9
CHURCH NEWS
Weekly Prayer Roster
Each week during the year the Churches in their prayers, the residents of particular streets in the village, those
who work in the parish and village organizations. Those to be remembered this month are:
2nd March
Park Road, Falcon Way; The Marinas, and those who live and work there
9th March
Field Close, Lincoln Close, Silver Street, Beaufort Drive, St Hugh’s Road
16th March
School Lane, Buckden Primary School (pupils, teachers and teaching assistants, governors,
volunteers, midday supervisors, lollipop lady, all support staff)
23rd March
Scouts, Cubs and Beavers, Guides, Brownies and Rainbows, Playgroup and Day Nursery,
Buccaneers after school club, Buckden Towers Youth Retreat Centre
30th March
Mayfield, Springfield Way, The Osiers, Stirtloe
Buckden & District Churches Together - Lent Study Lunches
The Lent Study Lunches will be held every Monday from 10th March to 7th April inclusive at 12.30 to 2.00 pm in
the Methodist School Room. Vegetarian soup and fresh bread are served followed by lively and interesting lead-
ership and discussion—led by Rev. Ron Ingamells. For programme details please see the entry on page 12.
Contact:
Ann Brittain
on
812012
Thought for the month
With our impending move away from Buckden drawing closer, we’re having a bigger clear out than usual in the
vicarage this spring! This made me think about why we talk about
spring
-cleaning - I mean, cleaning goes on all
year round, so why do we identify spring as a particularly good time of year for it?
When we lived in Godmanchester, our house was on a busy corner, right near the road, and every spring, on the
first proper sunny day, it would suddenly become very obvious quite how much dirt had been picked up by the bus
and car wheels and stuck to the windows. The sunlight would show up the dirt, and shame me into getting out
there and doing some proper spring cleaning. Then, of course, having cleaned the outside of the windows, the
sunlight would pour into the house, and I’d see more clearly what needed cleaning
inside
, as well as outside!
It’s no accident that spring makes us want to clear things up, to sort things out, to get things how they should be.
And as we do this for our homes, we can also do it for our lives. Jesus called himself ‘the light of the world’ – like
the sunshine on a bright spring day, that light makes our hearts glad, but also shows up more clearly the bad hab-
its and old grudges that clutter up the soul.
The church season of Lent begins on 5
th
March, and is traditionally a time not only to ‘give things up’, but to sort
priorities out, to work out what matters most, to saying goodbye to the things that get in the way of living well, and
work out new, good habits that will be life-giving for us and for those around us.
However you tackle your spring cleaning, may God give you light to see clearly, the wisdom to know what needs
clearing out, and the energy to do make it happen!
God bless you all,
Revd Ally Barrett
Vicar of St Mary’s
