The Benefice of the East Vale & Avon Villages

August 2025

Dear Friends

Did you know that our churches here in the Vale have a special connection with a group of churches in the Halberstadt-Ost (near Magdeburg) area of Germany?  I was so pleased to meet Pastor Susanne who came over especially for my licensing service when I first arrived in November 2024 – but the partnership between the two communities stretches back over the last 25 years. The original partnership between Worcester Diocese and the Area Bishop of Magdeburg, - was renewed only a couple of weeks ago when Bishop Bettina from the Evangelical Church of Central Germany was a co-signatory with our Bishop Martin during a recent ordination service at Worcester Cathedral.  

The local links have been built up and treasured with new and old friendships with each visit.  Last year we hosted a large group of teenagers, meeting for a BBQ and games – and later this month I will go over with a group to get to know our German friends a little better.  I learned French at school, but my German is almost non-existent -something I need to remedy before getting on the plane! I am excited about the possibilities and making some new connections -but the trip has really got me thinking about who our neighbours are, and why it matters that we care about them. 

How do you feel about your neighbours? What are you like as a neighbour?  Sometimes our neighbour is the person next door – you’ve known them forever and their kids are as much part of your lives as your grandkids are of theirs. Or you aren’t too sure of their names but they have a really yappy dog that always gets set off by passing horses or the postman. Neighbours come in all shapes, sizes, colours, and distance/nearness – people we know well, and also people we have never met and never will. 

All the major world religions have something to say about the importance of caring for our neighbours – either explicitly as in Judaism and Christianity – or more generally practising loving-kindness and compassion to people.  Loving your neighbour sometimes feels really easy – and sometimes feels like one of the hardest things we can ever do. 

But whether you have any faith or none at all, the practice of loving your neighbour is one of the things that can make our world a much better and kinder place.  Why? Firstly because it reminds me that we are all connected; the things that we do, the choices that we make about how we live, not only affect our neighbours living next door or downriver from us, but also our neighbours on a Pacific island thousands of miles from here.  Secondly when I try flexing that love and kindness muscle, it seems to have a dual effect – it turns my focus out from myself, (hopefully enabling me to become a better kinder, more loving person) -always a good thing – and it should also make it a bit easier for my neighbour to love me. 

I think we forget sometimes how easy it is to lose those connections with each other -or how much we can gain from making and keeping up neighbourly relationships in the first place.  There are lots of things that we do as individuals and as communities that offer the chance to build those connections -through our schools, or sports clubs, special events, volunteering.  But if all that is too hard, even simply being aware of what is going on locally or further afield – and caring about the people involved - is all part of that work of neighbourliness.  Including when you read the inside pages of this community magazine 😊

Gott segne dich…..   Rev. Jo Fielding    Revjo.eastvale@gmail.com    Tel 07561823135

July 2025 

Hello Everyone, 

Yes, the rain has at last returned and everywhere looks fresher but if you have been watching the many TV programmes on aspects of our world, you will have understood more about the  many changes that we humans have brought about. Yes, we humans have achieved great things BUT,  scientific evidence for climate change is incontrovertible.

One of the ways in which this has occurred has been the relentless drive for MORE – we human beings are never satisfied but keep on reaching out, grabbing, taking, making, with little or no regard for consequences. 

Now we are seeing the evidence of the damage we have done, collectively. We are also seeing evidence of the many efforts to repair and restore our environment.

But it is such a huge challenge – what possible difference can I, one individual make?

It has been said that every journey begins with a single step. If we each make that decision – yes – I will do something today – together, we will make those changes that are needed.

We already recycle, reuse or repair items we have bought. We also share usage of equipment. Many of us can remember wartime shortages which taught us to ‘ make do’ or ‘mend’ and also to accept ‘can’t have’.

Many organisations have adopted the principle of becoming carbon neutral and all the churches across the benefice are working towards Ecochurch Gold Standard. This entails looking at all aspects of church life so that we line up with biblical principles of caring for God’s creation. We look at our buildings and how we care for them, the contents and how we use them, our church yards and how they reflect the beauty of creation, our teaching and how we reflect God’s care for his world.

You and I CAN make changes to the way we live, so that we cause less damage, we CAN renew and repair our small patches of God’s good earth and we CAN join together with others to tackle larger challenges.

It is our choice.

So, as we enjoy this summer and share time with family and friends, at home or away, let’s ask ourselves what other things we could do to make a difference. At book clubs, bowls clubs, and any other group we are part of, we can ask what else can we do, have you got any ideas?

There are thousands of others across our world who face much bigger problems of droughts and floods brought about through our changing climate. Others are living in war zones, desperately trying to survive amidst more man made chaos. Even in these situations,  we learn of courage, help and hope among people working together and making a difference right where they are. So let’s share our hope and help and courage right where we are in this Benefice of East Vale and Avon, as well as praying for others across our  beautiful but endangered planet.

May God guide and bless you in the choices you make this week.

Revd Mary Godin (retd Cleeve Prior)

June 2025

Something Old, Something New. 

Dear Friends: at the time of writing this, we have just celebrated VE Day, and the election of Pope Leo XIV has been announced. Did you notice the traditional ways in which these events are signalled -the multicoloured bunting wrapped around lamp posts and pillars, church bells being rung, and the white smoke rising from the chimney of the Sistine chapel in Rome, all sights and sounds that have been used to mark these extraordinary times reaching way back over the years – centuries even. Of course there are innovations, new ways of doing things, new ways of thinking that bring fresh insights and interest – but it can also be good to have a sense of continuity, to know what is worth holding on to.  This is true for us as individuals, for the friendships and relationships we build with each other, and it is true for our communities, organisations and businesses.   

I’ve also been spending quite a few evenings recently talking with couples who are getting married in one of our churches this summer.  Each year we hold a “Wedding Information” event on the Saturday nearest to St Valentines’s Day, when we get all this year’s wedding couples together so they can meet me, (and each other), hear from Church wardens, bell ringers, get some info about banns etc.  It’s always lovely to chat with them and get the ball rolling on arrangements for dates etc – and each time it is great to see the variety of people and the stories that lie behind their decision to get married, and married in church.   

Fast forward to about now, and the wedding prep conversations are in full swing.  Before we meet, I email each couple a set of questions, asking them to have a go at answering the questions  separately before comparing their answers. When we meet, they have the opportunity to tell me how they got on, as well as planning the actual wedding service during our meeting.  The conversations are always really interesting -and generally bring up all sorts of insights and stories that help me get to know them better, so that each service will be unique and special  - and exactly right for each couple.   Some want to hold on to tradition (“Yes to an organist playing a classical wedding march - and we want the hymn that Mum had at her wedding”), others go for a Spotify playlist on our Bluetooth system, and a poem written by the Best Woman about how the bride never remembers to turn the office light off.

But each couple will use an almost identical set of things to tell me about their relationship.  They tell me how they trust each other, how they often know what their partner is thinking, or feeling.  They tell me how they have learned to give each other space when it is needed, how they know when to listen and when to speak, how they have grown to appreciate each other’s skillsets and qualities, fitting together.  I hear all this and think about the way that healthy loving relationships have worked like this over the centuries, for every generation.  Times change, and bring new ideas, new ways of doing things, new ways of thinking, (and many of those are long overdue!) – but it’s always good to be able to keep hold of the things that hold us together, that enable us to know that we belong, that remind us of who we are and why we are here.  In the words of the most popular Bible reading at a church wedding “Now faith hope and love abide, and the greatest of these is love.” 

We face change in our villages all the time, and some changes we worry about or protest against, some we look forward to and celebrate. The old and the new rub up against each other, and we are always in the middle, picking our way through carefully, hopefully, with love.    God bless you       Rev. Jo Fielding    Revjo.eastvale@gmail.com    Tel 07561823135

Remembering May 2025

5 years ago, our streets were silent as we observed the requirements of lockdown.  The VE weekend that was planned then took on a different feel and nature.  I remember sitting on the edge of our drive sharing tea with my husband and waving to my neighbours across the road. We each took a photo of each other and posted it on Facebook to show what we were doing.  How bizarre this will sound in another few years to a different generation.  Yet the memory is still there and possibly will turn up on ‘memories from this day’ on our Facebook pages!

 To be able to remember past events is helpful in many ways. It keeps us connected to those special times we don’t want to forget.  It also helps us remember events and to empathise with others especially when we are remembering crucial times like the end of WWII and everything that happened during that time.

There have been so many stories reported about this historical time in our recent history and days like VE day helps to cement those memories over again.

There are still people in our Benefice that lived through the last war and remember the first VE day and the restrictions that continued afterwards, like food rationing. I urge our younger generation to listen to their stories and remember how it affected those young lives.  That way the stories and memories are not lost.

Part of my ministry is listening to and reading the tributes the family produce at their loved one’s funerals.  It is a very special privilege to do that and one I have been pleased to do since living here. Most of the time when the eulogy or tribute is written it remembers all the good points, the sunny days, the funny incidents in that person’s life but always that loved one is remembered for all the love that was shared throughout their life.     What better way to remember someone?

Helen Keller quoted: What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us.

So, as we enter into all the 80th VE day celebrations, remember, that whilst remembering the past, we are also making new memories to remember in the future, as we go forward. I do hope they are happy and loving memories.   Margaret Pye

From the Vicar:   Q  What does the vicar actually DO with her time? 

Recently I had some business cards printed. The logo in the middle of the card shows an arch of green and white leaves, with something like a stylised person standing underneath. I chose it because it reminded me of our Benefice logo – which shows a tree on the banks of a river, which could represent the Vale’s heritage of orchards by the banks of the River Avon, but also of the verse in the Bible describing “..a river whose streams make glad the city of God”.   The logo on my cards reminds me of all of this- and there is something about the way that the human figure is standing with their arms outstretched up towards the leaves reminds me of a juggler- which is pretty appropriate since I seem to spend a lot of my time juggling very different concerns and roles. 

These vary hugely from week to week, and from season to season -though there are – thankfully – some things that form a bedrock, running steadily, forming the rhythm of my days.  With January behind us, Christmas decorations all packed away, our Epiphany celebrations have finished (look out for “2025 +C M B +” chalked on  or near your church doorway, reminding us of the journey of the Wise Men to see the Holy Family).  Instead I am preparing to meet all our wedding couples on the Saturday of Valentine’s weekend, with a team of helpers to give them some information about the legal processes, together with wedding bells, flowers, music systems etc – all the different things that can go into a wedding in one of our churches to make it a memorable day for them. 

Right on that day’s heels will come Ash Wednesday, and the start of Lent which gives us the chance to do a sort of mental clear-out, ask ourselves some hard questions about our lives, and try to give some honest answers -to ourselves, and to God, about what really matters.  It can be life changing!   In amongst all the drama and extra services and events in Lent, Holy Week and Easter, I will also be talking with our 5 sets of church wardens and treasurers preparing for our annual parish meetings which take place just after Easter.  Mixed in with all of this, there are meetings with each wedding couple to help them prepare for their big day, with baptism families for their baptism services on Sundays – (most take place in the afternoon, though some christenings happen as part of our regular Sunday services at our different churches.)  Then there are regular Sunday services & other events to prepare for as well,  plus meetings with our Benefice worship team members.

I also meet regularly with each of our 3 school principals when we plan dates when I can come in to take assemblies, or be in school to support students and staff for key events. I am often asked to come and talk to a class -which could be anything from “What is a font?” to “Tell us about why you wear those funny clothes on Sunday.”

Given that I look after 5 congregations and 6 church buildings, serve as a school governor & on 3 trust boards, a lot of work has to be done by phone, or messaging and emails, across our whole Benefice and with staff at the Diocesan office in Worcester.  I work with our worship team, our dedicated church wardens and treasurers to make sure that our churches can stay open and services can take place as planned.  But mixed in with all the admin, all the joys and worries, all the emails and phone calls, whether I am out dog-walking or calling in to see someone,  all the 101 plates that I juggle as your minister, all this is underpinned by a steady rhythm of prayer, of listening & responding as best as I can to the heart-beat of God’s love for all of us here in this place.     God bless you in all that you are juggling with in your life.    Jo Fielding  Revjo.eastvale@gmail.com    Tel 07561823135