News Archive - November 2020

Message from Joy - Christ the King

This Sunday is the last Sunday in the church year and we celebrate Christ the King. It is also traditionally known as 'Stir up Sunday' from the Collect prayer in the Book of Common Prayer. Traditionally this was the day when people stirred up their Christmas puddings and remembered the fruit of the Spirit which St Paul writes about in Galatians Chapter 5 verses 22-23. 'The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.'

On Stir Up Sunday the Bishops are encouraging us to 'stir and pray'. From 5-9pm on Sunday 22nd November and from 9am-5pm on Monday 23rd November, prayer on the hour will be available on the Diocesan website.

Bishop Alan writes: 'There can be no better way of navigating the present uncertainty than by prayer. I hope you have seen the trailer for Stir Up Sunday (also available as a download) . This is just one of a splendid array of contributions from across the diocese which will guide us through  a day of prayer (click for resources) I hope you will join in and encourage others to do so. It will run from 5.00pm to 9.00pm on Sunday 22nd and 9.00am to 5.00pm on Monday 23rd November.' 

St Mary's service will be available on the church website, YouTube channel and Facebook. If you haven't yet watched the Sunday service, can I encourage you to give it a go? It is very easy to access via the website. Just go to https://www.stmaryseatonbray.org.uk and click on the arrow on Morning Prayer on the home page. You can then join in with the service at any time during the week.

Here is the Stir up Sunday prayer.

Stir up, O Lord, the wills of your faithful people:
that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works,
may by you be plenteously rewarded;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

With every blessing,
Joy

Public comments are closed for this article, but you are welcome to send us your thoughts on this article via the Contact Us page.