Aghavea Parish Church

Hi folks Today, 6th August 2025, is the 80th anniversary since the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Shortly afterwards, they dropped a similar device on another Japanese city of Nagasaki. Between the two events, over 200,000 people died, and Japan surrendered - ending the Second World War. The ripples from these two horrific events are still felt today, and the lessons from them are more relevant in today's world than ever before! Each day we hear about the tensions around the world regarding nations developing nuclear weapons, threatening to release havoc upon the world. Although the weapons are often referred to as deterants, the danger is that the whole world could be effectively ended within minutes if someone decided to release their particular weapon upon an enemy state! I pray that today reminds the world leaders about the absolute devastation that these weapons bring. They do not distinguish between combatants or civilians. ...

 Hi folks Here's the next list for the readings, readers and hymns for our services throughout August. There are five Sundays this month, and in our normal pattern, our fifth Sunday will be a Cafe Church service in the Parish Hall. As ever - this is just a guide, if you need to swap your date - just let someone know. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to read each month, and if you'd like to join the list, please let the church wardens or the Rector know. If we need to do so, both David and the Rector are more than happy to fill in for any given reading! 

 Hi folks As we enter our summer period, please find our readings and hymns for July 2025. Each Sunday there will be a selection of parishioners reading our lessons - as shown on our list. If you're not available for the given Sunday, please feel free to ask someone to cover - and our church wardens and clergy are always available as a backup on the day. Alternatively, if you would like to read a lesson in Church, drop me a message, comment on Facebook, or speak to us at the services. We would love to add new readers of all ages, Gid's Word is for us all.  Blessings Johnny  

 Hi folks Please see the following pages for the process of getting our AccessNI accreditation for our Sunday School and GFS leaders and helpers. You will need to print out the pages and keep a special note of the long number provided to you by email and let me know as soon as possible. We require an Enhanced check for everyone - and use the PIN number 918066 as detailed on the first page. The second page details the forms of identification you will need to provide - one from the first group, and two from the second group. The quicker we can all get the checks completed, the sooner we can get everything back to normal and put this whole process behind us for another three years! If you can photograph yourself (by smartphone or tablet) and email (revdjohnny@gmail.com) or WhatsApp (07488371680) them to me, that'd be great. I will also be available at the Parish Hall on Monday evening from 7pm to 8pm to help you with anything you would like assistance with! If you need any help at all...

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9   The Holy Land, the place sanctified by the presence of prophets, poets, and priests, crying out for justice, urging on towards hope, and seeking after peace, has been, and continues to be a place sacred to millions of people around the world. We have watched with horror the appalling violence that has been unleashed over the last few days around this sacred place. We have seen families devastated, communities shattered, and countless lives lost.   We, as followers of Jesus are called in this time to pray.    Pray for the end of hostilities, pray for the protection of the most vulnerable on both sides in Israel and Gaza, and pray for a recommitment to a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. We also pray that God might grant comfort to the afflicted, healing to the broken, strength to the weak, and courage to those in authority to lay down the instruments of violence and d...

Hi folks I was thinking about the passages for next Sunday, and it brought me to considering the current press coverage regarding the This Morning presenters.  This might be a little controversial - but please, hear me out.  I have no great opinion on what's happening in the media regarding the "This Morning" saga. It seems mistakes have been made, and certainly people misled - but the frenzy and hounding of Phillip Schofield is both unnecessary and unwarranted. I'm very uncomfortable that some members the press and celebrities have made it their lives mission to destroy everything  Mr Schofield has ever done!  It cannot be easy to listen and read so much vitriol being used against him! There's certainly no Christian love being shown to him on the media these days. I remember the words of Jesus when he told us to love one another, and that whoever has not sinned should cast the first stone. I'm certainly not perfect in any way, and don't believe that anyon...

Hi folks It’s been a long time since the  pandemic  started and the lockdowns - and Covid hasn’t really gone away! I had the dubious honour of getting Covid for the second time just before Holy Week, giving me the chance to think about ministry direction, both my own and in the parish. One of the original responses to the pandemic was to limit our use of the hymn books and our Prayer Books. At the beginning I produced a service sheet with all the relevant liturgy - which we used in the car park and when we returned to the church. Our “temporary measure” lasted almost three years - and it’s time to move on! Our Book of Common Prayer contains our unique identity - in fact the word “Common” doesn’t mean ordinary but that it shows our unity - the liturgy we hold in “common”. We will be returning to our BCPs from this weekend, the Second Sunday of Easter. We will be using Morning Prayer Two - and we will guide us through the service.  We look forward to seeing you in church or...