Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.Romans 12:12
Ukraine: Archbishop of Canterbury delivers Thought For the Day - Thought for the Day on Radio 4 on 24/02/2022
To wake up to the news of war is terrible.
To wake up to its reality is orders of magnitude worse.
Shakespeare refers to war as chaos - the loosing of the dogs of war - and calls for one of his characters to cry out the warning about what it means.
Those in the Ukraine will be thinking about their relatives on the front lines, or the friends on the front lines. We are thinking, where is it going to go next? Politicians are thinking, what do we do?
In all of the thinking, in all of the responses, there is the great uncertainty which is the worst enemy of good decisions. Uncertainty leads to fear, fear leads to overreaction. How do we react well? How do politicians in the cloud of war, not really knowing what’s going on, but knowing they have no opportunity to wait – how do they make up their minds?
They will rightly call for all of us, and for themselves, to have resolution, courage, determination, a willingness to sacrifice whatever is necessary in order to ensure that peace may come and justice may be done.
Peace and justice. They often seem to contrast, and yet they are opposite sides of the same coin.
We seek peace and justice, and that must end with those involved in conflict not having solutions imposed on them but finding for themselves the way forward to reconciliation and peace.
Right at the end of his life, Jesus Christ, on the eve of his crucifixion, spoke to his disciples and he said something very memorable. ‘In the world you will have trouble, but do not be afraid, I have overcome the world.’
For me and for many of faith, the great certainty in the world, the only certainty, is that we know that God does not change. Let us find our resolution, our peace, our certainty not by screwing up our courage, but in the knowledge of the eternal arms that hold us.
May God be with those who suffer today.
OUR MISSION STATEMENT
Our two churches, Norman and Saxon respectively have a rich and fascinating history, both being donatory peculiars belonging to the Squire of the Southwick Estate
The Augustinian monks from Portchester founded Southwick Priory in the mid 12th century. In 1539, following the Dissolution, Henry VIII sold the priory and its assets to John Whyte. The Estate, with its homes, farms, businesses, shop,churches and woodland is still owned and managed by the descendants of John Whyte.
Southwick House was requisitioned by the Government during WWII but much of the rest of the original Estate remains intact.
Our two churches are places of Traditional Middle Anglican Worship using both the Book of Common Prayer and Common Worship in our services.
In our mission statement which is continually being defined and redefined in our common life is that:
We delight in being set at the heart of the Southwick Estate with the Squire as our Patron.
We seek to worship God as made known to us in Jesus Christ.
We are traditional in our worship and broad in our thinking.
We are unafraid to reason, laugh and explore.
We know we need one another as we try to embody our faith in our daily lives.
We welcome people of faith, all who seek faith and friendship and all who doubt.
Rev’d Simon Brocklehurst, chaplain.
Tel 07905 318016
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Online Sunday Service - Link to CofE website_______________________________________
Avoiding isolationAt the onset of the crisis Jim Watson, chair of the Parish Council, invited a handful of people from the community to meet together (socially distanced) to discuss a coordinated plan to care for people as the need arose. A special careline was set up, volunteer CRB checked responders were identified and several hundred leaflets delivered explaining that people could telephone the careline on 07534 770164, should they need help with shopping, prescriptions, other practical matters, or just to chat if they were feeling isolated. There have been relatively few requests or calls, but the line remains live, should anyone have need to call it
Click on the Church Guides below for a viewing of Southwick and Boarhunt Churches.
A Guide to St James Church, Southwick
A Guide to St Nicholas Church, Boarhunt
For more information go to webmaster
Any queries please ring the Chaplain on 023 9238 0802
Find out more about the Southwick Estate at -
www.southwick-estate.co.uk