St Marks and All Saints West Parley

St Marks and All Saints West Parley Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14.27)

06/06/2026

Greetings.

The churches are bedecked in green for the Sundays after Trinity, of which there are many, stretching deep into the Autumn. Why green? it is sometimes asked. There is no sure answer and consistency of practice with regard to liturgical colours is a relatively modern thing but, for a season which sees the burgeoning of plant life and culminates with Harvest, one could argue that green is synonymous with growth.

Having walked with the Lord through Lent and Holy Week, and rejoiced in his resurrection, and waited with the Apostles for the outpouring of the Spirit, we are now challenged to live and grow in the light of this inheritance, using all God's gifts to witness to the hope that is within us, the hope that is always needed most urgently in this troubled world.

This Sunday's gospel (Matthew 9.9-13, 18-26) focusses on Jesus' Galilean ministry and in it culminates most dramatically in him bringing back to life the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, having previously healed a chronically sick woman. Demonstrations of divine compassion, these events reveal the power of God at work in Jesus, but no less revealing is his calling of Matthew the Tax Collector, and his challenge to the Pharisees, who were disturbed by Jesus consorting with tax collectors and sinners.

Jesus' response is cutting for he says, I did not come to call the virtuous but sinners.

The Pharisees basked in their supposed virtue. How many of them would have realised that Jesus was actually addressing them? The notorious tax collectors and sinners were well aware of their failings, but the Pharisees were in a worse plight because they deluded themselves and their hearts were far from God.

This passage gets to the heart of faith. It is not about being holier than thou, but acknowledging personal failings and needs, and with a humble heart rejoicing in God's mercy. It sounds simple and perhaps it is. But it's in our nature to make things more complicated than they are. Come before God with a humble heart, free of pretence and self-delusion and we find that divine compassion knows no bounds and the possibilities for new life and growth are limitless.

Blessings,

Charles Booth

Please note that this Sunday there is the Extraordinary Meeting of Parishioners for the Election of Churchwardens. I am delighted that we have two candidates, Carol Morris and Ashley Hancock. The meeting should be a very brief one and will take place during the refreshments after the Eucharist at 11.15am in the Church Hall. The Pew Sheet with other notices and readings for the week is on the website.

30/05/2026

Greetings.

As a curate I used to feel that I'd drawn the short straw if I was on the preaching rota for Trinity Sunday. I would ponder, How can I explain one in three and three in one in a way that people will understand? And I remember being taken to task by a clergy widow for preaching what was in effect an academic lecture - and probably not a very good one!

St. Patrick famously used the three leaf clover as a way of introducing his hearers to the mystery of God who we know as one God, yet three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As I've grown older I've come to realise that the key word here is Mystery. Far from being an academic conundrum to be teased out and resolved - which of course we can never do - God the Holy Trinity is Ultimate Mystery and the sustaining essence of life, including of course, our own.

In the face of this Ultimate Mystery the only appropriate response is awe and wonder, adoration and worship of a kind which, whilst engaging the mind, truly nourishes heart and soul. And as Trinity suggests that God is persons-in-relationship we are drawn most fully into this mystery when we come together in worship.

It is sometimes asked What is the point of going to church? To which the answer has to be, None whatsoever, unless we are willing to be church. Being is all, and it is the work of the Spirit. As we celebrate Trinity Sunday, may God draw us more and more into fulness of life and being.

Blessings,
Charles Booth

Please note that next Sunday (7th) there is the Extraordinary Meeting of Parishioners for the Election of Churchwardens. I am delighted that we have two nominees, Ashley Hancock and Carol Morris.

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love. Psalm 143
29/05/2026

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love. Psalm 143

26/05/2026

On Pentecost, we pray

Loving God,

We raise to you the community of West Parley, we ask for your blessing upon them, including the Revd Charles Booth.

We pray that you bless this place with your peace.

In our Anglican Communion prayers, we raise to you the Episcopal Church in the Philippines.

Amen

23/05/2026

Greetings.

At school languages were not my strong suit which is something I've long regretted as I'm fascinated by words, their origins and connections. In the reading from Acts (2.1-21) for this Whit Sunday, we hear of the apostles, inspired by the Holy Spirit, speaking in diverse languages and tongues.

The event recalls the story of the Tower of Babel in the Book of Genesis when, human beings, for grasping at equality with God, were dispersed across the earth and confused with a babble of different languages. In both stories we can see that differences of language, whilst potentially an obstacle to unity can also be a rich source of diversity.

For the Church to be truly Universal, or Catholic, as we say in the Creeds, there must always be a desire and longing to reach out beyond the confines of our own language and culture. I am reminded of the story (possibly apocryphal) of an American who disparaged a modern translation of the Scriptures saying, if the King James Version was good enough for St. Paul then it's good enough for me. We might laugh but then we also forget that English, as an established vehicle of Christian faith and spirituality, is a phenomenon of the last 500 years only.

Our inheritance of faith was rooted and developed in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin and how much richer we would be if we were resourced to explore it in those tongues and cultures. Pentecost is a reminder of this catholic inheritance and an occasion to seek the inspiration of the Spirit to go beyond the comfortable and familiar, and to encounter God in what seems strange and unknown, for whether in language, culture or relationship, that is the way that we grow.

In recent years on the Day of Pentecost, in imitation of the Apostles, some of us have prayed the The Lord's Prayer in various different languages at our services and I hope we will be inspired to do so again this Sunday. Versions in Aramaic (the language of Jesus), Latin, Welsh, German and French are attached with the Pew Sheet, but don't be restricted by my selection. In the past we've heard the Lord's Prayer in languages as diverse and ancient as Cherokee and Old Anglo-Saxon!

May you be richly blessed in the Spirit this Pentecost,
Charles Booth

16/05/2026

Greetings.

On Thursday, we celebrated The Ascension and it was lovely to do so with a good congregation and vibrant singing from the Choir. We are now in the midst of that final ten days of the Easter Season, Ascensiontide, which, in spite of the busyness of events and the chaos of the world, is a time that invites stillness, reflection and waiting.

We wait in imitation of the Apostles who, after Jesus' departure, waited joyfully and prayerfully for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. They had no idea what the Spirit's impact would be, only that they would be empowered in some way as witnesses to God's Kingdom as Jesus had promised.

Waiting is not something that many of us are good at. Indeed, it gets harder as the digital age generates the expectation that things will happen at the swipe of a screen, and when we do have to wait, on an NHS list for example, the experience is often one of mounting frustration.

Socially, we are conditioned more and more to think of waiting time as wasted time. And I think this gives an especial weight to Ascensiontide. It really does cut against the grain reminding us that the whole of our vocation as Christians is really about waiting, waiting for the fulfilment of God's Kingdom. It calls for the cultivation of those spiritual virtues of patience, hope and expectation.

Perhaps we can reap the benefits of this season by taking time each day to pause, be still and reflective, and, when faced with the tedium of queueing or the frustration of delay, to pray quietly in our own heart, Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

May the peace of the risen and ascended Lord be with you.

Charles Booth

14/05/2026

Ascension service
Thursday 14th May
7.30pm
St Mark’s church

09/05/2026

Greetings.

This Thursday (14th) is Ascension Day, the beginning of the final days of Easter in which we celebrate Christ, risen, ascended and glorified. Ascension is, in effect the coronation of the Crucified and Risen Lord. The Kingship of Christ, wrought in the hard suffering of the cross, is vindicated at God's right hand in glory. It is an assurance that whatever we might endure in living lives of dedicated service, our labour is not in vain, but a cherished building block of the Kingdom that is to come.

Ascension is also about farewells. The disciples would see Jesus no more in the flesh but be sustained by his Spirit. Sadly, at this time, we also must bid farewell to Derek Lewis our dear friend and churchwarden. Derek died peacefully yesterday (Friday) having declined rapidly since he was last in church barely three weeks ago. To the end he lived courageosly and faithfully, a model of Christian witness both in living and in dying. As we bid him Rest in Peace we pray that the same Spirit of peace will sustain and comfort Corinne and her family, and console us all in this time of grief.

As we keep The Ascension on Thursday evening with a Eucharist at 7.30pm we will be especially mindful of that sense of farewell. We remember too that the disciples returned from the mountain with hope in their hearts and prayed in expectation for the coming of the Spirit. And in all seasons and circumstances of life that attitude of hope and expectation must permeate our worship. Tomorrow, we have a full Sunday, the Sixth Sunday of Easter being Rogation Sunday.

We won't be beating the bounds in accordance with ancient custom but, on a day which also marks the beginning of Christian Aid Week, we will be praying for the fruitfulness of creation and responsible stewardship of God's gifts.

Services will be at St. Mark's at 8.00 and 10.00am and at All Saints' at 6.00pm. In addition there is a Rogation-themed Breakfast@Nine. Come along to this and other services, as you are, and bring the dedication and offering of your life whether in sickness or in health, in sorrow or in joy.

One such act of dedication begets and encourages another as we strive ever onwards in the hope of that unity we will finally share with all the saints in the Kingdom that is to come.

Every blessing,
Charles Booth

03/05/2026

Greetings.

In true British fashion the weather for this Bank Holiday weekend looks unsettled. It poses the question, why bother, as so many do, to make a long excursion, sitting in endless queues of traffic, only to be rewarded with a soggy few hours at the beach ? I suppose I am sounding a little resentful of tourists who, after all, are vital to our economy, but this Sunday's gospel (John 14.1-14) does laud the wisdom of being at home.

Whereas the way home for the frustrated Bank Holiday visitor can be long, slow and frustrating, we are reminded that our true home, wherever we reside in this world, is in the heart of a loving Father.

In my Father's house are many mansions is a statement of the sheer breadth of humanity redeemed by the Cross of Christ and an assertion of the capacious love of God, a love that stretches beyond the bounds of our limited imagination.

In these troubled times as we see an escalation in public disorder and violence against the Jewish community, part of the witness of Christian discipleship is to hold fast to God who, in Christ, wipes away all those distinctions that matter so much to us.

Our society is being confronted with uncomfortable truths but we must resist being drawn into the harsh and coarse rhetoric promoted by so-called social media and be guided always by those inspiring words of St. Paul; there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3.28).

To me those words fly off the page as a revelation to Paul of the extraordinary breadth and depth of divine love. Whether we are at home, or travelling this weekend, they are words to ponder as we move on in our witness to the crucified and risen Lord.

Blessings,
Charles Booth

Among the forthcoming events are Breakfast@Nine (Sunday 10th) and the Christian Aid concert A World of Songs (Saturday 23rd). There is also a new opportunity to engage with the Scriptures, a series of Bible studies (Bible Buddies) lead by Jill Bell.

25/04/2026

Greetings.

Fifty years ago this weekend, the building we know as St. Mark's was dedicated by the then Bishop of Sherborne, Victor 'Paddy' Pike. The event is commemorated on a plaque in the church foyer. For 19 years prior to this, St. Mark's, as the daughter church of All Saints', had met in the church hall, itself dedicated in honour of the Evangelist in 1957. In those first 19 years it established a reputation as The Friendly Church, and I'm confident we remain faithful to that legacy all these years later. Our worship, whether at St. Mark's or at All Saints' is characterised by a spirit relaxed formality and many people comment on the quality of welcome and fellowship among us. Long may that continue.

This Sunday's Eucharist will be a festival occasion, a double celebration in fact as we honour forty years of dedicated service from our organist Charles Thomas. It will culminate with cake and prosecco in the Church Hall where it all began in 1957. The gospel reading for the feast of St. Mark (Mark 13.5-13) reminds us of the challenges of remaining faithful to our calling as witnesses to the crucified and risen Lord and it is timely to recall that Mark's Gospel culminates with the women at the empty tomb, overcome by fear, running away and saying nothing to anyone. Mark speaks across the ages addressing the fears and inhibitions that afflict us as human beings and as Christians. But his witness, two thousand years of history, and our history here in this parish, reminds us that God's work is accomplished in what St. Paul called, frail earthen vessels. We rejoice not in our own strength, but in the grace of God gifted to us by the Holy Spirit.

As we celebrate this weekend we are conscious of the many challenges of our times and circumstances, and not least here in this parish. But in worship we proclaim, The Lord is here, He is with us. So, with thanksgiving in our hearts, let us commit to the future, one step at a time, confident that the Spirit will embolden our witness to our crucified and risen Lord.

Blessings,
Charles Booth

Please note that tickets for the celebratory concert on 17th May (A World of Songs) are now available (£5) from Keith and Peggy Bradley. The concert will be our fundraiser for Christian Aid.

Address

250 New Road
Ferndown
BH228EW

Telephone

+441202987915

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when St Marks and All Saints West Parley posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Place Of Worship

Send a message to St Marks and All Saints West Parley:

Shortcuts

Share

Category