What's in this week?
Worship with us this week:
Our Sunday Service of Holy Communion is online for the majority of people; only those people with specific ministries essential for worship are able to attend in person.
We are open for Morning Prayer on a Wednesday at 9am, staying open for private prayer until midday.
Join us in worship! Head to our YouTube Channel to join us Live at 10am on Sunday, and access other videos. You can do that by clicking or tapping on this link:
Join us afterwards! We meet up after the service at 11am. After the live service, grab a coffee and click or tap on the link below to join us on Zoom:
Holy Week & Easter
Services in Holy Week and Easter
Visit our dedicated page to find out all about our services throughout Holy Week and on Easter Day. We are resuming public worship on Easter Day with two services. Follow the link below to find out more, and to sign up to join us in person!
Donations for Easter flowers
If you’d like to make a donation for flowers in church over Easter you can pay by a Bank Transfer (BACS). Our bank details are:
St Mary’s Monkseaton PCC
HSBC
Sort code: 40 46 28
Account no: 01444948
Please add a reference to the payment so we know that it's for the Easter flowers. You could also donate by cheque made payable to: St Mary’s Monkseaton, PCC and again, please put a note with the cheque to say that it's for Easter flowers.
Maundy Thursday Watch
We will be doing the Maundy Thursday Watch this year from 8pm until midnight. Everyone is welcome to come and go as they please, but we’d like to ensure there are always 2 people in church at any one time. If you would like to commit to coming to church for an hour at a specific time, then please let the office know.
The Passion
Many of you will remember Tony Harrison’s ‘mystery’ play ‘The Passion’ which was performed to much acclaim by past and present Church members during Holy Week 2008. The video of this production will be available to view via the Church website during Holy Week this year.
New this week
Easy Fundraising
"Easyfundraising" is the UK’s biggest charity shopping site, where you can raise funds for St Mary's simply through your online shopping.
How? Just visit your favourite retailers through the easyfundraising website and the shop as normal. Once you’ve made a purchase the retailers will then make a small donation to St Mary's to say “thank you” - at no extra cost to you at all.
You'll need to make an account, and select "St Mary the Virgin, Monkseaton" as your preferred cause. You can even download a reminder so when you go to an online shop you don't forget to use it!
Children's Society Boxes
Due to the current lockdown situation, we will postpone the annual collection and count until July when we hope things can get back to normal. Thank you for your continued support. Rick and Sue.
You can find out more about the Children's Society here.
Thanks for your prayers
Jennifer Stephenson would like to thank everyone at St Mary’s for their recent prayers during these last few weeks.
Thought for the Week from Ben
Whether it’s to do with party politics, Harry and Meghan, football team clashes, or reality show finales, the world is awash with strong opinions. Sometimes it’s all harmless fun, but sometimes what starts as a mere difference of opinion can turn into a bitter war.
It doesn’t help that we’re led to believe that we have to make our decision and stick with it. We’re supposed to stick to our guns. If we change our views, we risk looking weak, indecisive and lacking in character. We like the idea of a person who stands firm to what they believe, and who digs in their heels.
Next Thursday we celebrate the festival of the Annunciation—remembering the visit of the Angel Gabriel to Mary. Certainly Mary had to come to terms with a great deal of change in her life, but we hear a lot less about Joseph. Friday 19th March is St Joseph’s Day. In Matthew 1 (that we rarely hear), Joseph discovers that his fiancée is pregnant, and so he is resolved to end their union. But in a dream, an angel appears to him and changes his mind. He took Mary as his wife, and we know what happens next.
What would lead us to change our minds like that?
Let’s see if this week we can build up the courage to say to someone “I was wrong about that”, or “I’ve decided not to take sides”. So, let’s enjoy those grey areas, let’s enjoy not taking the opposite point of view. Let’s enjoy challenging our own “better judgment”. God never asks us to stay the same, so we can only benefit from learning to let ourselves be changed.
Revd Benjamin Jarvis
Diary & Reminders
Happening this week
Sunday 21st March 4pm: Lent Course Session 5 Click here to join meeting, or follow the link in your email.
Wednesday 24th March: PCC meets at 7.30pm on Zoom.
Thursday 25th March: Annunciation of our Lord. Eucharist service on-line on our YouTube channel.
TRAIDCRAFT
As we approach Easter we are conscious that many like to support Traidcraft for their chocolate etc. Please feel free to contact Traidcraft direct as we will be unable to run the stall before then by browsing their website: www.traidcraftshop.co.uk. Many thanks and hope to be back soon. If you’d like a Traidcraft catalogue instead, let the office know.
Best wishes, Rick and Anne
St Mary’s Electoral Roll
The church’s Electoral Roll is the register of its voting members; it is a list of those qualified to attend and to vote at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting. Electoral rolls provide an indication of the real membership and strength of the church. Any baptised adults (16 years or over) who live in the parish, or those who have worshipped regularly at St. Mary’s for at least six months and are committed to being part of the life of the local Church of England congregation are able to join the Electoral Roll. Contact Rosie by email at rosietate@me.com if you aren’t on the Electoral Roll already as now is the time to join!
Scam emails!
We’ve been informed that there are some spam emails going around which look like they are from someone you might know. If you receive an email which seems unusual, always check the email address to see who it’s really from. If it’s unknown to you, you can report it as spam or put it in the junk and of course do not click on any links within the email.
For info please remember that the staff at St Mary's will never ask you to buy things for them or on their behalf. If in any doubt at all please get in touch with us to check.
For your prayers this week
Your Prayers are requested for
Peter Schofield, Edith Smeatham, Janet Baker, Olya Bouchard, Don, Alan and Margaret Stears, Rose Ketteringham, Martin Cooper, Jennifer Stephenson.
Rest in Peace
Florence Redford and Ken Riley.
We also remember Tony Blake whose anniversary falls at this time.
Don’t forget, you can add someone to the prayer list by emailing or phoning as usual, but you need to get their permission before adding them to the sick list. You can also use the form on the website here to submit a prayer request online.
This Week's Hymns & Readings
Remember that News and notices from previous weeks are all available to read by clicking "notices" at the top of the page. Sign up below to receive our weekly email by joining our mailing list.