Weekly News

Dearest friends, Last Sunday, more than 175 people gathered in Mill Marsh Park for Praise in the Park. Take a look at the photos here. It was a wonderful afternoon of worship, fellowship, and witness. Yet perhaps the most encouraging thing about the day was not just the number of people who came, but what it revealed about the work God has already been doing amongst us. Over recent years both St John’s and St Luke’s have experienced their share…

Dearest friends, Join us for Praise in the Park at Mill Marsh Park as PPT Church and St John’s gather together for a shared Eucharist for the first time in living memory. Once part of the same parish family, the two churches have followed different paths over many years, but now come together again in friendship and common mission to share the love of God with the people of Bovey Tracey, Heathfield, and the surrounding communities.  All are warmly invited…

Dearest friends, In the days between Ascension and Pentecost, the Church lingers over Jesus’ prayer in St John’s Gospel: that his disciples “may all be one” as he and the Father are one. This unity is not simply an inward feeling or a private spirituality. It is meant to become visible in the life of the Church,  in shared prayer, shared love, and shared witness to the world. That matters especially for us here in Bovey Tracey and Milber. St…

Dearest friends, We wait prayerfully between Ascension and Pentecost, we stand with the disciples in that remarkable moment between promise and fulfilment. Jesus has ascended to the Father, yet before He went, He left His Church with a command that still echoes through every generation: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28.19). These are not words for clergy alone, nor for missionaries in distant lands. They are Christ’s calling to every baptised Christian. The Church exists not…

Dearest friends, Forty days after Easter, the Church celebrates the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. It can sometimes feel like a quieter feast, overshadowed by the joy of Easter or the fire of Pentecost, yet the Ascension is one of the great turning points in the Christian year. Without it, the story of salvation would feel unfinished. The Ascension is not simply Jesus “going away.” It is the moment when the risen Christ returns to the Father in glory,…

Dearest friends, Why are we blessing motorbikes? It’s a good question! Why are we blessing them at the Cathedral rather than here in church, if this is a new worshipping community for us? Another good question! We bless motorbikes in a tradition that goes back to at least the 1950s. In 1959 Father Bill Shergold got up the courage to wander into the Ace Cafe and invite bikers to come to his church for Evensong. It was not an easy…

Dearest friends, St Joseph the Worker is a quiet but compelling example of discipleship lived out in ordinary life. He is not remembered for preaching sermons or performing miracles, but for his faithfulness in daily work, his obedience to God, and his care for those entrusted to him. Our world often measures worth by status or achievement. St. Joseph reminds us that holiness is found in the hidden and the humble. As a carpenter, he sanctified ordinary labour, showing that…

Dearest friends, St George is often remembered as the dragon-slayer. Whether or not we dwell on the details of that story, its meaning is clear enough: here is a man who faced evil, not with fear or compromise, but with courage rooted in faith.  The dragon, in Christian imagination, has long stood for all that opposes God—sin, injustice, fear, and death itself. And so George’s victory is not really about heroism for its own sake, but about trust that, in…

Dearest friends, Divine Mercy Sunday – Finding peace through mercy. In the 1930’s a Polish nun called Sr. Faustina (now St. Faustina) experienced a series of visions of Jesus. Amongst her visions, Jesus asked her to paint this very special image – an image of the Divine Mercy of God flowing from his Sacred Heart.  Her visions were centred around Jesus, bringing her to a place where she could see the mercy of God at work in the world around…

Dearest friends, The empty tomb stands as a symbol of the greatest hope and the greatest story ever told. Of a man who came to earth, was crucified, died, buried, descended into hell, and on the third day rose again! He came to take away our sin, to bring us into a new life in God. So as we start this journey together on Thursday evening, as darkness descends and altars are stripped. We must remember that darkness will never…

Dearest friends, Palm Sunday has always struck me as a delightful and fun day. I can so easily get caught up in the expectation and the joy of the people of Jerusalem as Jesus enters the city.  I can see and hear the children as they run to meet him. This great teacher, this man who is God, Jesus who has given us so many signs and such wonderful love.  The noise, the smells, the hands held high waving palm…