Sunday
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
We have social distancing measures in place (still 2 metres in the church as per guidelines) and each pew is cleaned after each person. Please feel free to pop in during the opening times, we’d love to see you.
The latest Information on the Reopening of our Churches and Church Hall
Dear Friends,
A number of queries have been raised following the new government and Church of England guidance about the reopening of church buildings for public worship, in particular how the government and Church guidance is clear that this can only be done when it is safe to do so, and the requirement of the Canons for there to be public worship every Sunday.
My view is that the Canons are like the skeleton in the body; they need to be strong and tough so that the body can thrive, but the skeleton is not the whole body. The Canons remain and are there for our good and the good of the whole church. They were not designed or are able to cover every circumstance of the Church’s life; they are not the muscles, the flesh, or the bloodstream, and without the Holy Spirit they are dead. As the guidelines make clear, the priority is safety, and I want to make it clear that if anyone asks for my direction in relation to longer-term delay in the opening of buildings for public worship my view is that we dishonour the intention of the Canons unless we open safely, and I will be very sympathetic to the incumbent and PCC as I make that call.
I hope this is helpful and enables us all to balance permissive and prescriptive well. Of course, in the Lord’s mercy, so much more has been given to us over these last weeks, especially with those who have joined our worship online. I am praying that as a diocese, we don’t miss what God has been giving to us in the responsibility we now have to reopen safely. Perhaps the time of July and August will help us in this preparing for this next stage and enable us to keep learning from what we have been through.
Can I repeat so many thanks to everyone for the resilience and endurance (even when it may have felt anything but) over these last weeks and reassert the recent message in the pastoral letter about rest, holiday and sabbath.
With love in Christ
+Keith
- Private Prayer in Church: we are pleased to say that St Mary’s is now open for Private Prayer. We have implemented Social Distancing and other Measures for the safety of all who enter. There are restrictions in place and we only have 9 pews available, one per household. Please check our News Blog for updates and when St Mary’s is open.
- Public Worship is permissible in church buildings from 4 July. However, due to the size and layout of St Mary’s the PCC have agreed that we will not be open again on a Sunday just yet and at least until the beginning of August. New guidance from the government and the Church of England has now been issued and we are working through this. Please check our News Blog for updates.
- The Streaming of services will continue, and will continue, once we do reopen as numbers in church will be severely restricted and we hope to be able to give priority initially to those who can’t access online services
- Funerals are now permissible in churches and we will conduct them at St Mary’s on request. Funerals in church buildings are severely restricted at the moment. Immediate family only are allowed and no hymns may be sung. Please discuss options with a Funeral Director to see what’s best for your family and loved one. We continue to conduct funerals at the Graveside and the Crematorium.
- Weddings are permissible in churches from 4 July. They are limited to 30 people in total (including the minister) and hymn singing or an organist is not permitted at the moment.
- Baptisms
From 4 July, baptisms can go ahead providing appropriate steps are taken to minimise risk and are limited to 30 people including the minister. During the coming weeks, Polly will be in touch with all those who had Baptisms cancelled to rearrange dates. we will be conducting Baptisms outside of the main services we will be conducting Baptisms outside of the main services. We will not be taking any new bookings at the moment until we have rescheduled those that were cancelled. It will be 2021 before we take new bookings. Please see the CofE guidance on baptisms for more information.
- St Luke’s and the Church Hall are closed to any public access. We are working towards reopening the Church Hall in September, but this cannot be guaranteed as we are awaiting guidance from the CofE.
See our Church at Home Blog for Sunday's Readings and resources for use at home
This month we have a Ministry Letter from Revd Malc, articles from both of our Wardens, the Rose Queen, LAG & MU, Di & Mike Carter plus loads more. What are you waiting for? Head over and take a look!
You can send items for future editions to editor@magazine.stmaryswistaston.blog
The Midweek Get Together
Each week Revd Mike invites you to join with him on Zoom for a get-together.
This week 08 July: Generosity – a Bible Study. How did Jesus respond in a time of scarcity? This week, we look at the generosity of God, modelled for us in the way of Jesus. Click Here to Register
Funerals
Funerals this past week
None!
The first time for 4 months – thank God
Upcoming Funerals
Ian William Rimmer
Ian was a member of the choir at St Mary’s for many years
Please keep their families in your prayers.
Giving to our church Online or by Phone Banking
It's simpler than you may think
A message from Revd Mike.
May I thank everyone who has kept their giving going during the past 3 months, it has been a challenging time and also challenging financially. From a church perspective, most of our outgoings remain the same whether the buildings are open or closed, so the challenge has been keeping the cash flow going to cover these costs. I am grateful to those who have been able to give extra and have given extra to the church.
Handling cash and cheques has caused us an issue during the pandemic and will continue to do so. Cash as we’ve not been able to allow anyone to process cash giving during this time, not that we’ve had much given in this way and cheques mean me having to visit the bank with them.
Joy & Sue attended an online Webinar about encouraging and managing giving during this time which advised that we should encourage people to move away from giving via cash & cheques and ask them to give via online or phone banking.
If you normally give via the plate each Sunday you can give securely via Give a Little by following the link below. If you’d like to give via online banking, which means we don’t lose the Fees, the details are below. You can set this up on your own online or phone banking unfortunately, we can’t process paper forms at this time.
Thank you for your support. Mike (Rector)
Online One off giving
You can give via our very simple online giving partnership with Give a Little and Sum Up. Simply click the button below. Sum Up take a small transaction fee from what you give.
Giving via your bank
You can give via your bank via online banking or telephone banking. If you do it this way we receive 100% of the money you give, there is no transaction fee. Here are the details you need to make a payment directly into the church bank account. For phone banking you may need to take a look at a statement from your bank and it normally has the details of how to do this on the back. You can give once or set up a monthly payment. Please remember to never give passwords over the phone and only call the official number on your statement.
Account Name: St Mary’s Wistaston PCC
Sort Code: 08 92 99
Account No: 65067004
Ref: << your initial & surname>>
Easyfundraising
A very simple way to give, if you shop online or do click and collect, is through Easyfundraising - it doesn't cost you a penny as by using Easyfundraising a percentage of what you but gets given to the church.
In total we've raised over £1600 through Easyfundraising. For more information on this please click the button below.
Wistaston & Rope War Memorial Project completed
An article and photos by Jonathan White
The names of the sixteen local men who died in the two World Wars are commemorated on the Memorial cross in the grounds of St Mary’s Church, Wistaston.
The area around the Wistaston & Rope War Memorial in the grounds of St Mary’s Church on Church Lane in Wistaston has been modernised respectfully and made safer to visit. We must never forget the ultimate sacrifices made from the two warfares. We will remember them always.
The War Memorial is in an elevated and prominent position adjacent to the chancel of St Mary’s Church and consists of a rough-hewn stone Celtic cross on a tapered rectangular plinth. The memorial was built after the First World War and was dedicated on 20th February 1921. The inscriptions on the memorial contain the names of the sixteen men from Wistaston and Rope who lost their lives in the First World War and the sixteen men from Wistaston and Rope who lost their lives in the Second World War.
The project work around the War Memorial began in March 2020 and completed in June. Numerous improvements have been made to the site. The path to the memorial and around the memorial has all been widened and tarmacked and the rope top terracotta edging has been reset. A cast-iron safety railing has been added adjacent to the memorial to make the area safer for viewing and for the laying of wreaths. Cart-stone sloped paving has been added between the safety railing and the top of the existing retaining wall. Shrubbery hedging surrounding the memorial has been removed or trimmed back. The cross and its inscriptions, the plinth and the flagpole were not affected by the works. The enhancements will make it easier and safer for villagers and visitors to pay their respects to the fallen.
There is also a new area set aside to develop a place to remember non-combatants who lost their lives during the two world wars and those who have died in the service of the country since the Second World War.
The £12,500 project was organised by St Mary’s Church in partnership with Wistaston Parish Council and Rope Parish Council.
The consultants were Graham Holland Associates, Architects & Historic Buildings Consultants – grahamhollandassociates.co.uk – and the Contractors were GB Davies Ltd – gbdaviesltd.co.uk .
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: bit.ly/stmaryswarmemorial
Rev. Mike Turnbull, St Mary’s Church, Wistaston, said: “I am so pleased that we have finally completed this project in partnership with Wistaston and Rope Parish Councils. The refurbishment of the paths and surroundings will enable current, and future generations, to continue to remember, with gratitude, those who have given their lives that we may continue to live our lives in freedom. This is an important part of our village’s history and should never be forgotten or neglected. I am pleased that we have been able to make it accessible to all once again. Next time you are walking by St Mary’s, please do take a walk along the path to the War Memorial, we want it to be visited and valued by the local community as a place to reflect and remember. We would be grateful for any donations that people are able to make that will help the church to continue to enhance the area around the War Memorial.”
You can make a donation to this project here to cover the financial shortfall and for the upkeep of thr area: bit.ly/stmaryswarmemorial
