Update on Sunday Worship

Sunday 9th August

The Tenth Sunday After Trinity

Thank you for visiting the Tove Benefice website.

We are currently reviewing our approach to communications and would appreciate your feedback.  We would particularly like to know if this is your first visit or you are a regular visitor to the website.  It would also be helpful to understand what it was you were looking to find out.

Please contact us using the Your Comments page, by email to 360musafa@gmail.com, or by contacting the Tove Benefice Office.

Saturday
2:00 pm  Wedding at St Lawrence, Towcester

Sunday
9:15 am  Holy Communion at St Lawrence, Towcester
9:15 am  Holy Communion at St Michael's Bradden
10:15 am  Benefice Sunday Worship via Zoom 
11:15 am  Family Communion at St Bartholomew's, Greens Norton


Subscribe to our weekly Newsletter here.

Our weekly news contains details of services for this and next weekend, as well as daily bible readings, prayer requests and notices for forthcoming events. 

Looking ahead to events and services that are happening please do look at the monthly calendar for August
 

Copies are available in churches for collecting especially for those who do not have emails. 


Dear all,

Seeing the Person

Last week I was sitting in a waiting room. It was an ordinary day, one of those moments that would usually be forgotten almost as soon as it had passed. Instead, I have found myself thinking about it ever since.

A gentleman nearby began talking about immigration. “Have you seen the disgusting new immigration figures?” he said to the person next to him. Then, with a nod in my direction, he made it clear that I was part of the conversation, even though I had never spoken a word. Although I was born in Northampton and have lived here all my life, I am of Greek Cypriot heritage on my father's side, which means that come summer, I get very dark-skinned.

For a brief moment, I wasn't Nigel. I wasn't a parish priest. I wasn't someone quietly waiting for an appointment. Before a single word had been exchanged, I had become "one of them". Someone had decided who I was, and perhaps even what I believed, simply because of the colour of my skin.

That is what racism does. It stops seeing a person and starts seeing a category.

I replied, "I'm more concerned about the rise in hate and racism than I am about people trying to build a safe life for themselves and their families." There was no response, and the conversation quickly ended. Mine, however, did not. It has continued in my own heart ever since.

The truth is, none of us gets to choose where we are born. It is one of life's great lotteries. Had circumstances been different, any one of us might have been born in a country torn apart by war, poverty or oppression. Any one of us might have faced the heart breaking decision to leave everything familiar in search of safety for those we love.

What stayed with me wasn't simply the comment itself. It was what came afterwards.

For a while, I found myself wondering what other people see when they look at me. When someone glances my way, are they simply being friendly, or are they making assumptions? If a conversation stops as I walk past, is it about me, or is my mind filling in the gaps? Most of the time, it probably isn't. But experiences like this have a way of planting seeds of doubt.

That, perhaps, is one of the greatest harms prejudice causes. It doesn't just wound in the moment; it quietly changes how a person experiences the world. It makes you second-guess what others might be thinking, even when they have done nothing wrong.

None of us should have to carry that burden.

Whether we hold strong views on immigration or not, there is something deeper at stake. Before we debate policies or politics, we must remember that we are talking about people. Mothers and fathers. Sons and daughters. Human beings made in the image of God.
 
Jesus understood what it meant to be a stranger. As a child, he became a refugee in Egypt. Throughout his ministry he constantly crossed the boundaries others built, welcoming those whom society preferred to keep at arm's length. He saw the person before he saw the label.

I don't believe most people set out to wound others. In fact, many would be horrified to know the effect their words can have. But perhaps that is why Jesus tells us to love our neighbour so carefully. We rarely know the burdens another person is already carrying.

Perhaps that is the question I have been carrying with me ever since that day. When a stranger walks into the room, what do I see first? A label? A category? Or a fellow human being, made in the image of God, in whom Christ himself may already be waiting to meet me?

In a world that so often encourages us to see labels, may we, as followers of Jesus, become people who choose instead to see faces.
 
Revd Nigel

Ride, Stride and Drive

Saturday 12th September 2026

This is the new name for the Northamptonshire Historic Churches Trust sponsored event taking place on Saturday 12^th September with churches in Northamptonshire taking part along with many more all over the country.  Participants plan a route to walk, cycle, horse ride or drive a car, on their own or in a group, visiting churches, many of which are open with people to welcome them and nearly all with basic free refreshments.  It was agreed at the recent AGM that participants should be allowed to drive between churches.  It is hoped that more older and less mobile supporters can take part and that many churches, especially those on busy roads or rather out of the way, will receive more visitors and more people will take delight in Northamptonshire’s beautiful churches.

St Lawrence Towcester is planning to be open between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm on the 12^th September and we are looking to set up a rota of people willing to spend an hour or two in the church to welcome any visitors.  Welcomers can be sponsored but it is not essential.  We are also hoping to have participants raising sponsorship by cycling, walking or driving (50% of the basic amount excluding Gift Aid is returned to the church of your choice).
I am planning to do four separate walks between some of the local and not so local churches and I already have someone who is going to walk with me.  We are happy if anyone else would like to join us for all or part of the day. I would also welcome sponsorship and will be putting a sponsor form in the Chantry Office.
Anyone interested in finding out more, please contact Val Hartley on 07511 636883 or val.e.hartley@btinternet.com
 
Other churches in the benefice are also taking part:-
St Michael, Bradden will be open, unmanned from10:00 am to 6:00 pm
St Mary, Easton Neston will be open with welcomers from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
St Bartholomew, Greens Norton will be open with welcomers from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, with refreshments.
 
There is information about NHCT and Ride, Stride and Drive on the NHCT website www.nhct.org.uk also showing photos of 2025 participants and their stories.

Worship for this coming week