St Mary’s & St Luke’s News and Information for 21 June 2020 Trinity 2
Sunday
21 June 2020
Trinity 2
Whilst Public Worship is suspended this Blog will take the place of the Weekly Sheet
This Sunday
Live Streamed Worship
After Church Refreshments
After church tea & coffee will be on Zoom from around 11:45am – come and join us virtually, it would be lovely to see each other again.
We have now implemented a Waiting Room on Zoom for extra security.
Join the Zoom Refreshments and chat
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/75021313429 –
Meeting ID: 750 2131 3429
It would have been the Wistaston Village Fete on Saturday 20 June and a new Rose Queen would have been crowned. Click the image to read more about how Charlotte and Lucia have agreed to continue!
It was fantastic to get a reply from Bishop Mark on Twitter.
Information on the Reopening of our Churches and Church Hall
Click to read Bishop Keith’s Letter
Dear Friends
No sooner have we got used to one “normal”, then the “normal” changes. This week we have churches open for supervised private prayer and funerals from 15 June, with more guidance awaited on weddings, acts of worship, and much more. Jim Butterworth is doing a great job at keeping the website up to date with the latest guidance so please do follow the links.
Please forgive the unoriginality of what follows but as I’ve been trying to make sense of the newly changing scenario, three “p’s” have come to mind!
Patience: if you’ve been using the hand prayer with Colossians 3:12, the last of the garments with which we clothe ourselves is “patience” (after, compassion, kindness, humility and meekness). There is no rush to respond. I hope people will understand that in order to follow the guidance about not leaving opened buildings unattended for example, this takes some organising, especially in relation to distancing and cleansing! So, let’s encourage a culture of patience, especially among any who will have wanted all this to happen yesterday.
Permissive: the new guidance is permissive, not prescriptive. Not everyone will be able to do this and there is no pressure to do what cannot be done. The new guidance is to help us with the next steps towards when church buildings can again be used for public worship and for us to do this safely without risk to ourselves or any others who come to our buildings. I am sure in deaneries and chapters we will find others’ experiences helpful as we try to plan this well. It will be so important that no Vicar or PCC feels they are on their own with this, that somehow everyone else has got this sorted and I/we haven’t. We are so much in this together. Again, there are stories on the website which may be of help, and I think it may be possible to make requests known in case there is anyone out there who can help with your particular challenge.
Prayer: so completely obvious, but I was struck by that reading from Luke 11:1-13 the other morning in which the Lord Jesus follows up his teaching of his prayer with the “how much more” will the heavenly Father answer prayer including the gift of the Holy Spirit. The challenge of any change, normal or not, is that we recognise that we cannot do this in our own strength. As I said last week thinking of the Lord Jesus’ invitation to “Come”, that coming invites us into relationship. As we come into that relationship we come into prayer and these new challenges and opportunities become the place and occasion for our asking, seeking, knocking.
May the Lord give us his patience, help us use this permission well, and meet us in prayer every day. May this time of transition help us to discover again the truth of our generous God in his giving above what we can ask or imagine by the power at work within and among us.
To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (buildings or not) to all generations (Ephesians 3:21)
With love in Christ
Keith
Paul & I have begun the necessary preparations to be able to open St Mary’s for private prayer and small funerals. We don’t have a date for this yet as there’s still a lot to do and get in place. We will keep you informed. In the meantime please see my latest Blog Post.
From:
See our Church at Home Blog for Sunday’s Readings and resources for use at home
The Midweek Get Together
Each week Revd Mike invites you to join with him on Zoom for a get-together.
This week 24 June: Hope – a Bible Study. What it means to hope during times of hopelessness. In the Bible, hope is about waiting, not for circumstances to change but for God himself.
Click Here to Register
The War Memorial Project has now been completed
The significant improvements were funded by St Mary’s Church, Wistaston Parish Council, Rope Parish Council, with donations from Bentley Motors and from members of the public. The Church has underwritten the financial shortfall of the project by £3,000, donations toward the refurbishment and the ongoing upkeep of the memorial would be gratefully received. Please address any donations to St Mary’s PCC, The Church Office, Church Lane, Wistaston. CW2 8HA. Or give securely online at: https://bit.ly/stmaryswarmemorial
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Funerals
It is with great sadness that I inform you of the recent death of Albert (Bert) Watkinson. Bert, and his late wife Lorna, were regular members of the congregation at St Luke’s. Bert’s funeral is on Tuesday at 11:15am outside St Mary’s on the Triangle – don’t forget that funerals are still limited to immediate family members only. Please remember his son, Stuart, in your prayers.
Funerals this past week
John Francis Harvey
Upcoming Funerals
Eileen Muriel Chilton
Bert Watkinson
Jacomina Alida Day
Please keep their families in your prayers.
The Flower & Produce Show planned for August has been cancelled for this year. More info here: https://www.wistastoncommunity.co.uk
To keep in touch with the church, it’s news and updates and be kept informed of resources which you can use at home for prayer and worship, then please join our Prayer & Communication email list via this link: http://eepurl.com/gbKZ5b
