The Benefice of the Knights & Hospitallers Parishes

Comprising Great Maplestead, Little Maplestead, Gestingthorpe and Pebmarsh
parishes of the Diocese of Chelmsford, in North Essex

Benefice homepage

The Rector's Letter

Benefice
Pages

The Benefice comprises 4 completely independent parishes sharing a parish priest located just to the north of Halstead in north Essex.

See the individual parish sections for information about those Parishes. 

Dear Friends,

A letter in the Church Times about angels caught my eye.  An elderly priest from Hampshire says:
“When I was five years old, I awoke one morning in great alarm to find tall white figures surrounding my bed.  I was terrified, and dived under the bedclothes.  After some minutes, I cautiously peeped out, and was relieved to find that they were no longer visible.  My mother, who was a devout and spiritually aware person, dismissed the event as a ‘waking dream’ – which I was certain it was not.  I had seen attendant personages around my bed, and though that was 80 years ago, the memory is still vivid.

Though I have never seen these angelic figures again, I have been aware of their presence, and very grateful for it.  One remarkable instance was when I was in the Welsh Guards during the 1944 advance through Belgium.  We were held up at a canal, and, descending from our vehicles stood around chatting and waiting for whatever the obstruction was to be cleared.

Suddenly, I felt myself being guided away from the cluster of men and vehicles, and saw my friend the Drum Major sitting in a roadside slit trench.  He called out to me, and I hopped into the trench to speak with him.  Immediately, there was a sickening explosion, as a shell landed just where I had been standing: two of my colleagues were killed outright, and the others seriously wounded.

I have no doubt that the unseen ‘guide’ who led me away from imminent disaster was my guardian angel. . . .

It leaves me with one question.  Why was I directed from imminent danger, and others were not?  Is it a custom of praying that facilitates these intimations of our angelic companions?"

Angels feature in the Easter resurrection story as well as the Christmas narratives.  I have never seen an angel myself, yet some have.  If you have any such story or experience, why not email me - click on 

My mistake!

I apologize to all who have been confirmed in the Round Church since 1965, and have spoken to me or emailed me.  I should have checked with the Essex Record Office (ERO) before assuming that the service in 1965 was the only one in 20th century.  (My phone call to the ERO confirmed that they have the old records safely stored, as we only keep current records in the Church)

I have had a good response to publication of the old photograph, and now know a lot of the names.  Thank you for your help with this.

Thank you too, for all who arranged the flowers for the Confirmation Service, as they looked splendid.  Thank you for polishing, cleaning and moving the furniture too.  The church was truly looking at its best.

With all good wishes,

Revd Janet.

Rector's Page

Services

Benefice Events

Magazine

Church Groups

Please contact the Rector on 01787-463106, 
or email to .

You are most welcome to join Revd. Janet at Morning or Evening Prayer around the Parishes and speak to her afterwards if you wish - see the Services pages

Please note that the Rector's day off is Monday.