WHAT'S IN THIS WEEK
Worship with us:
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.
Whilst nowhere can guarantee 100% safety, we have a thorough risk assessment for this and all activity in church.
Join us online! 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:
Ash Wednesday 17th February
There will be an Ash Wednesday service at 9am lived streamed via our YouTube Channel. Only those with specific roles in the service are allowed to be present. You can use the link above to join with the live stream.
Church will be open from 10am to 12noon and also between 7.30pm to 9pm for Ash Wednesday private prayer with Ashing as you leave. If you receive our notices by email you are required to sign up via the website or use this link: Ashing >
Do also note that due to the current guidelines from the Church of England the ashes will be sprinkled over your head and we are not able to ash your forehead with the sign of the cross as usual. All are welcome to attend and face coverings must be worn. You should consider your own risk when deciding whether to come to church.
NEW THIS WEEK
Lent Course
Last year's Lent Course based on the
book "How to Explain your Faith"
was cut short because of Covid.
This year we're relaunching it on Zoom,
at 4pm on Sundays, starting on 21st February - the first Sunday of Lent.
Based on John Pritchard's Book "How to Explain your Faith", this 5 part course challenges us to think about and discuss what we believe. When you sign up you will be sent a link to join the first session on 21st February at 4pm.
Why not give it a go?
You can sign up for this course on the dedicated Lent page on our website by clicking on the Lent tab at the top of the homepage or by clicking on this link:
Thought for the Week - Hot Coals
Hi everyone. How are you? Although compared to some people I’m very fortunate, and I’ve remained healthy throughout the lockdown, still it’s a struggle being apart from people.
It’s especially hard to be a Christian on your own, I think. Unless you’re called—like the famous Brother Harold—to a life of solitary contemplation, the Christian life is meant to be lived in community. We don’t live in a monastery, but still our neighbourhood is our Christian community. And yet, we’re stuck indoors, probably feeling lonely and isolated—I know I often am.
Having online worship makes it easy to “go” to church, but feeling really engaged is still difficult. Praying Morning and Evening Prayer is a real challenge for me—they’re really meant to be prayed together, not on your own.
I’ve recently been working on our Confirmation preparation and I came across a story about a man who asked a priest whether it’s important to go to church. The priest took a single coal out of the fire, and set it far away; it cooled down in a matter of minutes, and went black. The fire went out, and the coal went dark. Then he took the cold piece of coal and put it back into the fire among the other coals, and it quickly caught alight and became hot, and burned brightly.
In lockdown we’re having to try really hard not to let the fire go out. Any Lenten disciplines we adopt on Wednesday, whether extra prayer, extra bible reading, joining our Lent Course, giving something up, will require extra energy and strength to keep us engaged and committed.
But it will be worth it! The power of doing something together will keep the fire burning. Lent is an opportunity to try to stoke those coals. Before long we’ll be all back together and setting the world on fire! Revd Benjamin Jarvis
MORE NEWS & REMINDERS
100 Club Winners for February
£50 Margaret Scanlon, £30 Carole Lax, £20 Michael Clarke.
Twin my Vaccine
"It's fantastic that our communities in the UK are beginning to be protected against Covid-19. But there are countries who can't afford to vaccinate their people and whose infrastructure may not even include basic refrigeration in places. Unicef are working with WHO to distribute vaccines to the very poorest in the world.
"Your two doses of vaccine (depending on which kind you had) might be worth between £4 and £30, plus the time and expertise needed to administer it. If you could have afforded to buy it for yourself, please help Unicef support the delivery of vaccines to people who won't get it on the NHS. Thank you for helping us to love our (global) neighbours."
A Conversation about Zoom
If you want to take part in our Lent course, or you want to join the coffee morning, and you're not sure about whether you can use Zoom, Ben and Angela met up on Zoom to talk about it and you can view a video about it in last week's notices.
For your prayers this week:
Your Prayers are requested for
Martin Cooper
Olya Bouchard
Don
Amy Herbert
Alan and Margaret Stears
Jennifer Stephenson
John Cure
Rose Ketteringham
Rest in Peace
Edna Harrison
Chris Taylor
Eileen Boyd
Beryl Carter
Danielle O'Hagan
Cynthia Rawle
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 Sunday'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.