Newsletter - Christ the King
23/11/25 (Year C)
Your weekly update from the Benwell & Scotswood Team.
Services this week
Sunday
10am - St John's Holy Communion
10am - St Margaret's Holy Communion
11.15am - St James Parish Eucharist
6pm - Confirmation (with communion)
Tuesday
No Farsi Bible Study at St James
Thursday
12pm - Ven Bede Holy Communion
Next Sunday
10am - St John's Holy Communion
10am - St Margaret's Holy Communion
11.15am - St James Parish Eucharist
Dates for your diary
Tues 16 Dec
12pm Christmas dinner at St James
Wed 17 Dec
4-9pm Charity Auction at St James
Sun 21 Dec
6pm Carols at St John's
Wed 24 Dec
5pm Christmas eve Crib service at St Margaret's
11.30pm Midnight mass at Venerable Bede
Thurs 25 Dec
10am Christmas day service at St James
Sun 28 Dec
11.15am Team Service at St James (no other services in the team this Sunday)
News
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.
Bring a dish to share (and/or a bottle!) to celebrate after the service.
Rehearsal for all the candidates - arrive 4.45pm on Sunday!
The Christmas Charity Auction
Wed 17th Dec, viewing from 4pm, bidding begins at 5pm
This Christmas season will also see the return of our charity auction at St James to raise money for the church to keep us open and caring for our community.
There will be plenty of lots, big and small for all budgets. Grab a bargain and join the fun!
All are welcome whether your bidding or not. There will also be mulled wine, festive snacks and some carol singing as well.
Help needed:
If you have good quality items to donate please speak to Kath McIntyre.
If you have connections to local businesses and venues that could donate something, then please ask them and let us know!
We need volunteers to help with refreshments, set-up, tidy-up, taking payments, and carol singing.
St James Charity shop - now open!
This week we have opened our new charity shop at St James! This is to raise money to keep our community work going. Have a browse and grab a bargain!
It will be open whenever the church is open, this is usually:
Tuesday 10-4
Wednesday 10-1
Thursday 10-3
Delivery can be arranged for larger items.
Please speak to Kath McIntyre or Chris Foskett if you have donations of good-quality household items.
Please note - we will not be accepting donations of clothes and soft goods.
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
Christmas Dinner
Tues 16th Dec, 12pm
Join us for our Christmas Dinner at St James!
£3 a ticket
Speak to Chris Foskett or Shirley if you would like to come
Sermon
Kathy, Reader
John 18:33-37 presents a confrontation between Jesus and Pontius Pilate about the nature of Jesus's kingship, contrasting the worldly power of Rome with God's spiritual kingdom. The passage highlights that Jesus's kingdom is not of this world, as he is not a king of earthly power . Instead, he "is a king to bear witness to the truth" for those who "belong to the truth" and listen to his voice. This passage prompts reflection on the nature of truth, the contrast between earthly and spiritual authority, and to whom our loyalties lie
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The passage creates a stark contrast between the kingdom of this world, represented by Pilate and the Roman Empire, and the kingdom of God, represented by Jesus. Pilate's power is political , while Jesus's power is spiritual and rooted in truth.
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Jesus's kingship is different from earthly kingship. It is not a political or military one, as evidenced by the fact that his followers did not fight to protect him from being handed over to the authorities. His kingdom is not built on physical force but on a different foundation.
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Truth and witness: Jesus states that he came to "bear witness to the truth". The passage leads to a deep question: "What is truth?". Jesus’s followers are those who "belong to the truth" and listen to his voice, which is a call to listen to Jesus as the source of truth.
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Pilate, the representative of worldly power, is placed in the position of having to judge Jesus, but in a sense, he is also being judged. His actions, and the actions of those who choose political power over divine truth, are a reflection of the ways of the world that prioritize self-preservation over God's kingdom.
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The passage asks the reader to examine their own loyalties and to consider whether Jesus is their king in a spiritual sense. It encourages people to reflect on what kind of kingdom they are living in by examining their actions and words to see what values they reveal. It also prompts us to look closely on how we respond to the world and how we are influenced by it. So what is the path you will you take the world way or Jesus’s way.
Amen
