Our Sunday morning service will be a bit different this week, and there are a number of different ways in which you can choose to join our worship at 10am.

In celebration of our patronal festival – our ‘birthday’ – we will be having a socially distanced physical service in the church yard of St James. Being outdoors, it enables more of us to gather in the space safely. It will be a short but joyful meeting in Jesus’ Name.

Simultaneously, our friends at Castledown FM will broadcast a prerecorded service similar to those we have enjoyed over the last few months, led by Rev’d Tim and Rev’d Jimmy, and this will also be available at 10am on our Facebook page, for anyone who prefers to participate in the service that way.

As usual, you can find a service sheet for the radio/fb service at this link so you can follow along with the singing at home: https://stjamesludgershall.com/service-sheets/ We pray that these services would be a blessing to you.

Thanks to the Andover Advertiser for featuring our Raise A Glass birthday celebration for St James’ Day! What a lovely surprise! There is still time to join in if you’d like to raise a drink, take a snap and post it in the comments of our Raise a Glass post at the top of our fb page. As you can see from the article, wherever you are, whatever you are up to, if there is a brew in hand, help us celebrate our 724th! We are celebrating all month!

We are delighted to announce that as of today, Morning Prayer at 8:30am and Evening Prayer at 4pm will take place every weekday, and our regular Thursday morning Said Communion Service at 10:30am will also be recommencing this week. These services all meet the government guidelines with regard length etc and will be socially distanced in the church building. Please help us to continue to safeguard the health of all by following the measures in place at the church and being mindful of others. We look forward to welcoming you to these acts of public worship and being able to physically gather in Jesus’ Name!

Friends, sadly, our well-loved churchyard horse chestnut tree has been condemned due to severe cracking in its structure, which as you probably know resulted in the dangerous bough drop across the hedge and into the street recently.
Arrangements are in hand to remove the danger without delay, and Wiltshire County Council approved conservation contractors plan this work for next week, starting on Tuesday.
The church road cones will be set out each evening before work is planned the next day. Heavy machinery is needed, so please keep the area clear of parked vehicles.
The tree and its roots are to be removed entirely at what seems to be a massive cost to our church so if you can help with a donation posted to Rev’d Tim at the Rectory, we would be delighted. We shall be seeking grant(s) where we can, in due course.
Meanwhile the Parochial Church Council have accepted Mike Dunning’s offer to gift a replacement specimen tree as soon as possible. This might take the form of a weeping silver birch, a cedar, a Scots pine, or any other suitable candidates from which a PCC choice can be made. If you have a preference or any other suggestions, we would be delighted to include them in the process.

You can find our Facebook pages at the link below, and the Raise a Glass post is at the top. Any problems, you can message your pictures to us via the comments facility below. https://www.facebook.com/StJamesLudgershall/?view_public_for=327338103948561 Thank you!