Newsletter - Remembrance Sunday
- Benwell and Scotswood Team
- Nov 8
- 8 min read
9/11/25
(Year C)
Your weekly update from the Benwell & Scotswood Team.
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Dates for your diary
9 November
Remembrance Sunday - Act of Remembrance to begin at 11am at St James (other service times as normal).
11 November
10.55am - Armistice day Act of remembrance at Ven Bede
13 November
7pm - Standing committee online
20 November
7pm - PCC at St John's
23 November
6pm - Confirmation service at St James (with Bishop Mark)
Services this week
Sunday
10am - St John's Holy Communion followed by Act of Remembrance
10am - St Margaret's Holy Communion followed by Act of Remembrance
11am - Act of Remembrance followed by St James Parish Eucharist
Tuesday
4.30pm - Farsi Bible Study at St James
Thursday
12pm - Ven Bede Holy Communion
News
Remembrance 2025
Don't forget St James' will begin slightly earlier at 11am with an Act of Remembrance.
We will be holding an Act of Remembrance in each of our churches this Sunday. This is when we remember those who gave their lives in the First World War and all other wars, and we pray for an end to all conflicts.
Armistice Day - Tuesday 11th November
Venerable Bede, West Road, 10.55am Act of Remembrance at the war memorial inside the church.
Confirmation service
6pm, Sunday 23rd November at St James
Bishop Mark Wroe will be with us to lead this very special service for us.
Confirmation is a big step when we declare that we want to follow Jesus Christ, to receive the Holy Spirit, and to be part of his church, always finding ways to love God and one another.
If you are interested in being confirmed (or baptised!), or you aren't sure and want to find out more, then just let us know. Fr Chris will be in touch to chat and begin preparations once he returns from holiday.
MODS - mental health support group
St James Benwell hall, NE15 6RS
Wednesdays
Group starts at 1.30pm (arrive from 1.10pm). Finish by 2.30pm
MODS (Made of Diverse Stuff) is an ongoing mental health peer support group — helping us to help ourselves!
You can start and finish whenever you like, and rejoin at any time. There’s no pressure to share anything you don’t want to. This is an open and safe space to share whatever is going on for you.
Together, we’ll learn about our own mental health through visual aids, journaling, and discussion, discovering ways to improve our lives.
Kathy Germain, our Reader (Licensed Lay Minister), leads the group. She has many years of experience running mental health peer support groups and volunteering with Citizens Advice.
“Mental health has been part of my life and my family’s life since I was very young. It is a personal journey. This won’t be about me telling people what to do, but about helping you to improve your mental health. This is something that is very close to my heart.” — Kathy Germain
Embrace - Gaza appeal
Conflict across the Middle East is unfolding with relentless intensity, devastating the lives of millions. Even as they live through these dark times, Embrace’s partners in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon are working tirelessly to bring the light of Christ amidst the suffering.
You can click below to donate online. If you would rather donate by phone, please call 01494 897950.
Liturgical colour: Red
Intercessions
Prayers for others:
Betty George
Ali Zarei
Sonja and Stan
John Nicholson
Maria Hawthorn
Herbert Agbeko
Pauline Nelson
Irene Foskett
Pat Law
Christina Wilson
Diane Humphrey
Christine Williams
Rest in Peace
Alan Robson
Ron Taylor
Other
An end to all wars
If you would like to add someone to the prayer list please email church@benwellscotswood.com
The name will stay on the list for 1 month unless requested to be long-term.
Readings
2 Thessalonians 2.1-5, 13-end
2As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, 2not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. 4He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. 5Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you?
13 But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, 17comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.
Luke 20.27-38
27Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him 28and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 29Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; 30then the second 31and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. 32Finally the woman also died. 33In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.” 34Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; 35but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. 37And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”
(from the New Revised Standard Version of the bible)
Sermon
May I speak in the name of the Living God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
We find ourselves in a season of remembering. Last weekend, was All Saints and All souls, where we remembered the example given to us by the saints and also remembered our loved ones who have died. Today is Remembrance Sunday, where we remember all those who gave their lives in service to this country during both World Wars and in other conflicts since.
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On the War Memorial by the font, two plaques on the walls and on memorials in the graveyard, 399 individuals from Benwell are commemorated. Samuel Willis is just one of those listed on the war memorial and whose story we know a little about thanks to the work of the heritage group.
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During the First World War, the government ran a campaign which lead to over 20,000 men volunteering every day. Many of them enlisted alongside their friends.
Samuel Willis was one of those. He was a miner living with his family on Condercum Road when the First World War broke out. He enlisted in July 1915, claiming to be 19 when he was, in fact, just 17. Samuel was killed in France in September 1918 and was buried in France alongside many others.
Today as we remember Samuel Willis and countless others, our gospel reading helps us to reflect on how we live today, and look forward to the future.
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We heard the Sadducees ask Jesus a complicated question about marriage and the resurrection. You might have spotted that the question they asked was ridiculous. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. For them death was the end, and by asking Jesus this question about resurrection, they were trying to trap him.
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Their question shows that they understand resurrection to be a continuation of this life but Jesus explains that it will be different. It will be a new life, a changed life, in God’s presence. A life that never ends. Everyone will be equal children of God – brothers and sisters to each other. The focus will be on their relationship to God and it is this that will bind them together. Jesus ends by saying that God is the God of the living. All those whose earthly lives have ended are still alive to God as God is eternal.
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Belief in the resurrection is central to our faith. Jesus says, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.’ But this resurrected life is not just something for the future, for a future time when we die. In baptism, we become children of God and through the Holy Spirit can share in that resurrected life now - share in the divine life of God.
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God is a living God, who brings life to the world. God is present everywhere and made known in all those places where people share lives of love and justice. In a world that is as divided as ever, where war continues, and people still suffer, we can bring the hope of the resurrection to the world around on by the way we live.
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Today on Remembrance Sunday, we are not just remembering the past, we are also committing to strive for peace, to seek healing and to work for a just future. Those words sound very grand, but peace, healing and justice begin with small simple choices.
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Striving for peace means watching what we say and how we say it so as to avoid tension. It means apologising when we know we’ve done something wrong, and not needing to have the last word. It means working hard to get on with those around us.
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We may not be able to literally heal the wounds of war, but we can pray for all those affected by conflict, support charities that work with those who have suffered and also listen and learn from stories of the past. We can also help to heal divisions by choosing our words carefully when speaking about people we disagree with.
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Working for a just future for all humanity, means being aware of situations which are unfair or unjust, when people are not being treated equally, when people are being put down or ignored. It might need us to speak up, or act in other ways to change the situation.
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Our words and actions reveal the hope we have in the resurrection. Not only for a life beyond this one, lived for ever in God’s presence, but the power of the resurrection to transform our own lives and the life of the world today. By striving for peace, seeking healing and working for a just future, we are joining in God’s work in the world, and also honouring the memory of Samuel Willis and the countless others who lost their lives serving their country.
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Amen.