with prayers and readings for Advent Sunday and more news and information.

Dear Fellow Members of the Churches of Milborne Port Benefice,

We have promised to keep you updated with any information we received from the Diocese about the vacancy.

We have now been informed that the Diocese is absolutely committed to having a Vicarage in the village which is great news for us since clearly they would not be making this commitment if they did not intend to replace the incumbent.

The housing committee for the Diocese visited The Vicarage last month.  They have concluded that it is not financially feasible to refurbish The Vicarage – as discussed at the PCC this would cost over £200k and that is money that the Diocese simply does not have.  £200k is in effect the salary of 7 incumbents for one year and we know the pressure on the Diocese to cut clergy posts.  It is much better stewardship of Diocesan funds to spend the money on clergy rather than on refurbishing property.

The Diocese therefore proposes to sell the current vicarage and replace it with another family home that is more economical to run and manageable.  They absolutely guarantee that this will happen and are actively seeking properties that meet the criteria for clergy housing. By doing this they make the vacant post much more attractive to potential applicants many of whom would have been put off by the cost of running the current vicarage and managing its gardens even if it had been refurbished. 

We wanted to let you know this news before any rumours began to circulate.

It is such a relief to know that the incumbency will be advertised and that the Diocese are doing all they can to help us attract good candidates.

We will also let the congregations know this update on Sunday during the services.

Nicki Edwards, Jacquie Hall, Charlie Beney and Trudy West

Churchwardens

with prayers and readings for Christ the King and other news and information.

with prayers and readings for the second Sunday before Advent (Remembrance Sunday) plus other information.

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Milborne Port Magazine November 2021

with a letter from the Rev Frank, church services in November and news and information from village organisations.

with prayers and readings for the 3rd Sunday before Advent plus forthcoming services, news and events.

with prayers and readings for All Saints Day plus news and information.

Notes from a meeting on 11th October with the Archdeacon of Wells and others, attended by members of the three PCCs and retired priests. The meeting covered preparation of the Profile and responsibilities during the vacancy.

Thank you to everyone who attended the Benefice discussion and contributed their ideas towards the compilation of the Profile document required for the recruitment of a new Incumbent for this Benefice.

It is not too late to suubmit your comments and suggestions or for those who attended, any additional inspiration you have had.

Nicki prefaced this activity by reminding us of the words of the Prayer of St Teresa of Avila

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.

The following questions were addressed by those who attended on Sunday 17th October and we would love to receive any additional comments and ideas.  What are we good at?

• What does our community need more of from us?
• What kind of leader are we looking for?
• What can we offer our new Vicar?
• How could the parishes in our Benefice work more closely together?
• What are the biggest challenges for our community?

We would greatly value your contribution

Many thanks
Nicki, Jacquie, Charlie and Trudy (churchwardens)

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Silver Linings and Gift Day

An enormous thank you to everyone who helped to make this such an enjoyable and interesting day as well as fund-raising for the Church restoration and upkeep.  It was such a great team effort!  

We are extremely grateful to everyone who donated financially; £6,400 has been raised so far (before the addition of Gift Aid).  This will hopefully cover both the roof work and electrical work currently being undertaken.  However, the forthcoming work to cure rainwater leaks may reveal that further work needs to be carried out.

See Photo Gallery for photos of the exhibits.

with readings and prayers for the last Sunday after Trinity and news and information.

with prayers and readings for the 20th Sunday after Trinity plus news and events.

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Milborne Port Magazine October 2021

with a letter from Canon Brian, church services in October plus news, events and information from the Parish Council and other village organisations.

with prayers and readings for the 19th Sunday after Trinity plus forthcoming services and events.

with prayers and readings for the 18th Sunday after Trinity plus news and events.

With readings and prayers for the 17th Sunday after Trinity, plus news, events and contact details.

with prayers and readings for the 16th Sunday after Trinity plus news and events.

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Milborne Port Magazine September 2021

with a letter from our churchwardens, a thank you from Rev Sarah, church services for September and news and information from organisations in Milborne Port.