Weekly News

Benefice Office Opening Hours
Monday to Friday -  9:30 am to 1.00 pm

10th May 2026

The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Welcome
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The Collect
God our redeemer, you have delivered us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of your Son: grant, that as by his death he has recalled us to life, so by his continual presence in us he may raise us to eternal joy; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Post Communion
God our Father, whose Son Jesus Christ gives the water of eternal life: may we thirst for you, the spring of life and source of goodness, through him who is alive and reigns, now and for ever. Amen.

Lectionary Readings for Sunday:

New Testament Reading: 1 Peter 3: 13-22
Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect. Maintain a good conscience so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight lives, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

New Testament Reading:  Acts 17: 22-31
Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely spiritual you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all peoples to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps fumble about for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we, too, are his offspring.’ “Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Gospel:  John 14: 15-21
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you. “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

Please click here (or on the image) for This Weeks Daily Readings
 

Benefice Prayers 

We pray for those who are sick at this time and remember those who have recently died and pray for their families:

Continuing Prayers for
Sophie Laffey
Rachel Batchelor

Sick
Connie Cowley
Caroline Hunt
Richard Watts
Arthur Hughes

Rest In Peace
Caroline Eyre
Jean Duck
Tim Knights

Banns
Nathan Harris and Sophie Hughes at St Lawrence, Towcester

Wedding
Georgos Markitanis and Anna Oreszczyn at St Mary’s, Easton Neston
 

Benefice Notices

Vergers for Baptisms
We are always looking for vergers for baptisms. If you or anyone you know would like to become a verger please contact the office on 01327 350459.

Raffle Tickets
Tickets for the St Lawrence Church Grand Draw are on sale in St Lawrence. Please place your completed ticket stubs in the envelope provided and post through the Vicarage postbox or bring to the Fete.

Ascension Day
This occurs 40 days after Easter and is therefore on a Thursday. This year falling on Thursday 14th May. It’s one of the major days of the Christian year. Our service to mark this day, a communion service, is at 7.30 pm at Greens Norton.
Please do try to attend particularly if this is not one you have been to before. Lent is 40 days in length, and the Easter season is 40 days. Jesus’ ascension marks the return of Jesus to heaven – having been born on earth at Christmas. After Ascension we look forward to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Sunday 24th May.

Pentecost Sunday 
Both Towcester and Greens Norton will have special services. The Greens Norton service will be changed from a BCP Communion to a Pentecost Communion with Hymns.

Clothing Recycling Fundraiser 
St Lawrence Spring Recycling Collection. We are collecting clothing, shoes, bags, and belts for resale / recycling. No bedding please. Please drop bags into church or at the Vicarage garage door. Last date for drop offs is Sunday 10th May. If you would like bags to be collected from you, please call the benefice office on 01327 350459.

St Lawrence Fete
Sunday 28th June. Helpers needed for stalls and games. Tombola items also needed – bottles, boxes of biscuits and chocolates, smellies, new small gifts. Please drop into the Chantry House Office or contact Steve Challen 07593700754

APCMS
Please note dates for the APCMS are as follows:
Saturday 2nd May APCM following Holy Communion at St Mary’s, Easton Neston at 6:00  pm.
Sunday 10th May APCM following Holy Communion at St Lawrence, Towcester at 9:15 am.
Sunday 10th May APCM following Holy Communion at St Michael’s, Bradden at 9:15am.
Sunday 17th May APCM following Holy Communion at St Bartholomew’s, Greens Norton 11:15 am.

Greens Norton Village Fete
Sunday14th June. Helpers needed. Please speak to Revd Greg or Roberta if you can help.

Communion
Please can we ask and remind people to refrain from dipping (intinction) their wafer into the wine when receiving communion. Those administering the chalice do not wish to cause upset at the communion rail. The reason for non-dipping policy is on the bishop’s advice and twofold: firstly one of hygiene and secondly because we have members who are gluten intolerant. If you feel unable to receive the wine from the chalice then receiving in one kind means you are making a valid communion. Thank you for your understanding.

Easton Neston Church and Churchyard visitors
If you have previously registered your number plate for access to visit St Mary's Easton Neston Church and Churchyard and it is not working the gate, please would you let Bev know on 01327 354385.

Please click here, or on the image, for This Months Services