Welcome to Weobley & Staunton Joint Benefice
incorporating the Churches and Parishes of Weobley, Staunton On Wye, Norton Canon, Monnington, Sarnesfield, Byford and Letton in Herefordshire
Inclusive Church
As a Benefice, we believe in Inclusive Church – church which does not discriminate, on any level, on grounds of economic power, gender, mental health, physical ability, ethnicity, race, marital status or sexuality. We believe in Church which welcomes and serves all people in the name of Jesus Christ; which chooses to interpret scripture inclusively; which seeks to proclaim the Gospel afresh for each generation; and which, in the power of the Holy Spirit, allows all people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Jesus Christ.

STAUNTON-ON-WYE SERVICES throughout January, February & March 2025
During January, February and March we are hosting our services in Staunton-on-Wye Village Hall, HR4 7LR
Cafe Church on the 2nd Sunday of each month with guest speaker and Communion Service on the 4th Sunday.
WEOBLEY & STAUNTON JOINT BENEFICE

Morning Prayer
9.00am every Wednesday
Join us as we gather together every week in prayer
The Vicarage, Weobley HR4 8SD

General Quiz & Hot Supper
Friday 7th February
6.30pm for 7.00pm start
£15.00 per person
*Teams of 4 (max)
*Raffle
*Refreshments
STAUNTON-ON-WYE VILLAGE HALL
Join us for an entertaining Quiz Night in aid of St Mary's Church, Monnington-on-Wye! Test your knowledge with our general quiz, designed for teams of up to four people, and enjoy a delicious hot supper as part of the evening.
Whether you're a trivia enthusiast of just looking for a fun night out, this event promises great company and lively competition!
If you already have a team to go, fantastic! But don't worry if you don't, we'll happily match you with others to form a team on the night.
Teams must pre-book.
Tel: 07989 743277
Email: cpearsongregory@gmail.com

Coffee Morning
Tuesday 11th February
10.30am - 12.00pm
Open to all an opportunity to relax and catch up with others from the local community. We are always pleased to see a new face and offer a warm welcome to newcomers!
Tea - Coffee - Cakes - Biscuits & Friendly chat
WEOBLEY PARISH CHURCH

Pancakes in the Pews
Tuesday 4th March 2025
11.00am - 1.00pm
Come Celebrate this Shrove Tuesday together with our delicious Pancakes in the Pews & coffee and chat too.........Yummy!
Weobley Parish Church

Coffee Morning with Pancakes
Saturday 8th March 2025
9.30am - 11.00am
Come along to enjoy delicious homemade pancakes, great coffee and warm conversation while in support of our beloved St Mary's Church
Staunton-on-Wye Village Hall

CTiW Lent Course
The Stations of the Resurrection
'He is not here - he has risen'
This Lent course explores some of the encounters with the risen Christ recorded in the Gospels. We will journey along with the disciples through episodes of amazement , confusion, questioning and exhilaration to delve deeper into the mystery and significance of the resurrection.
Led by Rev Philip Harvey
Meeting every Wednesday in Lent at 2.30pm, starting
Wednesday 12th March 2025 - 9th April
St Thomas Parish Room, Weobley
All are Welcome
Year of Engagement
Hereford Diocese has branded 2025 the ‘Year of Engagement'. With a strategy to build on three core behaviour values - to be prayerful, Christlike, and engaged. The events and activities this year will be based on the five marks of mission, summarised as Tell, Teach, Tend, Transform and Treasure, and led by our Mission Enabler for the Environment, Rev'd Stephen Hollinghurst. These values will help ensure that we proclaim Christ and grow as disciples in our faith. Being prayerful and confident in our Bible helps make us more outwardly looking and engaged Christians who live out our faith daily.
For Year of Engagement events please click on the button below.


Weekly Reflection
thoughts and reflections from the Rev'd Philip Harvey
12th, 19th & 26th January 2025 New Year or Same Old?
‘Eat less sugary and fatty food, exercise more often, spend less time dealing with emails’…these are the beginning of a list of resolutions that run through my mind at the start of a new year. Will I be able to keep them? Time will tell. A 2023 poll from Forbes Health found most people in the USA give up resolutions after less than four months. It can be hard to break habitual behaviours and wholeheartedly embrace change. Perhaps one of the problems with resolution is our starting point. Are we coming at these from the wrong place?
In a recent article from The Guardian (2nd January 2025) Moira Donegan comments that “seeking out a new year resolution is, after all, itself often an unhappy exercise in appraising yourself and finding yourself wanting.” From the locus of a modern, secular, feelgood, you-gotta-learn-to-love-yourself-no-matter-what therapeutic mindset, finding fault with our selves might be considered unhealthy or even neurotic. But from a biblical perspective, identifying our flaws and shortcomings can be a necessary starting place for embracing truth and discovering the goodness and abundant forgiveness of God. I have found the best starting point in honestly facing my limitations and seeking guidance to be a daily prayer time that includes the reading of a Psalm. These ancient Hebrew songs are full of honest searching, struggle and comfort. They hold up a mirror to the soul, encourage us to think beyond the ‘same old’ and glimpse, with our inner eyes, a hopeful spiritual horizon. I commend them to you.
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37: 4)
Happy new year.
Rev’d Philip
2nd & 9th February ‘In your light shall we see light’
At our Candlemas services this Sunday, we celebrate that moment when Simeon, an old man devoutly serving in the Jerusalem temple, sees the infant Jesus and declares:
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation
which thou hast prepared
before the face of all people;
to be a light to lighten the Gentiles
and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
The candles we light at Candlemas symbolise the light of Christ that has come into the world for all people. Bu how do we display this light when all around us so many seem to be projecting a morbid vision clouded by the darkness of fear?
In the prayer service held in Washington Cathedral after inauguration day (21st January), Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde challenged the incoming President to consider how his recent words had caused many immigrants and minorities in the USA to fear for their safety. She appealed to him directly to offer mercy to the most vulnerable in society. The Republican response has been one of political mobilisation against the Bishop, with Trump and others vilifying her message as driven by ‘the radical Left’ and demanding an apology. She has also received multiple death threats. In response she has testified to the Christian origin of her inclusive views and said: “I am not going to apologize for asking for mercy for others”. *
It seems to me that Bishop Budde has spoken bravely, clearly, and calmly, seeking to bring light where others can only offer the darkness of vitriol and social hatred. Jesus warns that “if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” We need to pray for light to penetrate those situations – social, political or personal - in which people fumble in the darkness and further their own ambitions by denigrating others or treating them as unworthy of God’s care and mercy.
Rev’d Philip
*Taken from a Time magazine transcript interview with Bishop Budde: https://time.com/7209222/bishop-mariann-budde-trump/