Benefice
Newsletter
11 November 2020
I have a confession to make.
I sat in an almost empty church this week. For twenty minutes. And ran out of anything to say to God. Actually, I ran out of things to say after about ten minutes but thought it wouldn’t look good if I left quite so quickly. Particularly in my dog collar.
I’m finding this latest lockdown difficult. I have muscles that ache. Not legs and arms and shoulders. But spiritual muscles. I find I don’t know what to do with myself in prayer without the stimulus of a service. And particularly without the trigger of music. And there’s these dark November days...
And then I listened to Joe Biden. Waiting. Apparently. And I heard him quote his favourite hymn. Which is one of mine too.
You who dwell in the shelter of the
Lord,
Who abide in His shadow for life,
Say to the Lord, "My refuge, my rock in whom I trust!"
And He will raise you up on eagles' wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His hand.
Who abide in His shadow for life,
Say to the Lord, "My refuge, my rock in whom I trust!"
And He will raise you up on eagles' wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His hand.
And I realised I do know what to say.
I can say to the Lord, "You are my refuge, my rock in whom I trust!"
Enough.
For those of us who want to be on the go all the time, talking all the time, to trust God enough to rest in his love is hard. But it is enough.
Maybe God will be able to speak to us instead. And maybe we will listen?
With prayer and love
We have changed some of the previously published details of our church events. We don't expect them to change again, but if they do, we will tell you in the newsletter. The changes are:
- All Saints' Church is open for private prayer Thursdays 10:30 - 11:30 (instead of 10:00 - 12:00)
- Our Christmas Eve Nativity play via Zoom will be hosted from All Hallows at 16:00 (and not from All Saints at 19:00)
- Blue Christmas has been renamed Light in the
Darkness
Weekly worship via Zoom
- Tues & Thurs 8:30 Morning Prayer
- Wed 17:30 Evening Prayer
- Sun 10:00 Sunday Morning Prayer followed by coffee & chat
- Sun 18:00 Compline
Churches open for private prayer
- All Saints Thurs 10:30 - 11:30
- All Hallows Wed & Sat 10:30 - 12:30
Advent and Christmas
- 26 Nov and 3, 10, 17 Dec 19:30 Advent Course via Zoom
- 14 - 20 Dec Light in the Darkness prayer space Swansgate Centre
- 24 Dec 16:00 Nativity via Zoom
- 24 Dec 20:00 Bethlehem Mass (joint benefice service) All Hallows
- 25 Dec 9:15 Family Eucharist (joint benefice service) All Saints
- 27 Dec no services at All Saints
- 27 Dec 10:30 Family Eucharist
(joint benefice service) All Hallows
If you have any items to publish in the magazine, send them to John (johnvmagazine@virginmedia.com) by Sunday 15 November, please.
Canon Margaret is leading our Advent Course titled Left Holding the Baby. There will be four sessions, weekly on Thursday at 19:30 via Zoom, starting on 26 Nov. Please ask Canon Margaret for the invitation link.
The Posada will move over to Facebook this year. You can join in by drawing a nativity scene or taking a photo of your crib at home. We are planning to post a new image on our churches' Facebook every day in Advent. Please let Rev Paula know if you would like to take part.
We would like to publish a recording of Nine Lessons and Carols on our YouTube channel, and hopefully on DVD for those who have no internet access. If you can offer your technical expertise with this, please let us know.
We need volunteers to run a prayer space in Swansgate Centre the week beginning 14 Dec, for those who struggle to engage with the jollity of Christmas due to bereavement, financial hardship or other reasons. Please speak to Rev Paula if you can help or if you would like to know more.
Those who suffer in body, mind or spirit, among them Christian S, Sue P, Roger P, Richard H, Tim C.
The housebound: Ruth S, Margaret O, Diana B.
The Church of Ceylon (Extra-Provincial to the Archbishop of Canterbury); The Rt Revd Dhiloraj Ranjit Canagasabey, Bishop of Colombo; The Rt Revd Keerthisiri Fernando, Bishop of Kurunegala. The Porvoo Churches: Estonia, Rochester.
If you would like to add a name to our prayer list, please first obtain the consent of the person you wish us to pray for. Then tell Rev Christine whom to pray for and the reason why.
Those whose anniversaries fall on this week: Lily Renk, James Hill, Elizabeth Ferris, Evelyn Watson, Frank Loads, Lee Hopkins, Baby Carl Bates, James William Raymond, Ralph Ward, Harry Temple, David Reid, Jim Leatherland, Stuart Coles, Alan Miles Desborough.
Those who passed away recently, among them Ella Reid. We pray for those who mourn.