned to heaven. I used to wonder, regretfully, about those whose names were not on the roll. These days I am more inclined to wonder at the grace of an inclusive God who mercifully summons all of us.

2025 marks a year in which we are required by the Diocese of Hereford to renew our electoral roll (this process happens every six years). The old roll is cast aside, and we need to have all members, both new and existing, sign a new enrolment form.

Being on the electoral roll means that you can vote on church matters, attend the APCM (Annual Parochial Church Meeting) and stand for election to the PCC. Being on the electoral roll does not entail signing up to any additional commitments. However, it does help our church to show the strength of its numbers.

Whether you are on the present roll or not, we invite you to fill in a simple new form to ensure that you remain, or can be added, to the electoral list. Forms will be soon available at the back of each church and should, when completed, be handed to the electoral roll officer of each parish by or before the end of March.

The officers in each church are:

Weobley – Pat Millington

Norton Canon – Kim Hendricksen

Sarnesfield – Roger Marshall

Byford- Sue Hubbard

Monnington – Sarah Girling

Staunton – Barbara Arthur

Letton – Anna Hock and Jane Bryan

When the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there!

Rev’d Philip

At our Candlemas services this Sunday, we celebrate that moment when Simeon, an old man devoutly serving in the Jerusalem temple, sees the infant Jesus and declares:

For mine eyes have seen thy salvation

which thou hast prepared

before the face of all people;

to be a light to lighten the Gentiles

and to be the glory of thy people Israel.

The candles we light at Candlemas symbolise the light of Christ that has come into the world for all people.  Bu how do we display this light when all around us so many seem to be projecting a morbid vision clouded by the darkness of fear?

In the prayer service held in Washington Cathedral after inauguration day (21st January), Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde challenged the incoming President to consider how his recent words had caused many immigrants and minorities in the USA to fear for their safety.  She appealed to him directly to offer mercy to the most vulnerable in society. The Republican response has been one of political mobilisation against the Bishop, with Trump and others vilifying her message as driven by ‘the radical Left’ and demanding an apology. She has also received multiple death threats. In response she has testified to the Christian origin of her inclusive views and said: “I am not going to apologize for asking for mercy for others”. *

It seems to me that Bishop Budde has spoken bravely, clearly, and calmly, seeking to bring light where others can only offer the darkness of vitriol and social hatred. Jesus warns that “if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”  We need to pray for light to penetrate those situations – social, political or personal - in which people fumble in the darkness and further their own ambitions by denigrating others or treating them as unworthy of God’s care and mercy.

Rev’d Philip

*Taken from a Time magazine transcript interview with Bishop Budde: https://time.com/7209222/bishop-mariann-budde-trump/