Prayer Diary July to September 2021

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Please note that you can also view the Prayer Diary on our website under the section

Resources & Information

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• • • • •

God who in Jesus calls us - open hearts and minds to your invitation.

God of the pilgrim way - be our companion day by day. God of the still, small voice - teach us to pray.

Grant that in our calling, our following, our pilgrimage, we may see your kingdom of truth and peace -

and delight to bring others to your love. We make this prayer through Jesus, the Lord.

(The “Follow” Prayer)

God of generosity, whose Son Jesus gathers us as one around the table of rejoicing; be with us as we gather in his name.

Give us hope, encouragement, unity, expectancy, and by our time together, draw us closer to one another and to you.

We make this prayer through Jesus, the Lord.

(The “Gather” Prayer)

O come, O Holy Spirit: come as holy fire and burn in us.

Come as holy wind and cleanse us. Come as holy light and lead us.

Come as holy truth and teach us. Come as holy forgiveness and free us.

Come as holy love and enfold us. Come as holy life and dwell in us.

Hereford Archdeaconry Ludlow Archdeaconry The Deaneries A Abbeydore I Bridgnorth B Bromyard J Clun Forest C Hereford City K Condover D Since April 2021 these benefices have L Ludlow been transferred to the deaneries of M Pontesbury Leominster, Ledbury & Ross & Archenfield N Telford Severn Gorge

E Kington & Weobley F Ledbury G Leominster H Ross & Archenfield

N Telford Severn Gorge

The Prayer Diary - July to September 2021

The main part of this Prayer Diary covers the quarter from Sunday 27th June to Saturday 25th September, week by week, under the following headings:

Anglican - Biddings for each day taken from the Anglican Cycle of Prayer (adapted and updated where possible), so that we are praying with the Anglican Church round the world. A new version of the Cycle of Prayer begins in 2021, spread over more than two years, and allowing us once again to pray for just one diocese each day.

Hereford - Again, a bidding for each day: each quarter these will feature half of our deaneries and parishes, along with diocesan organisations, areas of work, and officers.

Porvoo - This weekly bidding pairs the Lutheran churches of the Nordic and Baltic areas and the Anglican churches of the British Isles and of Spain and Portugal, which have signed the Porvoo Declaration recognising each others’ ministries. Also included is the Latvian Church, which has not yet taken a decision on signing the Declaration, and the Church of Denmark, which has not signed but wishes to develop links with the churches which have signed.

The Wider View - Biddings and promptings for prayer relating to world mission and development, including our own World Church links, among them our companion links with the Kirchenkreis Nürnberg in Germany, and the Tanzanian dioceses of Tanga, Dar es Salaam, Masasi and Newala.

This Week - Focuses for prayer during the week, on themes and issues in healthcare, the community, education and the changing seasons, along with events, meetings, and activities within our Diocese and perhaps more widely.

Diary - Events and activities from the Diocesan Diary - please note that many of these are provisional, depending on what restrictions remain in place.

Prayer - A prayer or reflection appropriate to the week.

Please send entries for the next edition which covers the quarter October to

December 2021 to me at wkrowell@btinternet.com - clearly marked in the

subject area as Prayer Diary. The more I know about events and activities,

the more accurate and focused our prayer biddings can be. Please also let

me know if you spot any mistakes or omissions - they do happen, alas, but I

do my best to make sure this Diary is as accurate as possible!

You may find the following explanation of the initials used helpful:

MAP - Mission Action Plan

LMC - Ludlow Mascall Centre (formerly BMC)

CMD - Continuing Ministerial Development

CGH - Cuddeston in Gloucester & Hereford (formerly WEMTC)

IMD - Initial Ministerial Development

DAC - Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches

DDVO - Diocesan Director of Vocations and Ordinands

PAT - Post Admission Training for Readers

MDO - Mission (MAP) Development Officer

IM - Intergenerational Missioner

CMD - Continuing Ministerial Development

SUNDAY 27th June: 4th after Trinity Proper 8 Anglican The Church of Pakistan (united) - The Most Revd Azad Marshall, Moderator. Hereford The Abbeydore Deanery: Rural Dean – Nicholas Lowton; Lay Co-Chair – Philip

Wilcocks; Sub-Warden of Readers – Vacant. Rural Pioneer Priests serving across the Deanery: Nicholas Lowton, Mark Godson, Simon Lockett, Luci Morriss; Intergenerational Missioner: Geri Miller; Deanery Mission Coordinator: Anne Lloyd.

Porvoo England: Lincoln - Bishop Christopher Lowson, Bishop David Court, Bishop Nicholas Chamberlain; Sweden: Härnösand - Bishop Eva Nordung Byström; Finland: Lappo - Bishop Simo Peura.

The Wider View

As we enter the second half of 2021 with many parts of our world still severely affected by the Covid 19 pandemic, pray for the sharing of vaccines and other resources, for health services under pressure, and for those who are bereaved, isolated from families, or not receiving the treatment they need, and for health workers at risk or poorly resourced.

This Week Saturday is the Ordination of Priests. Pray for those to be ordained, and the benefices in which they are placed: Lawrence Gittins (Ludlow), Tiffany Jackson (Ross), Jo Jennings (West Hereford Team), Joseph Simons (Cleobury Mortimer), and Katie Smith (Kingsland group). (Please see next week’s list for the names and benefices of those to be ordained as deacon next Sunday.) In the week that commemorates the apostles Peter and Paul (and also Thomas), pray that the apostolic ministry we offer may, like theirs, be both courageous and caring, and faithful to the Spirit’s leading. This week is Deaf/Blind Awareness Week, and draws our attention to the 400,000 or more people in the UK who live with a loss of both sight and hearing. This is also Children’s Art Week - pray for all that encourages and enables children to engage with art, and to express ideas and feelings in this way. Plastic Free July is an initiative to encourage people to use less plastic throughout the month - and, hopefully, beyond it. We are all very aware of the damage being done by plastic pollution, but it can be challenging to change a lifestyle that has become so dependant on it. July is also being kept as Good Care Month, and prompts our prayer for a prompt and positive response to the issues around provision of good quality social care for the elderly and vulnerable, and also for our local care homes, those who work in them, and those who offer support for the elderly within their own homes. Pray for Leominster Festival events due to happen this week and next, and for all that draws visitors back into our towns and historic places. Pray for churchwardens as they take office for the year to come.

Monday 28th June: Irenaeus, teacher of the faith Anglican Cochin (South India) - The Rt Revd Baker Ninan Fenn. Hereford Black Mountains Group - Clodock & Longtown with Craswall, Llanveynoe, St

Margaret’s, Michaelchurch Escley & Newton: Nicholas Lowton, Sam Ashton; Longtown Primary School; Michaelchurch Escley Primary School.

Tuesday 29th June: Peter and Paul, apostles Anglican Coimbatore (South India) - The Rt Revd Timothy Ravinder. Hereford Ewyas Harold & Dulas, with Abbeydore, Bacton, Kentchurch, Llangua,

Rowlestone & Llancillo, Walterstone, Kilpeck, St Devereux & Wormbridge: Mark Godson; Frank Rodgers, Bob Bates; Reader – Diane Bates; Local Ministry Team; Ewyas Harold Primary School.

Wednesday 30th June Anglican Columbia (Province IX TEC) - The Rt Revd Francisco Duque Gómez. Hereford Cagebrook - Kingstone with Clehonger, Eaton Bishop, Allensmore and

Thruxton: vacant; Jane Rogers, Ann Hitchiner, Michael Westall; Kingstone High School; Clehonger CE Primary School, Kingstone & Thruxton Primary School.

Diary Visitations at Ross-on-Wye now cancelled. Thursday 1st July: Henry, John and Henry Venn, priests, evangelical divines Anglican Colombo (Church of Ceylon) - The Rt Revd Dushantha Rodrigo. Hereford Wye Dore - Madley with Tyberton, Peterchurch, Vowchurch & Turnastone:

Simon Lockett, Judy Dinnen Diary Ordination retreat (due to start, but depending on what restrictions are in

place): pray for all taking part, and for Neil Patterson, organising, and Archdeacon Fiona Gibson as retreat conductor. On-line conference “Together for our Children”, with CPAS. Governor training on diversity in governance.

Friday 2nd July Anglican Colorado, USA (Province VI, TEC) - The Rt Revd Kimberly Lucas. Hereford Wye Dore Ministry Team – Simon Lockett, Brenda Stokes, Judy Dinnen, Julie

Lunn, Sam Morgan, Helen Byard, Joy Rickwood, Lyn Garwood, Barbara Llewellyn-Samuel, Jane Hirst; Fairfield High School, Peterchurch; Madley Primary School; Peterchurch Primary School.

Saturday 3rd July: Thomas, apostle Anglican Connecticut, USA (Province I, TEC) - The Rt Revd Ian Douglas; Suffragan -

The Rt Revd Laura Ahrens. Hereford Borderlink – Blakemere, Bredwardine with Brobury, Clifford, Cusop, Dorstone,

Hardwicke, Moccas & Preston-on-Wye: Luci Morriss, Jane Rogers, Sally Barnes, our benefice team of Lay Leaders, Messy Church and Clifford Primary School.

Diary Ordination of priests - see the “This Week” section above. Prayer Irenaeus

It is not thou that shapest God, but God that shapest thee. If thou art the work of God, await the hand of the artist

who does all things in due season. Offer Him thy heart, soft and tractable, and keep the form

in which the artist has fashioned thee. Let thy clay be moist, lest thou grow hard and lose the imprint of his fingers.

SUNDAY 4th July: 5th after Trinity Proper 9 Anglican The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea - The Rt Revd Nathan Ingen,

Acting Archbishop. Hereford Pray for all that is done to resource people within our diocese in prayer and in

spiritual development; give thanks for all who exercise a ministry of prayer, and pray that all that we plan and do may be grounded in a prayerful and joyous commitment to our Lord.

Diary Ordination of deacons (see below). Porvoo England: St Albans - Bishop Alan Smith, Bishop Richard Atkinson, Bishop

Michael Beasley; Sweden: Linköping - Bishop Martin Modéus. The Wider View

There has been a significant loss of trust between the UK government and those of the European Union since the beginning of the year, and that sense on either side that the other won’t keep to promises made has greatly soured relationships at a time when co-operation, understanding and flexibility are much needed. Friendship links such as those forged through the years between Hereford and Nuremberg are more important than ever at such a time - pray for their deepening and growth.

This Week Pray for those to be ordained as deacon on Sunday, for the benefices in which they will serve, and for their training incumbents: David Andrews (Church Stretton), Luke Aylen (St Peter & St James, Hereford - SSM), Lauren Bell (Hereford South Wye), Lois Beynon (Broseley with Benthall, Jackfield, Linley, Willey & Barrow), Erin Butler (Holmer with Huntington), (Joe) Stanley Chipper (Tupsley with Hampton Bishop), Wayne Davies (Ludlow), Angie Kateley (Abbeydore Deanery Group Ministry), Natalie Jennings (Maund Group) Ruth Leigh (Westbury, Worthen & Yockleton - SSM), Elizabeth (Lizzy) Womack (Tenbury Team Ministry - SSM). Pray for the meeting of General Synod due to begin this coming Friday, and also for the forthcoming elections to General Synod. National Hygiene Week this week aims to encourage awareness of “hygiene poverty” in the UK. Hygiene banks mirror food banks in helping people who are struggling to obtain what they need to keep clean and safe. Saturday this week is kept as Don’t Step on a Bee Day, and behind the quirky title there is a serious message about the threat to our bee populations, which are vital to our wellbeing. Pray for all that is done to encourage bees and other pollinating insects, for a reduction in the use of neonicotinoids and other potentially damaging pesticides; and pray for the beekeepers within our local communities. The Knife Angel leaves Hereford after this coming weekend - give thanks for the interest generated, as a powerful statement against knife violence.

Monday 5th July Anglican Connor (Church of Ireland) - The Rt Revd George Davison. Hereford Support Ministry: Sarah Whitelock, Communications Director, and all involved

in communicating our message and vision as a Diocese, and ensuring a flow

of up-to-date and accurate advice and direction to the local church. Diary Visitations at Leominster now cancelled. Tuesday 6th July: Thomas More, scholar, and John Fisher, bishop, martyrs Anglican Cork, Cloyne & Ross (Church of Ireland) - The Rt Revd Paul Colton. Hereford Support Ministry: Pray for all who help compile and produce this Prayer Diary,

for the Prayer Station established by Archdeacon Derek on Facebook, and all that resources us in praying for one another and for the world.

Diary Bishop’s Staff meeting. Governor training.

Wednesday 7th July Anglican Costa Rica (Central America) - The Rt Revd Orlando Gomez. Hereford Health Chaplaincy: Hospital Chaplaincy in Hereford County Hospital & the Wye

Valley NHS Trust: Philip Roberts, chaplain, and the honorary chaplains and lay volunteers. Pray also for the RC Chaplain, Rev. Michael Evans, and all who offer spiritual support to patients and families. Pray for support to Covid patients, and to staff working under immense pressure and risk.

Diary Visitations at Ludlow now cancelled. Thursday 8th July Anglican Coventry (Canterbury, England) - The Rt Revd Christopher Cocksworth;

Suffragan - The Rt Revd John Stroyan (Warwick). Hereford Health Chaplaincy: Pray for chaplaincy teams at the Royal Shrewsbury

Hospital, the Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, and other hospitals outside our Diocese but providing healthcare to our area; pray too for all who offer chaplaincy support in the smaller local hospitals within our Diocese.

Diary Training for head teachers etc. Friday 9th July Anglican Cuba (Province II, TEC) - The Rt Revd Griselda Delgardo Del Carpio. Hereford Health Chaplaincy: Chaplaincy support at the 2gether NHS Foundation Trust,

providing mental health and learning disability services in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, including the Stonebow Unit in Hereford.

Saturday 10th July Anglican Cueibet (South Sudan) - The Rt Revd Elijah Matueny Awet. Hereford Health Chaplaincy: Chaplaincy support for those mental health care in the

northern part of our Diocese, within the Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust. Prayer Thomas More

Grant me, O Lord, good digestion, and also something to digest. Grant me a healthy body, and the necessary good humour to maintain it.

Grant me a simple soul that knows to treasure all that is good and that doesn’t frighten easily at the sight of evil,

but rather finds the means to put things back in their place . . . Grant me O Lord, a good sense of humour. Allow me the grace to be able to take a joke,

to discover in life a bit of joy, and to be able to share it with others.

SUNDAY 11th July: 6th after Trinity Proper 10 Anglican The Episcopal Church in the Philippines - The Most Revd Joel Pachoa, Prime

Bishop. Hereford The Bridgnorth Deanery: Rural Dean: Mark Daborn; Lay Co-Chair: Martin

Elcock; Sub-Warden of Readers: Garry Ward. Porvoo England: Newcastle - Bishop Christine Hardman, Bishop Mark Wroe; Norway:

Møre - Bishop Ingeborg Midttømme. The Wider View

Following the death in office of President Magufuli, Tanzania now has a female president, Mama Samia Hassan. Pray that her administration will be effective in tackling the economic, structural and health challenges that face the country, including that of Covid, and will value and uphold the principles of freedom, democracy and national unity.

This Week Pray for the members of Deanery Synod and DBF, which meets on Saturday. This is the last meeting of the present Synod, and the election process for the new Synod should be substantially complete. Give thanks for the service of members of the present Synod, and pray for any newly elected to serve from this autumn. John Keble, commemorated on Wednesday, is remembered not only as a churchman, hymn writer and poet, but also for his “long, patient and affectionate study of Scripture”, which flowed through all his writings. Give thanks for all that enables meditative study of the Scriptures today. The Festival of British Archaeology this week reminds us of the wealth of history there is around us (and beneath our feet), as well as of the importance of archaeologists to our understanding of ourselves and our forebears. Currently there is anxiety about the loss of archaeology departments and courses from some of our universities - pray that this important area of study may be maintained. Give thanks for the parks and gardens - both public and private - that are so important to our wellbeing. Pray for gardens used as places of meditation and prayer, and for the Quiet Garden Trust and other organisations that encourage this. Pray too for Caring for God’s Acre and for all that is done to encourage conservation areas in churchyards, burial grounds and other open spaces. Pray too for this summer’s Open Garden events at the Cathedral.

Monday 12th July Anglican Cuernavaca (Mexico) - The Rt Revd Enrique Treviño Cruz. Hereford Alveley and Quatt: Neil Dunlop; Clergy with PTO: Ruth Sims, Wendy Rylance;

Reader: Sue Chidwick; Alveley Primary School. Tuesday 13th July Anglican Cuttack (Church of North India) - The Rt Revd Surendra Kumar Nanda. Hereford Brown Clee Group: Ditton Priors, Chetton, Neenton, Burwarton with Cleobury

North, Aston Botterell, Wheathill & Loughton: Terry Mason; Reader: Dorothy Cartwright; Local Ministry Group: Bobbie Jarvis, Catherine Price, Carole Smith, Mike Teague, Marjorie Jones; Brown Clee C E Primary School.

Diary Building Bridges Network, for churches supporting schools. Wednesday 14th July: John Keble, priest and poet Anglican Cyangugu (Rwanda) - The Rt Revd Francis Karemera. Hereford Stottesdon with Farlow, Cleeton St Mary, Silvington, Sidbury & Middleton

Scriven: Mark Daborn; Reader: Alex Daborn; Farlow CE Primary School; Stottesdon CE Primary School.

Diary Visitation at Church Stretton now cancelled. Thursday 15th July: Swithun, bishop; Bonaventure, priest, friar and teacher of the faith Anglican Cyprus & The Gulf (Jerusalem & Middle East) - The Rt Revd Michael Lewis. Hereford Bridgnorth and Morville Parishes Team Ministry:Bridgnorth with Tasley, Astley

Abbotts, Oldbury & Quatford, Morville, Aston Eyre, Acton Round and Monkhopton: Simon Cawdell, Team Vicar Sarah Cawdell; Curate: Tom King; Reader: Jane Peeler; Intergenerational Missioner: Kate King; Clergy with PTO: David Chantrey, Clive Parr, Clive Munday; Reader with PTO: Sheila Hodgkins;. Local Ministry Team: Clergy with Kay Prior, Sheila Royle, Sandie Phillips; Children, Families and Education Co-ordinator: Emma Lambert. Bridgnorth Endowed School, Oldbury Wells School, Castlefields Primary School, St Leonards CE Primary School, St Mary’s Bluecoat CE Primary School, Morville CE Primary School, St John’s Catholic Primary School; Bridgnorth & South Shropshire Infirmary.

Diary Hereford Archdeaconry Mission & Pastoral Sub-Committee. Friday 16th July: Osmund, bishop Anglican Daejon (Korea) - The Most Revd Moses Nagjun Yoo. Hereford Claverley with Tuck Hill: Garry Ward; Reader: Colin Bailey; Claverley CE

Primary School. Saturday 17th July Anglican North Dakota, USA (Province VI, TEC) - The Rt Revd Thomas Ely, Bishop

Provisional. Hereford Pray for the churches of other denominations with whom we share ministry,

giving thanks for the fellowship we share and the ways in which we can work together in the service of Christ. Pray for small chapel communities struggling to keep going, and for the many people of other denominations who worship regularly in our churches, particularly in more rural areas.

Diary Diocesan Synod and Diocesan Board of Finance. Prayer Bonaventure

O most sweet Lord Jesus, may my heart ever hunger after and feed upon thee: may it ever compass thee, seek thee, find thee, run to thee, come up to thee,

meditate on thee, speak of thee, and do all for the praise and glory of thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection,

with perseverance to the end; and be thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence, my riches, my delight,

my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my possession and my treasure;

in whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm.

SUNDAY 18th July: 7th after Trinity Proper 11 Anglican Anglican Church of Rwanda - The Most Revd Laurent Mbanda, Archbishop. Hereford Pray for the Intergenerational Ministers working throughout our Diocese, and

within our parishes for all who plan and lead family worship, cafe-style church, Messy Church, Open the Book, and all our worship and activities that reach out to children and families, and to schools, playgroups etc. Pray for those who at this time are planning, preparing for and leading holiday clubs or other activities for children and families during the summer break.

Diary Visitation at Hereford Cathedral now cancelled. Porvoo Sweden: Skara - Bishop Åke Bonnier; England: Leeds - Bishop Nick Baines,

Bishop Tony Robinson, Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley, Bishop Toby Howarth, Bishop Jonathan Gibbs, Bishop Paul Slater.

The Wider View

Covid continues to inhibit international travel, and exchanges between our link schools, hospitals, dioceses and parishes in Tanzania will not be possible for a while yet. Pray that the companionship relationship between our dioceses may remain robust, so that they continue to be a source of mutual support.

This Week Pray for churches, benefices and deaneries as they engage with Living in Love and Faith, using the five-session course and other material. Give thanks for the work of those who have prepared the report and study material, and for the honesty of those taking part. Pray we may adopt the principles of care, patience, making and allowing safe space, and respecting the feelings of others not only in this particular course as we explore the issues of sex, gender and identity, but in all that we do, reflect on and decide. Mary Magdalene is sometimes called “the apostle to the apostles”, having taken to them the message given her by Jesus in the garden. She is regarded as a patroness of new converts and of repentant sinners; pray for all who are newly coming to faith, and for all who are experiencing a new sense of Christ’s call in their lives. 20th July (in 1969) was the date of the first human footstep on the moon. Today there is renewed interest in space travel, but the simple fact remains that for all our ingenuity there is no planet B within reach: pray that we may learn to live in peace with one another and with creation on the one planet we do have. As the school holidays begin, pray for renewed vigilance as regards the Covid virus. Pray for the holiday and hospitality industry within our diocese, and for all who travel to or through here during the holiday season. Pray too for those unable to take holidays this year. Pray for all involved in music and the performing arts at a time when the profession has been impacted by both Covid and Brexit; pray also for local choirs, drama groups and musicians, many of whom are still struggling to meet and rehearse. The postponed Tokyo Olympics are due to begin this week: pray for sportsmen and women, and for the spirit of partnership among nations these

games are intended to encourage. Monday 19th July: Gregory, bishop and his sister Macrina, deaconess, teachers of the faith Anglican South Dakota, USA (Province VI, TEC) - The Rt Revd Jonathan Folts. Hereford Highley with Billingsley, Glazeley & Deuxhill, Chelmarsh: Mike Harris;

Associate Ministers: Val Smith, Rosemary Lawley (PTO); SSM Curate: David Poyner; Readers with PTO: Elizabeth Smith, Keith Smith, Ruth Honeybourne; Highley Community Primary School.

Tuesday 20th July: Margaret of Antioch, martyr; Bartolomé de las Casas, missionary Anglican Dallas, USA (Province VII, TEC) - The Rt Revd George Sumner. Hereford Worfield: Jeannetta Stokes; Worfield Endowed CE Primary School. Diary Joint Meeting of the Bishop's Council & Finance Committee. Wednesday 21st July Anglican Damaturu (Nigeria) - The Rt Revd Yohannah Audu. Hereford Support for Ministry: Elizabeth Hackney, Lead Intergenerational Missioner,

and Kathy Bland, Intergenerational Church Enabler, and all who work with them, particularly the team of Intergenerational Missioners.

Diary Diocesan Advisory Committee; Ludlow Archdeaconry Ministerial & Pastoral Sub-Committee.

Thursday 22nd July: Mary of Magdala Anglican Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania) - The Rt Revd Jackson Sosthenes. Hereford Support for Ministry: Karilyn Collins, advising on partnership and development

issues, and encouraging awareness of development needs and opportunities worldwide.

Friday 23rd July: Bridget, abbess Anglican Davao (Philippines) - The Rt Revd Jonathan Labasan Casimina. Hereford Support for Ministry: Pray for all that is done to ensure awareness and good

practice on disability issues across our churches, and for Revd Garry Ward as Diocesan Disability Adviser.

Saturday 24th July Anglican St. Davids (Church in Wales) - The Rt Revd Joanna Penberthy. Hereford Support for Ministry: Hospice chaplains and their teams - at St Michael’s

Hospice, Bartestree, Hereford, and at the Severn Hospice sites in Shrewsbury, Telford and Newtown that serve the north of the Diocese.

Prayer Gregory of Nyssa

Lord Jesus, how could I not love you, when you loved me so much? Even though I was stained with sin, you laid down your life for this sheep.

What greater love, than to give your life for my freedom! Show me where you pasture your flock,

so that I may find that saving pasture too, to taste the food of heaven without which no-one can come to eternal life,

and to run to the spring and be filled with the drink of God. You give it, as from a spring, to those who thirst: water pouring from your side,

water that is a spring welling up to eternal life.

SUNDAY 25th July: James, apostle or 8th after Trinity, Proper 12 Anglican The Scottish Episcopal Church - The Most Revd Mark Strange, Primus. Hereford The Bromyard Deanery: Acting Rural Dean – Steven Baggs; Lay Co-Chair –

Brenda Allan. Porvoo Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania - Bishop Mindaugas Sabutis;

Ireland: Derry and Raphoe - Bishop Andrew Foster. The Wider View

The recent election of a hard-line leader in Iran focuses attention once again on the continued tensions of the Middle East, and the nuclear capabilities of both Israel and Iran. Pray there may not be a hardening of attitudes, and that a meaningful dialogue between the West and Iran may continue.

This Week 25th July is kept as National Schizophrenia Awareness Day. Pray for all who live with this condition, and for a greater understanding of their issues and needs. Mental health facilities have come under great pressure over the past year and a half - pray that they may be properly and fully resourced. This is National Marine Week (though it actually lasts fifteen days). It is sponsored by the Wildlife Trusts to raise awareness of our coasts and marine environments. Pray for those taking part in activities in many coastal resorts, and for greater awareness of the Seashore Code, helping to protect small creatures and their environment, and to reduce litter and waste. Friday is the World Day against the Trafficking of Persons. This remains a major problem in our world, and includes those who as refugees or economic migrants are duped into placing themselves into the hands of unscrupulous people. Friday also remembers the anti-slavery campaigners William Wilberforce, Olaudah Equiano and Thomas Clarkson. Slavery of various kinds is still a scar on the face of our world - pray for the freedom of those who are still treated as possessions by others. Thursday commemorates Mary, Martha and Lazarus, companions of Jesus. Pray for the work of the Society of Mary and Martha at Sheldon, Exeter, providing solace and support for clergy and other ministers and their families, offering and enabling retreats, as well as an on-line. Pray for the community of Sheldon, and for all the work of the house, and for all that promotes the wellbeing of clergy and other ministers. Pray for safety on our roads as the school holidays begin, and for all who seek to ensure that our roads are as safe as they can be, including those responsible for inspection and repair and signage, breakdown organisations, and members of the police and other emergency services. The International Day of Friendship on 30th July reminds us how important friendship is, and to value those with whom we share it. Pray for all that within our church life encourages and sponsors friendship, and for those who feel friendless and lonely.

Monday 26th July: Anne and Joachim, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary [or James, apostle] Anglican Delaware, USA (Province III,TEC) - The Rt Revd Kevin Scott Brown. Hereford Frome Valley Group – Bishop’s Frome with Castle Frome, Frome’s Hill, Acton

Beauchamp, Evesbatch, Stanford Bishop, Much Cowarne, Ocle Pychard: Steven Baggs, Richard Allaway; Burley Gate CE Primary School; Burley Gate Pre-School.

Tuesday 27th July: Brooke Foss Westcott, bishop and teacher of the faith Anglican Delhi (Church of North India) - The Rt Revd Warris Masih. Hereford Bromyard and Stoke Lacy: Clive Evans, Kina Robertshaw; Queen Elizabeth

Humanities College Bromyard, Brockhampton Primary School; St Peter’s Primary School; Froome Bank Hospital; The HOPE Family Centre: Sarah Eardley, Centre Manager.

Wednesday 28th July Anglican Derby (Canterbury, England) - The Rt Revd Libby Lane; Suffragan - The Rt

Revd Malcolm Macnaughton (Repton). Hereford Bredenbury with Grendon Bishop and Wacton, Collington, Edwyn Ralph, Little

Cowarne, Pencombe with Marston Stannett, Thornbury and Ullingswick: Elizabeth Sidwell, Mari Nowell, Bredenbury Primary School; Pencombe CE Primary School; Rowden House Special School.

Thursday 29th July: Mary, Martha and Lazarus, companions of our Lord Anglican Derry & Raphoe (Church of Ireland) - The Rt Revd Andrew Forster. Hereford Greater Whitbourne – Edvin Loach with Tedstone Delamere, Tedstone Wafer,

Upper Sapey, Wolferlow & Whitbourne: Dawn Hyett (Interim Minister), Doiran Williams, Local Ministry Development Group.

Friday 30th July: William Wilberforce, Olaudah Equiano and Thomas Clarkson Anglican Dhaka (Church of Bangladesh) - The Rt Revd Paul Shishir Sarker. Hereford Archdeacons: Pray for Derek Chedzey, Archdeacon of Hereford, and Fiona

Gibson, Archdeacon of Ludlow, in the responsibilities of their offices, and in their wider roles within the Diocese; pray also for those who support them in their work.

Saturday 31st July: Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus Anglican San Diego, USA (Province VIII, TEC) - The Rt Revd Susan Brown Snook. Hereford Rural Deans, Lay Co-Chairs and Deanery officers: Pray for all who serve our

Diocese in this way, and for Deaneries as they prepare for pastoral changes, look to develop new forms of ministry and fill vacant ministerial posts, and in the challenge of recovering from the impact of Covid restrictions.

Prayer Brooke Foss Westcott

Blessed Lord, you were in all things like we are,

have mercy on our frailty. Out of weakness give us strength.

Grant to us your fear so that we may fear you only. Support us in time of temptation. Embolden us in time of danger.

Help us to do your work with good courage and to continue as your faithful soldiers and servants to the end of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

SUNDAY 1st August: 9th after Trinity Proper 13 [Lammas Day] Anglican Province of South East Asia - The Most Revd Melter J. Tais, Archbishop. Hereford Pray for the local church in mission, for effective and stimulating mission action

planning at every level, and that our churches may be ready to listen, open to all, and aware of and responsive to the needs, problems, joys and opportunities that are particular to each community.

Porvoo England: Bristol - Bishop Vivienne Faull, Bishop Lee Rayfield; Finland: Helsinki - Bishop Teemu Laajasalo.

The Wider View

Tanzania had been one of the nations that were failing to issue data on Covid transmission, or accepting vaccines. Give thanks that the government there is now applying to join the Covax scheme. In some quarters, vaccines are seen as a white or western way of fighting disease, and therefore un-African. A major international campaign to encourage vaccination - of all kinds, not only against Covid - is sponsored by the World Health Organisation, and its theme last April was “vaccination brings us together.” Pray for openness and realism, so that Covid can be beaten in Tanzania, and everywhere.

This Week Sunday 1st is the traditional Lammas Day, celebrating the first fruits of harvest rather than the “Harvest Home” kept in the autumn. Pray for all that encourages care and respect for the land, and for our local farms, farmers and growers. The first week of August is kept as World Breastfeeding Week, aiming to highlight the benefits of breastfeeding. Breast milk contains hormones and antibodies that fight infection, and breast-fed babies seem to experience fewer health problems. Also, breast milk contains just the right amount of protein, sugar, fat, and vitamins that infants need. Play Day on Wednesday is a day to celebrate the importance of play. Play is vital to the health, wellbeing and learning of children - pray for good and safe play provision in every community, and for every child. 4th August is also International Owl Awareness Day. Many species of owl are at risk in our world; pray for all that is done to conserve them and the environments in which they live. Thursday this week is Cycle to Work Day - give thanks for an increased awareness of the health benefits of cycling, but pray for safe spaces both on and off roads for cyclists to use, and for care and safety awareness on the part of cyclists themselves and from other road users. In the week which includes the Feast of the Transfiguration, pray we may always be aware of the glory of God even in the everyday of our lives, and that the Church today may be radiant with the love of Christ. Pray for those who continue to offer themselves as volunteers in various capacities within our communities, including our response to Covid; give thanks especially for those who as volunteers are helping the process of immunisation to be smooth and straightforward. The Shropshire Hills Food Fair is due to take place this Saturday at the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre, Craven Arms. Pray for local events of this

sort, and for our local food and drink producers and providers. Monday 2nd August Anglican Dogura (Papua New Guinea) - The Rt Revd Tennyson Bogar. Hereford Hereford Cathedral: Dean – vacant, and Residentiary Canons - Andrew Piper

(Acting Dean and Precentor), Christopher Pullin (Chancellor); Lay Canons of Chapter – Barry Forrester and Dr Duncan Jones; Chapter Clerk and Chief Operating Officer – Chris Milton. Pray also for the maintenance and conservation of this great and important building and the furthering of its eco agenda, and for the incoming Dean (name not known at time of writing) and the future vision and ministry of the cathedral.

Tuesday 3rd August Anglican Doko (Nigeria) - The Rt Revd Uriah Kolo. Hereford Hereford Cathedral: Administrative staff - Liz Morawiecka, Alan Cartwright,

Julie Anscomb, Lorraine Cave, Peter Challenger, Abigail Jones, Jess Stallwood; Vergers - Tim Pryse-Davies, Lyn Smith, Alex Reed, Aaron O’Sullivan. Pray for the safety of staff and visitors at this time.

Wednesday 4th August: Jean-Baptiste Vianney, Curé d’Ars, spiritual guide Anglican Dominican Republic (Province IX, TEC) - The Rt Revd Moisés Quezada Mota. Hereford Hereford Cathedral: Geraint Bowen, Organist and Director of Music; Peter

Dyke, Assistant Director of Music; Timothy Symons, Music and Liturgy Administrator; choristers, lay clerks and choral scholars; all who support the music of the Cathedral. Pray also for the Cathedral bell ringers.

Thursday 5th August: Oswald, king and martyr Anglican Dornakal (Church of South India) - The Rt Revd Prasada Rao. Hereford Hereford Cathedral: The commercial operations of the Cathedral in shop and cafe;

William Talbot-Ponsonby and work with schools, children and families; Rosemary Firman, Librarian; Elizabeth Semper O’Keefe, Archivist; the Cathedral Friends and the Mappa Mundi and Perpetual Trusts. Give thanks for the many volunteers and the welcome they extend in the cathedral and Mappa Mundi exhibition.

Friday 6th August: The Transfiguration of our Lord Anglican Down & Dromore (Church of Ireland) - The Rt Revd David McClay. Hereford Hereford Cathedral: Hereford Cathedral School – Michael Gray, incoming

headmaster; Hereford Cathedral Junior School – Chris Wright, headmaster. Saturday 7th August: John Mason Neale, priest, hymn writer and translator Anglican Dublin & Glendalough (Church of Ireland) - The Most Revd Michael Jackson. Hereford Hereford Cathedral: Pam Row, Cathedral Chaplain, and all who share in the

worship of the Cathedral; also the Ecumenical Companions: Brigitte Malik (Lutheran), Steve Faber (URC), Steve Sully (Challenge Community Church), Fr Simon McGurk (RC).

Prayer John Mason Neale

O thou Physician blest, make clean my guilty soul, and me, by many a sin oppressed, restore and keep me whole.

I know not how to praise thy mercy and thy love; but deign my soul from earth to raise, and learn from thee above.

SUNDAY 8th August: 10th after Trinity Proper 14 Anglican The United Church of South India - The Most Revd Dharmaraj Rasalam,

Moderator. Hereford The Clun Forest Deanery: Rural Dean – Stephanie Fountain; Lay Co-Chair –

Andrew Wood; Treasurer - Sally Currin; Sub-Warden of Readers – Jonathan Kemp; Deanery Healing Adviser - Mary Hardham.

Porvoo England: Portsmouth - Bishop Christopher Foster; Sweden: Stockholm - Bishop Andreas Holmberg.

The Wider View

The reduction in the percentage of GDP given to aid made earlier this year has met with substantial opposition, including from some significant figures within the Conservative party. Pray that those in leadership may take account of this, and also that the aid we give may be more clearly directed to humanitarian needs.

This Week Give thanks this week for the work and witness of the Mothers’ Union, within our own diocese and nation, and as a force for mission, empowerment and development across the world. This week is National Allotments Week - pray for members of allotments associations, and for all who aim to be self-sufficient in the vegetables and fruit they grow. Pray for children and young people learning about gardening and growing their own food. This week also includes International Youth Day, a UN-sponsored event that supports the UN World Programme of Action for Youth. This year’s theme is to do with “transforming food systems”. Pray for young people in (often) their idealism and enthusiasm, particularly those pushing against the shackles of authoritarianism, injustice and the denial of opportunities. August 9th is the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, and reminds us that many indigenous and tribal people are now minorities in what was their own land. This year’s theme has to do with valuing and preserving indigenous languages. Pray for indigenous people, in Alaska and northern Canada, in Amazonia, and in many other places around our world, for their integrity and that their cultures and identities should be valued by all. The month of August is kept as National Road Victims’ Month. Pray for all who have lost family members or friends in road traffic accidents, and for all whose lives have been changed by injuries received. Pray too for all who attend the scene of accidents, as emergency staff and first responders, giving thanks for their skill and dedication, but also recognising the stress and at times danger they face.

Monday 9th August: Mary Sumner, founder of the Mothers’ Union Anglican Duk (South Sudan) - The Rt Revd Daniel Deng Abot. Hereford Ridgeway Group - Bishop’s Castle with Mainstone, Lydbury North and Edgton,

& Sarn: Stephanie Fountain; Readers – Cathy Owen, Sylvia Taylor; Benefice Administrator, – Cathy Owen; Retired Clergy - Michael Plunkett, Ian Ball, Kevin Skippon; LMDG - Angela Pooley; Community College, Bishop’s Castle;

Bishop’s Castle Primary School; Lydbury North CE Primary School; Bishop's Castle Community Hospital.

Tuesday 10th August: Laurence, deacon and martyr Anglican Dunedin (Aotearoa, New Zealand, Polynesia) - The Rt Revd Stephen Benford. Hereford Middle Marches Group - Bedstone, Bucknell, Chapel Lawn, Clungunford,

Hopton Castle, Llanfair Waterdine, Stowe: vacant; Readers – Jonathan Kemp; Vision and Strategy Group: Pat Hancock, Jonathan Kemp, Richard Lewis, Maurice Moore, Margi Savery; St Mary’s CE Primary School, Bucknell; Bedstone College.

Wednesday 11th August: Clare of Assisi, founder of the Poor Clares; John Henry Newman Anglican Dunkwa-on-Offin (Ghana) - The Rt Revd Paul Appiah Sekyere. Hereford Clun Valley Group - Clun with Bettws y Crwyn, Newcastle, Clunton, Clunbury

and Hopesay: vacant; Retired Clergy – Robert Payne; Local Ministry Team – Sandra Davies, Pam Pittwood; Newcastle CE Primary School; St George’s CE School, Clun; Clunbury Primary CE School.

Thursday 12th August Anglican Durgapur (North India) - The Rt Revd Sameer Isaac Khimla. Hereford Onny Camlad Group – Wentnor with Ratlinghope; Myndtown & Norbury,

Lydham, More & Snead, Churchstoke & Hyssington: Vivienne Hatton; Carol Whittock (Mission Priest half-time); Retired Clergy – Michael Pollit, Michael Whittock; Reader - David Jelves; Onny Camlad Local Ministry Development Group: Carol Whittock, Margaret Wallsgrove, Anita Bright, Bob Berry, Shirley Jones. Churchstoke School; Norbury School.

Friday 13th August: Jeremy Taylor, bishop; Florence Nightingale, Octavia Hill Anglican Durham (York, England) - The Rt Revd Paul Butler; Suffragan - The Rt Revd

Sarah Clark (Jarrow). Hereford Support Ministry: Wendy Coombey, working to support parishes in project

development, and all who work with her. Saturday 14th August: Maximilian Kolbe, friar, martyr Anglican Dutse (Nigeria) - The Rt Revd Markus Yohanna Danbinta. Hereford Stephen Challenger, Property Secretary and secretary to the DAC, and all who

work with him to give advice and direction on matters to do with church fabric. Prayer John Henry Newman

Dear Lord, help me to spread your fragrance wherever I go. Flood my soul with your spirit and life.

Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of yours.

Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul.

Let me thus praise you in the way which you love best, by shining on those around me.

Let me preach you without preaching, not by words but by example, by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what I do,

the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to you.

SUNDAY 15th August: The Blessed Virgin Mary or 11th after Trinity, Proper 15 Anglican Anglican Church of Southern Africa - The Most Revd Thabo Makgoba,

Archbishop of Cape Town, and Primate. Hereford Give thanks for the parish church as a Christian presence at the heart of each

community, and for the ways in which our churches have been a focus for service and action during Covid. Pray for all that enables and encourages an environmentally aware and socially responsible local ministry.

Porvoo Ireland: Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh - Bishop Ferran Glenfield; Denmark: Aarhus - Bishop Henrik Wigh-Poulsen.

The Wider View

Pray for the many refugees and homeless people in our world - often effectively stateless too. Many of them are living in host countries that are themselves desperately poor. Pray particularly for unaccompanied child refugees. The UK has reversed the Dubs Amendment of 2016, and closed its borders to child refugees, and no longer enables child refugees to be reunited with their families. Pray for a rethink on this policy.

This Week Sunday is the most important feast of Mary, the Mother of our Lord. We give thanks for her faithful humility and readiness to offer herself in God’s service, and pray for those things to the marks of the Church today. In the week that commemorates William and Catherine Booth, pray for the work and witness of the Salvation Army, and especially that they are often there for the most needy and least able among us. 19th August is International Orangutan Day. These gentle and intelligent apes are among our closest relatives in the natural world, but their habitat is rapidly disappearing. Many communities face extinction within the nest two decades, often because native forests are felled for the wood and to establish plantations, growing oil palms and other crop trees. Pray we may be better at conserving our natural environments. Bernard, commemorated on Friday, was the great reviver of Benedictine monasticism, and preached a strongly Christ-centred faith. Pray for those who follow his rule today, within what became the Cistercian order. Pray for all who are interested in local history and especially for those who research and write it. Pray for those who visit our churches and churchyards with their history in mind. Give thanks for the beauty of trees, and the ways in which walking or resting in woodland can sooth our minds. Give thanks for the woodland walks there are in many parts of our counties, and pray for the use of woodlands as places of pilgrimage and prayer. Pray for local sporting venues and societies, and especially for all that encourages a love of sport and fitness in children and young people. Pray too for those who offer keep fit sessions for senior citizens, and advice on fitness in old age.

Monday 16th August: The Blessed Virgin Mary, if transferred from Sunday Anglican Easton, USA (Province III, TEC) - The Rt Revd Santosh Marray.

Hereford Support Ministry: Hilary Morgan, Chaplain for the Deaf, and the Deaf Church meeting at St Mary’s, Grandstand Road, Hereford. Pray also for all that is done to enable ministry to deaf people, including training in sign language.

Tuesday 17th August Anglican Eau Claire, USA (Province V, TEC) - The Right Reverend Matthew Gunter,

Bishop Provisional. Hereford Support Ministry: Pray for parishes and groups considering and developing

local ministry, and for all that encourages shared ministry and team working. Wednesday 18th August Anglican Central Ecuador (Province IX, TEC) - vacant since the sudden death of its

Acting Bishop, Victor Scantlebury. Hereford Support Ministry: Mandy McPhee, Safeguarding Adviser, and all who work

with her to provide training and resources, and to ensure that safeguarding is understood as essential to our mission as a Church.

Thursday 19th August Anglican Edinburgh (Scottish Episcopal Church) - The Rt Revd John Armes. Hereford Outreach and Mission: Pray we may make effective use of all types of media in

outreach, mission and worship. Pray for all who edit and produce church and community magazines and newsletters, and keep our church notice boards, websites and social media pages up to date, and for those who are getting to grips with streaming live worship and using Zoom, Youtube etc.

Friday 20th August: Bernard, abbot; William & Catherine Booth, founders of the Salvation Army Anglican Edmonton (Canada) - vacant (a new bishop will have been elected in June). Hereford Outreach and Mission: Life events: pray we may offer a warm welcome and a

generous and caring response to all who come to church to mark important times, happy or sad, in their lives, especially as Covid restrictions begin to ease. Pray also for our care for those directly impacted by the disease.

Saturday 21st August Anglican St.Edmundsbury & Ipswich (Canterbury, England) - The Rt Revd Martin

Seeley; Suffragan - The Rt Revd Mike Harrison (Dunwich). Hereford Outreach and Mission: Pray for mission appropriate to each local situation, and

that engages with local issues, questions and concerns, so that what we offer, and how we offer it, is seen as relevant, useful and encouraging.

Prayer William Booth

O God of burning, cleansing flame: send the fire! Your blood-bought gift today we claim: send the fire today!

Look down and see this waiting host, and send the promised Holy Ghost; we need another Pentecost!

Send the fire today! God of Elijah, hear our cry: send the fire!

And make us fit to live or die: send the fire today! To burn up every trace of sin, to bring the light and glory in,

the revolution now begin! Send the fire today!

SUNDAY 22nd August: 12th after Trinity Proper 16 Anglican Anglican Church of South America - The Rt Revd Nicholas Drayson, Bishop of

Northern Argentina, has been elected as the new Primate. Hereford The Condover Deanery: Rural Dean – Geoff Garrett; Lay Co-Chair – Janet

Wilcoxon; Sub-Warden of Readers – Nancy Cleaton. Porvoo Finland: Espoo - Bishop Kaisamari Hintikka; Scotland: Edinburgh - Bishop

John Armes; The Wider View

Israel has a new government as this Diary goes to press, and it is far from clear whether a very disparate coalition has the stability to hold together. Pray for both Israel and Palestine at this time of continued uncertainty and tension, and that there may be a real move towards a peace and justice that embraces the rights of all.

This Week Pray for those who help run our local village and community halls, many of which will have been little used through the past year or more. Help from both statutory and voluntary sources will have helped tide things over, but what keeps them alive is their use by community groups, local families, as well as local churches and schools. Pray also for our church halls and the groups that make use of them. Little is known of the apostle Bartholomew (unless, as some surmise, he was the same person as Nathaniel). He perhaps was the first to bring the faith to Armenia. Give thanks for the foundation of apostolic ministry on which the Church is built, and for all who in their preaching, teaching and social action point away from themselves and give the glory to Christ. The Tokyo Paralympics should begin on 24th August; pray for all taking part, and for that encourages sport among those living with disabilities. Saturday is International Bat Night; in our churches we may well have a love hate relationship with bats, but we generally know they are there! Many bat species are vulnerable, though, and need our protection. Pray for local bat groups, wildlife trusts, etc, and for all whose knowledge and expertise helps ensure suitable environments are identified and looked after. Pray for all whose marriages have taken place in our churches this year, or are planned to do so through the late summer and autumn. Many of them may have changed their date several times, and most will not have been able to have exactly the day they originally wanted. But may their mutual love find a blessing in the love of God. Give thanks for a reasonably smooth transition to the new method of marriage registration.

Monday 23rd August Anglican Egba (Lagos, Nigeria) - The Rt Revd Emmanuel Adekunle. Hereford Condover with Ryton, Frodesley, Acton Burnell & Pitchford: Geoff Garrett;

Readers – Raymond Evanson; Jeremy Lowe; Condover CE Primary School. Tuesday 24th August: Bartholomew, apostle Anglican Egba West (Lagos, Nigeria) - The Rt Revd Samuel Oludele Ogundeji. Hereford Church Stretton with All Stretton and Little Stretton: Steve Johnson, Chris

Hargraves, David Andrews; Readers - Robert Rayner, Gillian Taylor; Children & Youth Worker - Sally Clilverd; Church Stretton School; St Lawrence CE Primary School.

Wednesday 25th August Anglican Egbu (Owerri, Nigeria) - The Rt Revd Geoffrey Enyinnaya Okorafor. Hereford The Steeplewood Fold Group - Dorrington with Leebotwood, Longnor,

Stapleton, Smethcote & Woolstaston: Laura Hnatiuk; Caro White (Associate Priest); Reader – Mike James; St Edward’s CE Primary School; Longnor CE Primary School.

Thursday 26th August Anglican Egypt (Province of Alexandria) - The Most Revd Mouneer Hanna. Hereford The Apedale Group - Hope Bowdler with Eaton-under-Heywood, Rushbury

and Cardington: Sam Mann, Sue Jelleyman; Readers - Joy Kohn, Margaret Stratton; Rushbury CE Primary School.

Friday 27th August: Monica, mother of Augustine of Hippo Anglican Eha-Amufu (Enugu, Nigeria) - The Rt Revd Daniel Nkemjika Olinya. Hereford The Craven Arms Benefice – Stokesay with the Pilgrim Centre in Craven Arms,

Halford with Sibdon, Acton Scott, & Wistanstow: Interim Ministers Clare and Mark Sanders; Associate Minister Mervyn Williams; Stokesay Primary School; Wistanstow CE Primary School.

Saturday 28th August: Augustine of Hippo, bishop, teacher of the faith Anglican Ekiti (Ondo, Nigeria) - The Rt Revd Christopher Tayo Omotunde. Hereford Wenlock Team Ministry – Much Wenlock with Bourton, Easthope, Stanton

Long, Shipton; and Berrington with Betton Strange and Cross Houses, Church Preen, Cressage, Cound, Harley, Hughley, Kenley, Sheinton: Matthew Stafford, Alison Walker; Reader: Paul Trenberth; Reader Emeritus - Roy Cox, Trevor Hill; Associate Philip Bytheway; Family Breakfast Service Leaders - Jackie Birt, Jude Walker; Brockton CE Primary School; William Brookes School, Much Wenlock; Much Wenlock Primary School; Christ Church CE Primary School, Cressage; Church Preen Primary School.

Prayer Augustine

Holy Spirit, powerful consoler, sacred bond of the Father and the Son, hope of the afflicted,

descend into my heart and establish in it your loving dominion. Enkindle in my tepid soul the fire of your love

so that I may be wholly subject to you. We believe that when you dwell in us,

you also prepare a dwelling for the Father and the Son. Come to me then, consoler of abandoned souls, and protector of the needy.

Help the afflicted, strengthen the weak, and support the wavering. Come and purify me, and let no evil desire take possession of me.

You love the humble and resist the proud. Come to me, glory of the living, and hope of the dying.

Lead me by your grace that I may always be pleasing to you.

SUNDAY 29th August: 13th after Trinity Proper 17 Anglican The Episcopal Church of South Sudan - The Most Revd Justin Badi Arama,

Archbishop. Hereford Pray for the all that enables the care, conservation and creative use of our

church buildings, as places of worship and fellowship, and as resources for each local community. Pray also for all who have put in the extra hours needed to ensure safety and Covid security over the past year and more.

Porvoo Finland: Turku - Archbishop Tapio Luoma, Bishop Mari Leppänen; England: York - Archbishop Stephen Cottrell, Bishop Paul Ferguson, Bishop John Thomson, Bishop Alison White, Bishop Glyn Webster.

The Wider View

Brother Alois, Prior of the Community of Taizé, spoke at the Third Ecumenical Kirchentag, which took place (virtually) in Frankfurt in Spring. He urged closer links, saying, "On no account must we accept the scandal of our divisions! Our churches cannot yet share all the treasures of faith with one another. But Christ is not divided. He is our unity." May unity in Christ be the bedrock of all our links. The next Evangelical Kirchentag is due to take place in Nuremberg in 2023 - pray for those who are planning and preparing for it.

This Week John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress” continues to have a profound impact on many people today. Pray we may retain a sense of being a pilgrim people, with “here no abiding place”, and that as pilgrims we may be ready to support, guide and correct one another, that we may journey safely and well. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month - pray for a better understanding of childhood cancers, so that children affected can receive better care, and families are well supported. September is also Alzheimer’s Month - pray for all who live with this form of dementia, for carers and families, and that we may become more dementia aware in our churches and communities. Everywoman Day on Friday seeks to raise awareness of common medical conditions severely affecting and limiting the lives of women, which are often poorly understood and open to misdiagnosis; many women find themselves living with constant pain which they may find it difficult to talk about. Saturday is International Vulture Awareness Day. The role of vultures in clearing carrion than otherwise could become a source of disease is in fact of vital importance in many tropical regions, but they are also, as carrion eaters, early victims of poisons (for example, the drug diclofenac, used by livestock farmers) used in agriculture or pest control. Pray for the protection of this ecologically important group of birds. Aidan, commemorated on Tuesday, was the founder of the monastery on Lindisfarne, and the first Bishop of Lindisfarne, still a place of pilgrimage. Give thanks for the distinctive Celtic rhythms of music and prayer that can so beautifully enrich our worship. Pray for those who will be starting at university this autumn - for some it will be their first time away from home on their own. Pray for young people with a

Christian faith as they leave home, and for the work of university chaplaincy and Christian unions and fellowships in greeting freshers.

Monday 30th August: John Bunyan, spiritual writer Anglican Ekiti Kwara (Kwara, Nigeria) - The Rt Revd Andrew Ajayi. Hereford Support Ministry: Neil Patterson, Diocesan Director of Vocations and

Ordinands. Pray for new vocations for ministry from our Diocese, and for those in training or preparing to begin; also for the assistant Directors of Ordinands.

Tuesday 31st August: Aidan, bishop Anglican Ekiti Oke (Ondo, Nigeria) - The Rt Revd Isaac Olatunde Olubowale. Hereford Churches Together and other areas of ecumenical co-operation - the ways in

which we can share fellowship, ideas, projects, training, worship and even buildings, and, in our rural congregations, for those of other denominations who regularly worship with us.

Wednesday 1st September: Giles, hermit Anglican Ekiti West (Ondo, Nigeria) - The Rt Revd Rufus Ajileye Adepoju. Hereford Support Ministry: Luci Morriss, Dean of Women’s Ministry, supporting women

in ordained ministry and as accredited lay workers within the Diocese. Thursday 2nd September: The martyrs of Papua New Guinea Anglican Eldoret (Kenya) - The Rt Revd Christopher Ruto. Hereford Ministry: Give thanks for the ministry of Self-Supporting Ministers (SSMs) and

ministers with PTO within our Diocese. Friday 3rd September: Gregory the Great, bishop and teacher of the faith Anglican Port Elizabeth, RSA (Southern Africa) - The Rt Revd Edward Daniels. Hereford Ministry: Give thanks for the assisting ministry offered by retired and PTO

clergy in our diocese, and pray for those who give support and help to retired clergy.

Saturday 4th September: Birinus, bishop Anglican Ely (Canterbury, England) - The Rt Revd Stephen Conway; Suffragan - The Rt

Revd Dagmar Winter (Huntingdon). Hereford Ministry: Pray for Readers, and for all who support and resource their ministry

including the sub-wardens in each deanery. Pray also for Readers in training. Prayer Ascribed to Aidan

Leave me alone with God as much as may be. As the tide draws the waters close in upon the shore,

Make me an island, set apart, alone with you,

God, holy to you. Then with the turning of the tide

prepare me to carry your presence to the busy world beyond,

the world that rushes in on me till the waters come again and fold me back to you.

SUNDAY 5th September: 14th after Trinity Proper 18 Anglican The Episcopal Church of Sudan - The Most Revd Ezekiel Kondo, Archbishop. Hereford The Hereford City Deanery: Rural Dean – Ruth Hulse; Lay Co-Chair – Jackie

Mumford; Sub-Warden of Readers – Malcolm Robertson; Treasurer - Rosemary Lording.

Porvoo England: Salisbury - vacant, Bishop Andrew Rumsey, Bishop Karen Gorham; Wales: St Asaph - Bishop Gregory Cameron; Denmark: Ribe - Bishop Elof Westergaard.

The Wider View

Continue to pray for the people and nations of the Horn of Africa, and in particular for Ethiopia, where elections were under way at the time this Diary was being assembled. Voting had been postponed in Tigray where tension and fighting continues between Tigrayan forces and the Ethiopian army. There are ethnic and tribal tensions elsewhere in Ethiopia too. Pray there may be peace and a revival of democracy across the whole land.

This Week

It is estimated that one in seven people in our world suffer from regular migraines; for some it is a very disabling disease. Migraine Awareness Week aims to raise the profile of migraine as a complex neurological condition, and to support and encourage research. This week also focuses attention on those who live with Rheumatoid Arthritis - raising awareness, and helping those who have this disease to access high quality care. Pray for all who suffer from this condition. Youth Mental Health Day (7th September) seeks to engage young people in discussions and activities about how to improve their mental health, going beyond awareness and breaking the stigma surrounding mental health, into tackling the heart of the issue. Pray for young people who are at risk of mental illness, and for a positive response to their needs. Pray for the Anglican churches of Latin America, and for the work today of the South American Mission Society, as this week we remember its founder. Pray for walking groups in our communities, many of which enable older people to maintain social contacts and keep fit in an enjoyable way. Pray for footpath wardens, volunteers helping to maintain walking routes and keep stiles and bridges in good order. Heritage Open Days are held in England from this week, an annual event celebrating our heritage and culture, this year with the theme of “Edible England”. Give thanks for the heritage around us, and for our local food and drink, and pray for the local tourism and hospitality industries as they recover from Covid. This Friday also sees the start of the Ludlow Food Festival - give thanks for the way in which events of this sort bring in visitors and help establish local industries.

Monday 6th September: Allen Gardiner, founder of the South American Mission Society Anglican Embu (Kenya) - The Rt Revd David Muriithi Ireri. Hereford St Martin, Hereford and St Peter, Bullinghope; Anne Dowdeswell, Lauren Bell;

Intergenerational Missioners - Jo Child, David Bland; Local Ministry Team. The Hereford Academy; Riverside Primary School; Marlbrook Primary School; St Martin’s Primary School; Our Lady’s RC Primary School; Blackmarston School.

Diary Bishop’s Staff meeting. Tuesday 7th September Anglican Enugu (Enugu, Nigeria) The Most Revd Emmanuel Chukwuma. Hereford West Hereford Team Ministry – St Nicholas, Holy Trinity, All Saints and St

Michael’s, Breinton: Ruth Hulse, Joanna Jennings; Readers – Stuart Vince, Chris Webb, Malcolm Robertson, Michael Weaver; The Team LMDGs; Whitecross High School; Trinity Primary School; Lord Scudamore Academy.

Wednesday 8th September: Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary Anglican Enugu North (Enugu, Nigeria) - The Rt Revd Sosthenes Eze. Hereford St Peter with St Owen & St James: Andy Morgan, Andy Dodwell, Elliot

Swattridge, Luke Aylen; PTO - Paul Gill, Val Turner; Readers – Peter Strevens, Mary Bennett; St Thomas Cantilupe CE School, St James CE School. Church wardens - Peter and Janet Stevens, Richard Paske, Guy Rawlinson, Stephen Turner; Treasurer: Andy Butterfill; 'Bread of Life' - hot food provision.

Thursday 9th September: Charles Fuge Lowder, priest Anglican Esan ( Bendel, Nigeria) - The Rt. Rev. Gabriel Elabor. Hereford Holmer with Huntington: Steven Lee, Rob Oram, Erin Butler; Reader – Nancy

Thomas; Holmer CE Academy. Friday 10th September Anglican Etche (Niger Delta, Nigeria) - The Rt Revd Precious Nwala. Hereford Tupsley with Hampton Bishop: Nick Armstrong, Joe Chipper; Reader -

Deborah Hartland; Bishop of Hereford’s Bluecoat School; St Paul’s CE Primary School; Hampton Dene Primary School; Broadlands Primary School; St Francis Xavier RC Primary School; Aylestone Business & Enterprise College.

Saturday 11th September Anglican Etsako (Bendel, Nigeria) - The Rt Revd Felix Olorunfemi. Hereford The Magnis Group - Credenhill with Brinsop & Wormsley, Mansel Lacy &

Yazor, Kenchester, Bridge Sollers & Bishopstone: Rana Davies-James, Angie Deane; Reader – Mike Wilkinson; St Mary’s CE Primary School, Credenhill.

Prayer Allen Gardiner’s prayer on his first mission journey

O that, if it be thy will, I may be a humble instrument in thy hand for good unto their souls.

But I am as unequal as I am unworthy to do thee any service. I know, O Lord, that without thee I can do nothing that is pleasing in thy sight. But at the same time, I thankfully believe that with thee all things are possible.

Save me from the galling yoke of my besetting sin, and bring me wholly to submit myself cheerfully to thy yoke,

which is indeed easy, and thy ways are pleasantness. Having put my hand to the plough may I never turn back.

May thy strength be made perfect in my weakness.

SUNDAY 12th September: 15th after Trinity Proper 19 Anglican The Anglican Church of Tanzania - The Most Revd Maimbo Mndolwa,

Archbishop. Hereford Pray for all who visit our churches, and for the welcome we extend, both at

times of worship, and to those who look in at other times. Pray we may enable people to visit safely, and that we may interpret our buildings in attractive ways that both tell their story and share our faith.

Porvoo Ireland: Tuam, Killala and Achonry - Bishop Patrick Rooke; England: Bath and Wells - Bishop Peter Hancock, Bishop Ruth Worsley.

The Wider View

Bishops Ark and Elizabeth began to exercise their remarkable ministry as joint bishops of Nuremberg in 2006. Give thanks for the years of their joint ministry, and pray for Bishop Ark in retirement, and Bishop Elizabeth as she continues in office.

This Week Orchid Male Cancer Awareness Week this week highlights the risk of testicular, prostate and penile cancers, which are often completely curable if caught early enough, but also often ignored or not recognised in the early stages. Pray for effective identification and treatment. Other health awareness weeks which share this week focus attention on those who live with mitochondrial disease, with eczema, and with balance problems. Pray for the work of specialists and researchers in all these areas, and give thanks for the breadth of medical care available to us. World Sepsis Day is always held on 13th September. Some 700 people every day are impacted by this condition in the UK. Pray for a new campaign by the Sepsis Trust, “Schools against Sepsis”, which aims to educate Key Stage 2 students and their families about the disease. Tuesday is Holy Cross Day. The sacrifice of Christ on the cross of Calvary proves the love of God for his people, and turns an instrument of death into the throne of our King, and our symbol of redemption and grace. Hildegard of Bingen, commemorated on Friday, was remarkable in her learning, her piety, her visionary sense of God’s presence, and as a musician. She also had a strong awareness of the need to live in balance with creation, and perhaps her day can prompt prayer for our churches in their engagement with environmental issues. This is National Coding Week, and we may be reminded that today’s children and young people have grown up with computers simply there as part of their daily lives. This week helps children in school to be creative in their use of technology, but also to support adults in learning coding skills, i.e. how to programme a computer or tell it what it’s supposed to do. Pray for all who work in IT, or who teach it in our schools and colleges.

Monday 13th September: John Chrysostom, bishop, teacher of the faith Anglican Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe - The Rt Revd Mark Edington. Hereford Hereford VI Form College (Chaplain – Deborah Jackson); Herefordshire &

Ludlow College; Hereford College of Arts; Royal National College for the Blind;

Holme Lacy College. Diary Mothers’ Union trustees. Tuesday 14th September: Holy Cross Day Anglican Diocese in Europe (Canterbury, Church of England) - The Rt Revd Robert

Innes; Suffragan - The Rt Revd David Hamid. Hereford The local church - Those who prepare our churches for worship, and ensure

that our buildings are clean and safe places. Diary Finance Committee. Wednesday 15th September: Cyprian, bishop and martyr Anglican Evo (Niger Delta, Nigeria) - The Rt Revd Innocent Ordu. Hereford The local church - Those who read, lead intercessions, assist at communion,

and the people who draw up the rotas for these things! Diary Diocesan Advisory Committee. Thursday 16th September: Ninian, bishop; Edward Bouverie Pusey, priest Anglican Exeter (Canterbury, England) - The Rt Revd Robert Atwell; Suffragans - The

Rt Revd Jackie Searle (Crediton), The Rt Revd Nick McKinnel (Plymouth). Hereford The local church - Organists, choristers, and musicians. Friday 17th September: Hildegard of Bingen, abbess, musician and visionary Anglican Ezo (South Sudan) - The Rt Revd John Kereboro Zawo. Hereford The local church - Leaders and members of prayer and study groups, and of

fellowship groups, drop-ins for coffee etc, and for the variety of midweek activities that help connect church and community.

Saturday 18th September Anglican Faisalabad (Pakistan) - The Rt Revd John Samuel. Hereford The local church - All who work with children, young people and families, and

all who help connect our churches with their local schools, nurseries, play groups etc.

Prayer John Chrysostom

Remember, O Lord, this city where we dwell

and every other city and country, and all the faithful who dwell in them.

Remember, O Lord, all who travel by land or water,

all who labour under sickness or slavery. Remember them, and give them health and safety.

Remember, O Lord, all in your Holy Church who bring forth good fruit,

are rich in good works and remember the poor. Grant your mercy and loving-kindness to us all,

and grant that we may praise and glorify your great and glorious name with one mouth and one heart;

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and forever.

SUNDAY 19th September: 16th after Trinity Proper 20 Anglican Church of Province of Uganda - The Most Revd Stephen Kaziimba,

Archbishop. Hereford Kington & Weobley Deanery: Rural Dean – Guy Wilkinson; Lay Co-Chair –

Elizabeth Shayler; Sub-Warden of Readers – Anne Ingham. Porvoo England: Sheffield - Bishop Pete Wilcox, Bishop Sophie Jelley; Greenland:

Diocese of Greenland within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark - Bishop Paneeraq Siegstad Munk.

The Wider View

A recent trade deal between Kenya and Tanzania, and an easier atmosphere is a cause for some optimism after the tensions of recent years. Pray for the strengthening of links, and for the governments of the two countries as they develop joint projects on, for example, tourism and energy sufficiency and distribution, as well as a coordinated response to Covid, and easier movement across borders.

This Week As we commemorate the apostle and evangelist Matthew this week, may we give thanks for the Gospel that bears his name, and pray we may share in creative ways the story it tells. Ember Days have often been days on which we pray for vocations and for all who are considering a call to ministry. Pray for those presently in training or just beginning (see the back page of this diary), for those newly ordained as deacon and priest (listed in the first two weeks of this quarter), and for new vocations for every kind of ministry. This is Recycle Week in the UK. There is immense scope for improving our ability to recycle, and too much that we think is recycled is still either dumped or burned. Pray for schemes that aim to increase the range of things that can be recycled, and for inventive ideas for how materials can find a second use. In Fire Door Safety Week, pray for all who seek to improve safety in our homes, and for our local firefighters across our diocese, many of whom are retained firefighters rather than full-timers. Tuesday is kept as the International Day of Peace: pray for all who are the victims of war and of the violence of others, and that the desire for peace might be planted in the hearts of all. National Eye Health Week begins this week, and one of its main aims is just to encourage people to check their eyes, and to perhaps get them tested. Slight deteriorations over a period of time may pass unnoticed. The week may also prompt our prayers for the many people in our world who lack access to eye treatment, and for whom curable conditions may instead result in blindness. Pray too for those (e.g. Mercy Ships) who bring medical help to people who might not otherwise receive it. 22nd September is considered to be the first day of Autumn; it also begins Seed Gathering Season, a month-long campaign by the Tree Council to encourage the gathering of seeds, fruits and nuts that can be used to grow the trees of the future.

Monday 20th September: John Coleridge Patteson, bishop, and his companions, martyrs Anglican Falkland Islands (parish) (Canterbury) - The Most Revd Justin Welby, Bishop

of the Falkland Islands; The Rt Revd Timothy Thornton, Bishop for the Falkland Islands and Archbishop’s Commissary (also Bishop to the Forces).

Hereford Eardisley with Bollingham & Willersley, Brilley, Michaelchurch, Whitney, Winforton, Almeley & Kinnersley: Marcus Small, Guy Wilkinson, Bob Mullis; Readers - Joyce Banbury, David Greenwood; Almeley Primary School; Eardisley CE Primary School.

Tuesday 21st September: Matthew, apostle and evangelist Anglican False Bay, RSA (Southern Africa) - The Rt Revd Margaret Vertue. Hereford Kington with Huntington, Old Radnor, Kinnerton & Titley: Ben Griffith, Linda

MacDermott; Paul Buckingham; Reader - Rob MacCurrach; Kington Primary School; Lady Hawkins High School; Kington Court Hospital.

Wednesday 22nd September: Ember Day Anglican Fianarantsoa , Madagascar (Indian Ocean) - The Rt Revd Gilbert Rateloson

Rakotondravelo. Hereford Letton with Staunton-on-Wye, Byford, Mansel Gamage & Monnington-on-Wye;

Weobley with Sarnesfield & Norton Canon: Philip Harvey; Susan Verwey, John Thewlis, Charles Overton, Peter Houghton, Mike Kneen; Reader - Henry Verwey; Staunton-on-Wye Endowed Primary School; Weobley Primary School; Weobley High School.

Thursday 23rd September Anglican Florida, USA (Province IV, TEC) - The Rt Revd Samuel Johnson Howard. Hereford Arrowvale Group - Pembridge with Moorcourt, Shobdon, Staunton-on-Arrow,

Byton & Lyonshall: Anna Branston, John Redpath; Readers – Ian Smith, Anne Ingham; Pembridge CE Primary School; Shobdon Primary School.

Friday 24th September: Ember Day Anglican Central Florida, USA (Province IV, TEC) - The Rt Revd Gregory Brewer. Hereford Presteigne with Discoed, Kinsham, Lingen & Knill: Stephen Hollinghurst,

Debbie Venables; The John Beddoes Secondary School, and Presteigne Primary School.

Saturday 25th September: Lancelot Andrewes, bishop; Sergei of Radonezh; Ember Day Anglican Southeast Florida, USA (Province IV, TEC) - The Rt Revd Peter Eaton. Hereford Support for Ministry: Pray for the work of the Ludlow Mascall Centre, and in

particular for the Diocesan Resource Library located there. Diary Annual Readers’ Assembly,Leominster (Pray for Susannah Peppiatt, to be

admitted as a Reader. Prayer Lancelot Andrewes

O Lord, you bring forth the night and create the morning; you cause the sun to rise on the good and on the evil.

Enlighten the blindness of our minds with the knowledge of your truth. Let the light of your face shine on us that in your light we may see light

and at last, the light of grace in your glory.

Curates in Training: Sue Jelleyman (year 4 - Ape Dale) Tom King (year 4 - Bridgnorth & Morville)) David Poyner (year 4 - Severn Valley) Tim Starling (year 4 - Stow Caple) Elliot Swattridge (year 4 - Ss Peter & James, Hfd) Alison Walker (year 4 - Wenlock Team) Linda MacDermott (year 3 - Kington) David Wyatt (year 3 - Canon Pyon) Iain McIntyre (year 3 - Madeley) Jo Jennings (year 2 - West Hereford) Lawrence Gittins (year 2 - Ludlow) Tiffany Jackson (year 2 - Ross) Joe Simons (year 2 - Cleobury Mortimer) Katie Smith (year 2 - Kingsland) David Andrews (Year 1 - Church Stretton) Luke Aylen (Year 1 - Ss Peter & James, Hereford) Lauren Bell (Year 1 - St Martin, Hereford) Lois Beynon (Year 1 - Broseley with Benthall etc) Erin Butler (Year 1 - Holmer with Huntington) (Joe) Stanley Chipper (Year 1 - Tupsley etc) Wayne Davies (Year 1 - Ludlow) Angie Kateley (Year 1 - Abbeydore) Natalie Jennings (Year 1 - Maund Group) Ruth Leigh (Year 1 - Westbury, Worthen & Yockleton) Lizzy Womack (Year 1 - Tenbury Team) Ordinands in Training: Michael Aylmer (Cuddeston, from September) Sam Burgoyne (Queen’s, Birmingham) Jo Child (CGH) Seamus Hargrave (St Stephen’s House) Fiona Honeysett (CGH) Tracy Jones (CGH, from September) Sarah Lupton (from September) Rosie Roberts (Queen’s, Birmingham) William Talbot-Ponsonby (CGH, from September)

Interns (“Discover”): Ewan Gillings (Maund & Frome Valley) Jordan Kay (Wellington / Pyons) Warden and Sub-Wardens of Readers: Acting Warden: Rev Neil Patterson Sub-Wardens: Abbeydore - vacant Bromyard – vacant Hereford - Malcolm Robertson Kington & Weobley - Henry Verwey Ledbury - Chris Blanchard / Linde Melhuish Leominster - Michael Kneen Ross & Archenfield - Christopher Blanchard Bridgnorth - Garry Ward Clun Forest - Jonathan Kemp Condover - Nancy Cleaton Ludlow - John Beesley Pontesbury - Nancy Cleaton Telford Severn Gorge - Garry Ward Readers in Training: Alex Daborn - Stottesdon Christopher Evans - Greater Whitbourne Mark Simmons - Orleton Deborah Hartland – Tupsley Jennifer White - Bucknell Claire Williams – Westbury Intergenerational Missioners: Kate King, working in Bridgnorth Geri Miller - Abbeydore Wayne Davies - Ludlow Christine Cattanach - Ross David Bland and Jo Child - South Wye Beckie Dotson - Sutton Hill & Woodside Mark Hackney - Pontesbury Deanery