Luke ch10 25 – 37 The Parable of the Good Samaritan – picture by Vincent Van Gogh
4th Sunday after Trinity
Bible readings:
Deuteronomy 30:9-14;
Psalm 25:1-10;
Colossians 1:1-14;
Luke 10:25-37
Weekly newsletter/blog and website
Please send all information for the Sunday newsletter/blog by Wednesday evening to Josie at penleeclusternewsletter@gmail.com. For anything else specifically website-related, please contact Chris at communications@penleecluster.org.uk. If you would like to write a reflection for the newsletter, please contact Josie.
CLUSTER INFORMATION & EVENTS
Announcement of the new incumbent
The Bishop of Truro, the Rt Revd David Williams is pleased to announce that the Revd Claire Louise Towns, at present Priest in Charge of St Thomas, Wells with the Horringtons and St Michael and All Angels, Dinder in the Diocese of Bath and Wells, is to be Priest in Charge (with oversight responsibility) of the Benefice of St Mary’s with St Paul & St John the Baptist in Penzance, the Benefice of Newlyn and the Benefice of Paul in the Diocese of Truro. This is conditional on legal formalities being completed. She will be licensed at a place and on a date to be arranged.
Celtic Morning Prayer
Each weekday morning on zoom from 8.00am-8.30am. If you would like to attend, please email Keno admin@penleecluster.org.uk for zoom details.
Julian Prayer Group
The Julian Group will meet on zoom at 6.00pm this Sunday, 13th July. If you would like to attend, please email Mel at mlevesconte@hotmail.co.uk for zoom details.
Prayer Requests
If you are concerned about someone and would like their name included in the Prayer Request Group’s weekly prayer list, please do email Mel at mlevesconte@hotmail.co.uk by 7.00pm on Tuesday evenings. Thank you.
Penwith Deanery News
Anchorage Community at St. Mary’s
Monday 14th July
Do come along to find out more and share ideas about this new community endeavour. Doors open at 6.30pm for a 7.00pm start.
Rhys’ Fundraising Concert at St. Mary’s Church
Saturday 26th July
Join us for a very special evening as Rhys, NightChurch’s talented pianist, hosts a fundraising concert at St Mary’s. This event marks the one year anniversary of his very first performance, a milestone that has seen his musical career soar! We are thrilled to witness Rhys’s journey and watch his incredible talent flourish. This concert also celebrates the launch of his brand new EP, Hi and Bye. Rhys will be joined by guests Lotte Brown and GurdyBird, promising an evening of theatrical flair and outstanding music. Come and show your support, this is set to be a truly spectacular performance you won’t want to miss! Doors open at 6.30pm. – NightChurch Team
We’re delighted to share a piece written by Rhys for us below…
Rhys’s Journey…
It has been the craziest 12 months of my life. When I performed for the first time at St Mary’s as the NightChurch pianist on 20th July 2024, I thought that would be my first and last concert. I had my 5 minutes of fame and life would go back to a sense of normality for someone in my situation. However, after the concert I was contacted from over a dozen churches in Cornwall and the NightChurch piano tour started. I began to play bigger venues, Hall for Cornwall after 2 months and Truro Cathedral a month later. To date I have raised over £23,000 for homeless and mental health charities including NightChurch. The tour became national news, with Sky news and The Times featuring it. I then secured a record deal. The most profound moment was when I was about to go on stage at the cathedral. Roger Taylor from Queen sent a message via the Dean that he loved my rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. It nearly threw me off my game, but luckily, I was well-rehearsed.
A year later I am about to launch my album ‘Hi and Bye’ in the place where it all started. Everyone is invited to the launch at St Mary’s Church on Saturday 26th July 2025. It plans to be a very different experience from the previous concerts.
Expect to be taken on my journey…. – Rhys
Ukrainian Event at St. Mary’s Church
On Thursday 3rd July, Majella, who is a Co-Founder and Director with International Diversity Food Festival for Cornwall CIC (a community interest company that creates safe spaces for all diverse communities in Cornwall to meet to share food and music from around the world and share each other’s cultures, as well as Cornish) brought the Ukrainian community to Penzance, including St. Mary’s Church for a wonderful event. Those that attend NightChurch will know Majella who supports Rhys Wynne-Jones, our very own Night Church Pianist, with driving him around Cornwall for his NightChurch tour and generally looking out for him.
Majella approached us to use the church to host this event to support Ukrainian refugees living in Cornwall and they came from all over the county. Cornwall Council Resettlement Service were on-hand to offer advice as well as representatives from Educational Development Trust and Cornwall Refugee Resource Network. There was a very tasty Ukrainian lunch provided and afterwards, Rhys played a special private intimate concert for the guests. Alongside this, Majella arranged funded tickets for the Penzance Literary Festival to enable the Ukrainian guests to go to a film screening and talk by Eithne Nightingale, renowned writer, filmmaker and lead for Equality and Diversity at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Two Ukrainian teenagers Arsenii and Sophiia were part of the talk with Eithne about coming to Cornwall when the war started. The Exchange Gallery event was packed and Eithne gave the speakers signed copies of her book, Child Migrant Voices in modern Britain. We were delighted to welcome the group and Eithne also, back to St Mary’s afterwards to continue with a community event and more food. Majella would like to thank all at St Mary’s for making this possible and special thanks to Eliza and Lesley for helping to make this a special day and of course a big thank you to Rhys also!
Art Exhibition at St. Mary’s
Paintings by our very own Annie Markovich are still on view on the back panels of St. Mary’s church – please come and see them if you get a chance. Included are watercolour seascapes, oil portraits of Greek heroines and Madron Church gravestone rubbings in charcoal on paper. Proceeds from sales are shared between the artist and St. Mary’s church. View daily from 10.00am -12 noon. Additional hours are possible; please message or email Annie at anniemarkovich@mac.com
Halo heating fame…
St. Mary’s new heating system features in an article on the Diocese of Truro website this week, charting the journey from getting rid of the old gas boiler to installing the new heating system. The article points out the church will have reduced its carbon emissions from 14.7 tonnes annually to near zero, a potential 88.2 tonnes Co2 emission reduction by 2030. For more information, please see here: https://trurodiocese.org.uk/2025/07/clergy-use-halos-to-help-cut-carbon/
OTHER INFORMATION & EVENTS
The National Churches Survey – giving every church a voice
We are carrying out a survey to help politicians, the media, and the wider public better understand the challenges churches, like yours, face and to highlight the vital work they do.
If you work or volunteer at a church, chapel, meeting house or cathedral from any Christian denomination in the UK, we want to hear from you. Your response will provide essential evidence to build a clearer picture – to tell a stronger, more informed story about your church, and others like it, so that together we can address some of the biggest challenges facing churches and help ensure their future. The survey will close this Sunday 13th July. – National Churches Trust
Annual Celebration of Lay Ministry at Truro Cathedral
Saturday 19th July
All commissioned Local Lay Leaders, Local Lay Pioneers, Local Pastoral Ministers and Local Worship Leaders are invited to attend the annual Celebration of Lay Ministry which this year will be held in Truro Cathedral on Saturday 19th July at 11.00am. This service provides an opportunity to celebrate and thank the hundreds of commissioned volunteers who give their time and gifts to further the work of the church here in Truro Diocese. The service will be led by Bishop David along with Bishop Hugh and Archdeacon Kelly. During the service we will commission new lay ministers. There will also be an opportunity for current lay ministers, including those that have been recommissioned in their parishes, to renew their commitment to their chosen ministry. Family and friends are welcome to join us too. After the service refreshments will be served in the Chapter House. If you are intending to join us it would help with our planning if you could complete this google form indicating the number of people you will be attending with, here: https://tinyurl.com/bh3dsmsa
Sarah Welply & Lydia Remick, Diocese of Truro
Debt Advice
The Salvation Army offers debt advice services to people in this area. They are free, confidential and impartial. Please dial 01752 643955 to speak to a Debt Advisor from 10.00am until 4.00pm Monday to Friday or email cornwalldas@salvationarmy.org.uk.
