November 2023
Services
5th 10.00am Messy Church    
  10.30am Rev Treevor Grant - The Leprosy Mission   (C)
  6.00pm Taize Service    
12th 10.30am John Price    
         
19th 10.30am Rev Ray Lewis    
         
26th 10.30am Rev Marc Owen    
 
       
(C) denotes communion will be held as part of the worship service

Weekday Meetings
Monday

Craft Group

2.00pm

6th and 20th

Wednesday Luncheon Club 12:00 noon for 12.30 1st, 15th and 22nd
Thursday Bible Study 3.00pm 2nd, 16th and 23rd
       
       
       
       
       
       

Remembrance Day - Saturday 11th at 11
As is our practice, we will meet at the Memorial Gates by the football pitch to remember those who have fallen in war. This will be particularly poignant given the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East. Please come and join us (we begin at 10.50)


Gardener's Corner    

Well here we are into November. The evenings getting darker sooner and leaves falling everywhere. Lots of berries everywhere too - cotoneaster, firethorns and hollies all giving an exciting display. Rosehips and haws are also good this year, giving lovely colours although the bushes and trees are dying back now - they look good in indoor flower arrangements too. Pick the last of the apples now for storage.
Now is a good time to check for damage to fences, pergolas, posts, greenhouse etc. The greenhouse can have a good clean in preparation for early seed planting next year. Evergreen climbers and vines can be tidied up, making sure they have adequate attachments on fences, walls etc. Any pot grown bulbs for indoors can now be brought inside, but be careful to do this gradually or they will flower too soon. If you are a rose fan now is the best time to plant bare root varieties, giving them time to adjust before the growing season. Make sure you add bonemeal or other slow-release fertiliser to the soil when planting, firm the roses in and prune about 30% of the top growth away. All roses should be pruned by the end of this month including ramblers and climbers. Look out to for fir cones now for your December decorations in time for Christmas.
Enjoy your garden!


Minister's Musings
Nansi's Musings A few weeks ago we took a shortcut through the graveyard of St. Mary's Priory Church, Monmouth. The door of the church was open, so we went inside. It is a beautiful and impressive interior. The church as originally built on the site of an old Benedictine Priory, and over the years has been restored and rebuilt many times. On the side of the altar are an impressive array of plaques, each one bearing the name of a solider killed fighting in the Boer War. On the opposite wall are memorials; large ones listing the names of men who died in the first and second world wars, and smaller tablets for those killed in Korea and other subsequent wars - the last one being for those who died in Afghanistan. Each and every one listed must have left behind a grieving family. My thoughts turned to the futility of war and to Pete Seeger's song Where have all the flowers gone, with the refrain When will they ever learn?
Our chapel, here at Govilon, is certainly not as grand as St. Mary's, it is a far more humble building. However, it has been a meeting place for the faithful for over three and a half centuries. The size of the congregation makes it possible for us all to know each other. It is a place where Christian friendships are formed, and individuals can participate in worship, pray for the sick and learn to pray in public. Everything is done in an atmosphere of love and acceptance, where people are free o risk making mistakes. We have no war memorials here (Editor's note - but do have two Commonwealth War Graves), but on Remembrance Day - November 11th at 11 o'clock - we will gather to honour the dead of the many wars at the War Memorial Gates.
During the first world war, after the original patriotic enthusiasm, people's views of the war began to be challenged when news reached them of the enormous number of dead and missing after the battles of the Somme and Passchendaele. Were the number of casualties justified? Was fighting this war actually going to achieve anything?
The circumstances in Germany after the war indirectly led to the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party, and with it Hitler's ambitions for territorial expansion that led to the second world war. Since 1945 there have been numerous conflicts, and there continues to be strife throughout the world. We live in troubling times. Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in 2022 set alight the worst conflict in Europe since world war two. Now there is conflict between Israel and the Hamas militant group. Following the vicious killing by Hamas of around 1400 people (many at a music festival, and others in their homes on various kibbutz). After the incursion, many hostages were taken back to Gaza. And now Israel has launched many retaliatory attacks on Gaza where, in a different way, Palestinians are also hostages to Hamas. The situation changes hourly now, and we can only pray that there is no escalation of hostilities to embrace the rest of the Middle East and beyond.
Every person, whatever nationality, is a child of God, and in these worrying times we must strive to honour humanity. This is the very opposite of hatred, and is the root of compassion, justice and dignity. We pray for an end to the bitter conflict and for a lasting peace.

 

   

© 2012 www.govilonbaptist.org.uk