Ministry in the benefice
Wychert Vale Benefice is highly lay-enabled and has a large volunteer team preaching and leading services as well as leading many other activities. It brings the following groups to the benefice merger:
The Benefice Ministry Team meets monthly and all those ministering within the benefice who are ordained, LLMs or ordinands are invited.
The Benefice Preachers group currently meets with the ministry team to reflect on the content of the preaching series and to improve the quality of teaching in the church and of services. It liaises with the home group leaders meetings. This group provides a very strong lay basis for ministry in the benefice.
Benefice Service Planning group meets from June each year to plan the teaching for the following calendar year. The annual teaching theme gives significant direction to the churches and helps to draw the churches into a common sense of purpose.
Sunday Services:
Sunday in month |
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
Haddenham | 8.30am
HC (BCP) 9.30am-12.30pm Caféplus+ in village hall |
Morning worship with communion. 6.30pm Praise Service, informal charismatic service with a worship band |
8.30am
HC (BCP) 10.30am All Age Worship with Baptisms
|
Morning worship with communion |
Morning worship – often mission-focussed
Benefice Evensong (rotates) [50]* |
Stone | 10.30am
All Age Service |
10.30am
Holy Communion |
10.30am
Morning Worship |
10.30am
Holy Communion |
10.30am
All Age Service |
Dinton | 10.0 am
Holy Communion |
6.30pm Evensong |
10am
Morning Worship |
4.0pm
Messy Church |
|
Cuddington
|
10am
HC (CW) |
10am
All Age Worship |
10am
HC (CW) |
10am
Morning Worship |
10am
Morning Worship |
Kingsey
|
9.15am
The Kingsey Breakfast Service |
9.15am
HC (BCP) with Benefice choir |
9.15am
HC (BCP) Said |
6.30pm Benefice Evensong (rotates) |
|
Aston Sandford
|
11am
HC (trad.) |
Weekday worship
There is an Anglican service each Thursday morning in Haddenham, held in the Roman Catholic Church at their invitation (it is smaller, warmer and much more accessible than the Anglican church midweek). It has an attendance of about 15. Morning prayer is held in St Mary’s, Haddenham on Tuesdays, at the Prayer Centre on Wednesdays in St Mary’s Centre, and in St Nicholas, Cuddington on Thursdays and Saints Peter and Paul, Dinton Church on Friday.
Occasional Offices
We have a strong commitment to occasional offices and have drawn from the recent national research projects to shape our ministry to be very accessible to people beyond our congregations. We hold two marriage preparation days each year and have regular baptism preparation evenings and confirmation groups. There is a bereavement visiting team linked to Haddenham parish and we aim to provide a bereavement visitor to support each funeral.
Benefice Governance Structure
Each of the parishes have a PCC who hold the leadership for their parishes. Haddenham, Cuddington, and Stone and Dinton also have leadership and operations groups who enable the work of the parishes to progress more effectively. We are developing a Benefice Council, which will be for communication and mutual support. It will also have advisory purposes for issues where decisions are better discussed and clarified centrally. Our Organisational Chart