News about our new Curate: We are delighted to announce the appointment of Kajsa Longuere as our new Curate. Kajsa and her family will be joining the parish of Earley St Peter after her ordination in June 2025 (subject to all the usual procedures and checks). Kajsa is a warm, prayerful and engaging person and we very much look forward to welcoming her. Curacies in the Church of England are usually three years (it is officially called the person’s ‘Title Post’) and Kajsa will be full time and stipendiary.
Kajsa has written an introduction to herself and her family which you can read below.
Introducing Kajsa: Kajsa is an ordinand at Ripon College Cuddesdon, and will move to Earley with her husband Matthieu, children Alice (7) and Edwin (4), and rescue cat Clover. When she’s not preparing for ministry, Kajsa likes painting, kayaking, and most sports. She is hard of hearing/deaf and wears a hearing aid.
New Bible Study course: On Advent Sunday the church begins a new year and 2024/2025 is Year C in the Church of England, meaning the lectionary gives a special focus on Luke’s Gospel. These study sessions will introduce the context, content and structure of Luke’s Gospel, as well as looking at how his Gospel compares to those of Matthew, Mark and John.
Each session will run twice, once in the daytime and once in the evening, in the church hall. The dates are as follows and more information about the content of the sessions will be given closer to the time.
Session 1 – Introduction to Luke’s Gospel
Tuesday 19th November 1.30 – 3pm (main hall)
Wednesday 20th November 7 – 8.30pm (Fowler Room)
Session 2 – Exploring Luke’s Gospel further
Tuesday 26th November 1.30 – 3pm (main hall)
Wednesday 27th November 7 – 8.30pm (Fowler Room)
Advent talks: Our speaker will lead us through some images of the Christmas story in art, with a time to pray and reflect at the end. The dates are:
Tuesday 10th December, 1-3pm
Wednesday 11th December, 7-9pm
Tuesday 17th December, 1-3pm
Wednesday 18th December, 7-9pm
Bicycles for Tanzania
For the past few years, Earley St Peter’s church has supported the work of projects in Shinyanga, Tanzania, where Bridget and Lesley Green are Mission Partners. In 2023 the youth at our church organised a fundraising initiative in Lent but due to Easter being much earlier this year, the planned fundraising event is in September. However, Bridget and Lesley are visiting Shinyanga and some of the projects there in July. As well as visiting the projects already supported, there are plans to visit further ‘up country’ to see the challenges faced by some of the families with children with disabilities living in rural poverty. They will also see how some of the newly trained evangelists are working in these communities and there is a particular way that these evangelists need support to undertake their new roles.
Bishop Johnson, the Bishop of Shinyanga, has already advised our Mission Partners of the need for bicycles for the 45 evangelists; reconditioned second-hand ones can be purchased for £80. These bicycles are a necessity as the areas covered by the evangelists are very large and rural. As well as spreading the news of the Gospel, the evangelists are also trained in various other ways to support communities on a practical level. If you like to donate towards the cost of these bicycles please make a payment to the following account with the reference ‘BIKES’.
Account Name: Friends of Amani Tanzania
Account No.: 00036740
Sort Code: 405240
Alternatively, contact Bridget on 07711 384672 or [email protected]