Welcome to the Upper Kennet Parish
Welcome to the Upper Kennet Parish. Comprised of 8 villages and their churches, our parish is blessed by being in a National Landscape which includes the UNESCO World Heritage site of Avebury. As Christians we are working out what it means to follow Jesus and we invite you, whatever your situation and wherever you are on your journey, to join us.
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You can also find some of our archive material on the Services and Events page, near the bottom.
Latest news
For all services please see the Monthly Calendar. Liturgy and video services are also available on the Services and events page
To get information on current church services go to Upper Kennet News.
Editions – Upper Kennet News
The Upper Kennet News is published monthly and distributed freely. The views expressed in the Upper Kennet News are those of the individual contributors.
Each Day as a Worship
A day by day of prayer ( inspired by a Bishop Friend in USA)
On Rising
May the bird song of the morning be a hymn of praise to you Oh Lord
May my feet on the floor and the first daily step be a sign that I Walk In Your Way
May the water that washes my face and body be a sign of you washing away all that is not good in my life
May the towel that dries me be a sign of your forgiveness
On Hearing
The news that causes my heart to tighten and my soul to ache
May this be the Kyrie – Lord Have Mercy
On Speaking
Words of hope, support encouragement, singing along to a favorite song or Radio 2
May this be A hymn of Praise
On Feeling Despondent
Low spirits, tears, soul aches, loneliness, anxiety
May these and more be prayers in your eyes
On Working
Endless emails, uncertainty on furlough, fearful for the future, swamped by the present, longing for a holiday, or time with my loved ones, working from a noisy kitchen while teaching the kids May these be times when I hear your Word ‘BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD’ as you preach
On Eating
In the prepping of a meal, the sitting at a table, the aloneness or in company, May I remember to value each bite, and taste and texture, grateful for creation, and in it find Eucharist
On End
As my head hits the pillow and I stretch out my limbs May all I have done and said and thought be for you a Vesper Hymn
Safeguarding
The LCCs of the Upper Kennet Parish have formally adopted the House of Bishops’ Promoting a Safer Church; Safeguarding Policy Statement and reviews this policy annually at APCM .
This is the Parish Policy Statement
We take the Safeguarding of Young People and Vulnerable Adults very seriously and are committed to providing a safe space for all to gather for worship and community fellowship. All PCC members, post holders and licenced Clergy and Lay ministers are trained to appropriate levels under the Diocese of Salisbury Safeguarding Policies. A copy of these can be found in each of our churches along with a list of helpful contacts and phone numbers for national and local help organisations.
Parish Safeguarding Officers
Diocesan Safeguarding Team
Who's Who
RECTOR
REV'd JONATHAN POSTON
01672 560584
Graham kitchen
pastoral assistant
Graham has been a Licensed Pastoral Assistant for over 7 years and lives in East Kennett.
His ministry includes providing pastoral support for people who are ill, bereaved or house bound and leading Worship, especially Taizé and Evening Prayer at East Kennett.
Claire StIles
pastoral
assistant
Claire has been a Licensed Pastoral Assistant for over 7 years and lives in Winterbourne Bassett.
She is also a Lay Worship Leader and leads a service of Morning Prayer regularly at Winterbourne Bassett, and helps occasionally at Celtic Morning Prayer at Avebury.
Claire is also involved with Prospect Hospice, Wroughton, working alongside both patients and carers, an aspect of ministry she enjoys greatly .
Sibella Laing
Licenced Lay Minister
Sibella joined the team in late 2019 and brings a wealth of experience in serving in the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf and in academia.
While living in the old family home in West Overton , she will exercise her ministry across all the churches of the Benefice, contributing to the development of prayer, leading of services and pastoral care of all.
Anne Robinson & Sophie roberts
Benefice administratorS
Anne shares the role of Benefice Administrator with her colleague Sophie.
Anne has offered valuable support for over 20 years to all who contact the office. Sophie joined the team in August 2018 and comes with a wealth of experience including working as Clerk for the local Parish Council. Anne and Sophie may be your first point of contact to book a baptism or a wedding or make general enquires about our Benefice – you are assured of a warm welcome and every assistance they can offer.
ANGHARAD HUGHES
LAY WORSHIP
LEADER
MAGNUS THOMPSON
LAY WORSHIP
LEADER
Letter from the Rector
Touching Stones and Breaking Bread
Here in the parish of Upper Kennett we have a constellation of 8 beautiful churches, each with their own unique character, plus 8 vibrant village communities and two nurturing primary schools which stretch along the path of the Winterbourne and Kennet rivers within an ancient landscape. Our communities are engaging and active, the perfect antidote to a culture that is disappearing into a virtual space. Every year thousands of people come to visit us, pilgrims each in their own way. Some are Christians on a Christian pilgrimage journey in the spirit of those who, over hundreds of years, came to St James Avebury on the way to Santiago Di Compostela. Others are beginners, seekers, coming to touch the stones of Avebury and to sense and feel something transcendent and ‘other’ that seems to have been lost from the lives of many.
Regular churchgoers will find much that is familiar here as we celebrate the Sacrament as one and commit to living out the Gospel. But we are also here for those drawn to the ancientness of this place, who sense God in sarsen stones and the rhythms of the year and who are Christ curious. Our Christian ancestors understood the importance of the sacred landscape and of how our shared stories and myths shape where we come from.
As the rector of the parish I value the teaching of our ancient British and Celtic Saints who still have much to teach, and also draw deeply from the well of the imaginative and poetic tradition of storytellers like C.S.Lewis and Tolkien and the Romantic poets. I believe these masters of the imagination offer keys to open up the Christian journey to a new, less cynical generation through a revival of the holy imagination. I look to create Christian liturgies evoked and shaped by the landscape itself that will speak to a wider spectrum of pilgrims and visitors.
Here in Upper Kennet we don’t need to overlay our Christianity on this place, for Christ calls through it and through each new pilgrim journey. This ‘thin’, in-between place calls us to re-assess how we are living our lives. It may begin with touching stones but can soon move into sharing broken bread. For the dance about the Bread and Wine is a microcosm of the greater dance, which is the sum of all that is. And Christ himself can indeed be glimpsed here, twixt standing stone, ancient tree and trackway awaiting the seeker.
Come and say hello. All will receive an open-hearted welcome!
In the words of my predecessor: Welcome Pilgrim. Welcome home.
Every blessing
Rev Jonathan
Rev Jonathan Poston