Open Gardens - A Thank You

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who supported and those who helped at the recent successful fundraising event on Saturday 6th July (Open Gardens, Wareham Town Band and Various Stalls). All feedback is being collated to ensure we improve for next year and we can envisage two separate events!

The amount raised on the day, including donations was £1237.40 and with the money raised from the Vicarage coffee morning once expenses have been paid this will make the final total £1417.40

Brenda & Sue

Saturday 5th October 2019 - An Autumn Evening of Music with Supper

A Wareham Town Band Concert

The Band will be performing an evening Concert of Military & Autumn tunes in the D’Urberville Centre on Saturday 5th October starting at 7pm.

A Ploughman’s meal will be served during the interval, and this is included in your ticket price.

Tickets available from Sue B (01929 463803) at £6 per person from Monday 2nd September Please come along and enjoy a relaxing evening listening to your local Band.

This will be a fabulous evening whilst raising much needed funds for our church.

School Holiday "Munch Club" from 31st July, running weekly through August

Garden Fete in The Vicarage Garden, Vicarage Close Wool.

Held in 8 Vicarage Close, Wool

Thursday 22nd August - 11am-3pm in Holy Rood

The 2019 "Staycation" - ‘An Afternooon in Paris’ (Held in Holy Rood, not the actual Paris!)

Come along and have some fun with your friends!

Important notice about the Staycation!

Due to the popularity of our Staycation this year we have to move to larger premises for Thursday’s visit to Paris. We look forward to seeing you from the same time (11am) at the

Kids of Wool Building, D’Urberville Centre, Colliers Lane, Wool.

Please note that both doors to the Kids of Wool Building will be open to provide ease of access for all.

We look forward to welcoming you to Paris!

a bientot -

Rev Carol

Fete in the Vicarage Garden - Saturday 24th August

Sunday August 18th

Pop-Up Breakfast Church starting at 9.30am at the D'Urberville.

Followed by a short service for all the family. All welcome.

Easter Flowers 2019

Click on the image for more pictures:

The Easter flowers looked amazing - see this page.

Pancakes!

Well done to Jenny Hunt and the team for the Pancake Event on 5th March.

Much fun was had, delicious pancakes were served and £275 was raised for church funds; a great result!

Sunday Lent course

Inaugural Service for the new Benefice of West Purbeck - Wed 13th March

Holy Rood was full, for the service to inaugurate and celebrate our new benefice which came into being on March 1st. Many people attended from the West Purbeck Benefice churches - Holy Rood, Bere Regis, and Affpuddle - as well as visitors from the adjacent Benefice of The Lulworths, Winfrith Newburgh and Chaldon. Our Archdeacon, Ven. Antony MacRow-Wood, Archdeacon of Dorset, was also present.

At this service, our vicar, Revd Carol Langford, was given her new Licence, as the first Rector and Incumbent of the new Benefice of West Purbeck, by the Bishop of Sherborne, the Right Revd Karen Gorham.

At the same time, Revd Jenny Alidina was Licensed to the new benefice as an Associate Priest.

The Bishop of Sherborne, the Right Revd Karen Gorham, officiated and preached from the Gospel of St John chapter 15 on our need to be part of the True Vine.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped to organise the Inauguration Service and refreshments afterwards last Wednesday.

It was a great start to this next phase of our common life together.

Blessings, Rev Carol

About the New Multi-Parish Benefice of West Purbeck

The following letter was received in February:

Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011

Diocese of Salisbury

Benefice of Bere Regis and Affpuddle with Turnerspuddle and Benefice of Wool and East Stoke

I am pleased to inform you that the Church Commissioners did not receive any objections to the draft scheme to unite the benefice of Wool and East Stoke and the benefice of Bere Regis and Affpuddle with Turnerspuddle. They have informed me that the scheme will be made on 5th Feb, to come into effect 1st March 2019.

I will send a copy of the sealed scheme to interested parties in due course.

With best wishes.

Yours sincerely

Jill Hockham

Pastoral & Patronage Secretary

Diocesan Mission and Pastoral Committee

Our new benefice had therefore finally been approved and was formally brought into being on March 1st. The three PCCs have met together to consider the way that our parishes will work together as we move forward.

Rev Carol writes about The Benefice of West Purbeck

As many of you will be aware, last month we said farewell to Revd Charles and Felicity

at Bere Regis. They have taken off for pastures new as they step out on the next stage

of their pilgrimage together following Charles’ retirement. Although I was away on

leave at the time, Charles and I were in regular contact and I know from him, and from

many of you, that their final day in the benefice was a very good and happy ending to

their time in Bere Regis and Affpuddle. As you will also be aware, although I have been

very much in the background in Bere Regis and Affpuddle up to now, the parishes

resolved, together with Wool and East Stoke, that when Charles retired we should

become a multi-parish benefice of 3 parishes with me as the first incumbent of the new

benefice and a new part-time colleague to join us in due course. A final public

consultation has recently taken place about this and the good news is that this all went

through without a hitch. I take this opportunity to tell you a little about the formation

of the new benefice and some of our hopes and dreams for the future as we set out on

the adventure together.

In order that everyone was clear about where I am coming from, I led a joint PCC

Meeting of the 3 PCCs in January at Bere Regis School to explain and I gave everyone

the opportunity to object/withdraw before the final deadline a week later. I’m pleased

to report that no-one did (!) and that the new benefice, the Benefice of West Purbeck,

lawfully comes into being on 1st March. The Bishop of Sherborne, Rt Revd Karen

Gorham, will officiate at a Service to inaugurate the new benefice at 7pm, Wednesday

13th of March in The Church of the Holy Rood, Wool followed by refreshments in

Wool School. At that Service I will be licensed as the Vicar of the Benefice and the

Ministry Team, lay and ordained, will be licensed to minister across the benefice. We

are delighted that Revd Jenny Alidina will also join us in the team, to be licensed as an

associate priest. Everyone is very welcome to come to that Service, in which all of the

churches will jointly take part, and we very much hope that you will do so.

For a little while now the Churchwardens of Bere Regis and Affpuddle have been busy

working on the Profile for the appointment of our new colleague. I am very grateful to

them for their hard work and dedication as this should mean that we will be able to go

to advert fairly soon after the new benefice is inaugurated. At the current time I am

working with the profile, adding in things that are relevant to the new, wider, benefice

so that before too long we should be ready to move forward. In due course, a new

part-time colleague will be appointed to join the Benefice Team. He or she will be

appointed on a 0.5 stipend basis, working Sunday + 3 days per week. They will be

appointed as an associate priest in the team (most people will simply think of him or

her as ‘the vicar’ in Bere Regis and Affpuddle although strictly speaking this is me) with

the aim that they will minister across the whole team, particularly to work

collaboratively on missional projects, but with a pastoral focus on Bere Regis and

Affpuddle.

At the moment I, together with colleagues from Wool and

the wider deanery, are covering most of the Services at St John the Baptist and St

Laurence churches.

When our new colleague joins us I anticipate that we will continue to work across the

benefice, primarily based in our own areas but probably leading worship in the other

churches at least once each month. There will be some joint benefice services, as

indeed there have already been in Bere Regis and Affpuddle on 5th Sundays, and things

such as marriage and baptism preparation, Lent and Advent courses will also be able to

be done collaboratively. We will aim to grow Lay Worship Leaders, Pastors and

Preachers to share in leadership. In Wool, as you will read in a separate article, we

have recently taken a step of faith and rented an office for church use in the village

D’Urberville Centre. We hope that this will become a hub for Benefice administration

in the future.

One key way that we will attempt to discern God’s mission and how we may join in

with this in order to engage with those at present beyond the church or even on the

fringes of church life, is that we are to participate in a new diocesan project and

become a ‘Thrive Learning Community.’ A group of people, up to 8, from across the

benefice will meet in Blandford with other benefices for 4x2 non-residential days over

a period of two years. Their job will be to consider ways that the church may grow and develop in order to reach out and build God’s Kingdom in this place.

All in all, it is a very exciting time and we look forward to the future with great hope.

There are always things we can do to help and get involved with. If any of what I’ve

mentioned above appeals to you, admin, the Thrive Course, marriage or baptism

preparation courses, leading worship, pastoral care, preaching please don’t be shy but

be in touch; God has roles for us all. Most of all, I ask you to commit the benefice and

this time in our history to prayer. Please pray for all of the Church Wardens, for me

and for the Ministry Team and for the appointment of our new colleague.

God has great plans for us, he will surely do with us more than we can every hope or

imagine.

With every blessing,

Revd Carol

Pancakes!

Well done to Jenny Hunt and the team for the Pancake Event on 5th March.

Much fun was had, delicious pancakes were served and £275 was raised for church funds; a great result!

Some sad news arrived in February and March:

Death of Miss Lois Clark on 7th February 2019

Many people, both churchgoers and not, in our local area will remember Lois with great affection in her role many years ago in Wool as a Practice Nurse working alongside Judy Hill at the old Folly Lane Surgery in the days of Drs John Cole, Chris Irwin, and Chris Rumbold. She was a dear friend to all who knew her and a highly skilled and valued colleague. Holy Rood Church, Wool supported the subsequent mission work of Lois.

Lois had a huge sense of fun and she brought vibrant life, laughter, and the presence of Christ to us all who worked with her: she will be greatly missed.

Lois died suddenly, in Bournemouth Hospital on 7th February. After a private cremation a Thanksgiving Service was held in Christ Church, Westbourne on 1st March. The service was conducted exactly according to Lois' inimitable wishes ("tell them all about what Jesus did, not about me!") and recorded by that church. Should anyone wish to see it the link is at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acgm_2_N_fM    (The footage isn't edited and needs patience.)

Death of Dr John Cole on 8th March 2019

Dr John Cole was a much-beloved and highly effective and inspirational GP here in Wool for several decades from the sixties. He was very actively involved in the ministry of our church of Holy Rood, especially in running its then Sunday School. He would drive his camper van round the local area every Sunday morning to collect the local children from Wool and Bovington and they would sit agog to hear his stories about Jesus. His lively and active Christian faith was reflected in his lifestyle as he devoted his personal as well as professional life to this village and its people, leading and assisting many fundraising and charitable activities. (Who could forget John's regular marathon running, or his "Run a Rickshaw" event as he trotted round the village transporting people during Wool Awakes? - or his "Fatty Fish Song", written and performed to the tune of Jingle Bells especially for the Wool Well Heart Club?!)

Now John has gone to be with his Lord and Saviour. So many of us are richer for having known John - and this world is so much poorer as a result of his loss.

So we pray for all those whose lives he touched and who are mourning him, and for the comfort and peace of God to be very real to his widow, Frances, and their four children and their grandchildren.

Electoral Roll Revision

The Electoral Roll for the church has to be revised every six years. The formal notice to this effect is in the church porch. Your name cannot be carried forward from the existing Roll. We will attempt to ensure each person already on the Roll will receive a new application form, which must be filled in and returned to the acting Electoral Roll Officer (John Matthews) over the next four weeks. If you do not get a form, please take one from the back of the church.

"Thrive" - A Learning Community

If you would like to be part of a small group from the new benefice working with other benefices on a two year project (4 non-residential x 2 day sessions over two years starting late March in Blandford) to discern God’s mission for us and implement new forms of church, please speak with Rev Carol as soon as possible.

Lent 2019 in the Benefice of West Purbeck

Ash Wednesday 6th March, Holy Communion with Imposition of ashes: 10am D’Urberville Centre, Wool & 7pm St John the Baptist Church, Bere Regis.

Daily in Lent: Praying Together 2019. Join in with brothers and sisters in the Diocese of Salisbury with these short daily reflections for Lent. Booklets available, free of charge, in St Laurence Church, Affpuddle, St John the Baptist, Bere Regis and Holy Rood, Wool.

Morning Prayer (Common Worship), 8.30am Monday-Friday at Holy Rood, Wool.

Wednesdays Lent lunches. 13th, 27th March, 3rd and 10th April at 12 Noon. Holy Communion (BCP) followed by soup lunch, St John the Baptist Church, Bere Regis 20th March at the Methodist Chapel, Bere Heath.

Saturday 6th April , 12noon-2pm Lenten Soup Lunch & Crafts for kids - in the Methodist Chapel (includes Messy Church)

Sunday 7th April, 11.30am - Annual Parochial Church Meeting

Lent Courses

Mondays in Affpuddle commencing 11th March meeting 7.15 for 7.30 at Hazel Cottage Briantspuddle considering Easter from a number of angles. Further info please contact Jonathan Haigh 01929 471768

Thursdays in Bere Regis commencing 7th March meeting at 10.30am for 11.00am (various venues) please phone Brenda Pitfield 471391 for more information

Fridays in Wool 15th, 22nd, 29th, March & 5th April at 2pm, ‘Tenants of the King, inspiring hope in God’s Creation.’ Churches Together in Wool (CTW) Lent Course at the Cornerstone Church, East Burton.

Sundays in Wool 17th, 24th March, 7th & 14th April at 4pm in the D’Urberville Centre Meeting Room: ‘What then should we do?’ 4 Sessions on Christian Ethics including: Matters of life and death, Politics and Violence, The Greening of the Church.

Holy Week

Holy Week Reflections: Monday 15th, Tuesday 16th, & Wednesday 17th April 7pm at Holy Rood, Wool

Wednesday 17th April, 10am Holy Communion at the D’Urberville Centre, Wool

Maundy Thursday 18th April 11am Chrism Mass at the Cathedral, 7.00pm Services at St John the Baptist Church, Bere Regis and Holy Rood, Wool.

Good Friday 19th April, 10.00am Liturgy of the Cross, Holy Rood, Wool, 2pm Sticky Church Holy Rood, Wool, 2.30pm Good Friday Service, St Laurence, Affpuddle, 7pm, Lift High the Cross, St John the Baptist, Bere Regis

Saturday 20th April, Easter Vigil 7pm St John the Baptist Church, Bere Regis

Easter Day Sunday 21st April Dawn Service with renewal of Baptismal Vows followed by breakfast, Holy Rood, Wool 8.00am Holy Communion St John the Baptist, & Holy Rood,

9.15am Holy Communion, St Laurence, Affpuddle

10.00am Family Communion, Holy Rood, Wool, & St John the Baptist, Bere Regis

Sunday 28th April 3.00pm Annual Memorial Service, Holy Rood, Wool followed by tea

Holy Rood Lent appeal

This year we will again be supporting WaterAid. Statistically 1 in 9 people around the world don’t have access to clean water near their home. You can help by taking one of the Jars of Change labels on the font. Label a jar to collect your donations that will help provide water to communities around the world.

£648 will help to pay for digging and laying 9 km of water pipes.

For more information visit https://www.wateraid.org/uk/get-involved/fundraising/lent-appeal-jars-of-change

Please return your Jars of Change to Judy Hill, 9 High Street Close, or to church, by the Sunday after Easter.

Thank you - Judy.

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Last modified: Monday, 12 September 2022