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A fond farewell to Julian and Margery
Julian's last service with us at St. Andrew's will be at 10am on Sunday
10 December. We warmly invite all those who have been touched by
Julian and Margery's ministry over the past 10 years to join us for this
all age service. Julian and Margery will be moving to Wells in the
next couple of weeks, and Julian will take up his new job at St. Thomas'
Church on Saturday 6 January.
Welcome to
our website
We hope that
you will enjoy looking around, and will come back often, as
the site is updated every week. Our aim is to capture the spirit
of St. Andrew's Church online - our faith, our worship, our people, and
our community.
Our church is
first of all a spiritual centre, a place where people can find God, be
nourished in their spiritual journey, and grow in their life of faith.
If you could come along to one of our services your presence would be a
joy to us and to God.
If you have any
questions or suggestions please do contact us using the 'Get in Touch' button.
You will find all of our contact details there, including access to a
location map. We also love to know a little more about our web guests,
and would really appreciate it if you could take a moment to sign our
Visitors' Book.
Again,
welcome and thank you for visiting our site.
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Worship this week at
St. Andrew's Church Taunton |
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Sunday 3 December
Advent 1
8.00am: Holy Communion
(said) -
a quiet and reflective
start to Sunday
10.00am Parish Communion with Holy
Baptism
this is an opportunity to
offer the events of the past week to God, and to be renewed and nurtured
in preparation for the week to come. A warm welcome awaits you at this
sung Eucharist, which is at the heart of our weekly pattern of worship
at St. Andrew's. Holy Baptism will be incorporated in the service. |
Wednesday 6 December
10.00am: Holy Communion
(said)
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Sunday 10 December
Advent 2
8.00am: Holy Communion
(said) -
a quiet and reflective
start to Sunday
10.00am A service for all ages -
worship, a Bible reading, a talk and of course some hymns
and songs. A warm welcome awaits you at this, Julian's last service at
St. Andrew's. We hope that you will stay for a chat and refreshments
afterwards.
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For the readings at our Sunday services please click
here
and to see all of our
events in December please look at our
calendar. |
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Christmas at St. Andrew's Church
Taunton
Click the picture for more
information
or
click here to download a .pdf
of our Christmas leaflet. |
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Then and now
A reflection by Katharine Smith
for
the second Sunday of Advent - 10 December 2006 |
Gospel: Luke 3: 1 - 6
In the fifteenth year of the reign of
Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea,
and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler
of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler
of Abilene, during the high-priesthood of Annas and
Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in
the wilderness. He went into all the region around the
Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the
words of the prophet Isaiah,‘The voice of one crying out in
the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths
straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain
and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made
straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh
shall see the salvation of God.”
’
Luke
carefully sets his story in its historical context, referring to local,
national and international politics. He makes it clear that Jesus lived
in the real world, among real people. He also carefully sets his story
in the context of God’s dealings with his people, Israel, who now live
under the oppression of Rome and an emperor who is worshipped in some
places as a god.
The
people of Israel long to be set free from fear and oppression, they long
for a knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins and
for the light of a new dawn to shine upon them, guiding them from
darkness into the way of peace.
Luke
describes how John uses the words of Israel’s prophet, Isaiah, to herald
the coming of the One who will answer this longing and to call people to
prepare for his appearance among them.
Our
world is not so very different. Powerful nations still oppress. Many
people of faith live under threat of persecution. Corruption and
injustice create inequality among people who are equal in the eyes of
God.
We need
to hear John’s message every bit as much as the people who heard it two
thousand years ago. We are not spectators by the banks of the river.
We also have a need for repentance, forgiveness and the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit to prepare us for the return of our Lord so that we
shall see the salvation of God.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, your prophet, John, calls us to prepare for your coming
among us in Jesus. Give us the grace and humility to acknowledge our
need for forgiveness and the strength of your Holy Spirit to guide us in
the ways of peace and justice.
Katharine Smith is a
Reader at St. Andrew's Church Taunton. She is a regular contributor to
Sunday Link and Common Worship, Living Word.
Katharine's first book "The Way of the Cross", with
original artworks by her brother George Boxley, will be published by
Redemptorist Publications in December.
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