Latest News 11 July

admin-hopechurchfamily-org11/07/2020

Dear Friends,

I’m writing this from Cornwall, where I’m having a short break with my family. It’s been good to get away for a few days this week after the challenges of co-ordinating work to reopen some of our churches for individual prayer and/or worship over the last few weeks.

We spent Monday on one of my favourite beaches in the UK, Pedn Vounder, about half-way between Penzance and Lands End. The sun shone brilliantly throughout, the high cliffs protected us from the chilly north-westerly breeze, and we spent the day surrounded by beautiful white sand, swimming in crystal clear seawater. It was a wonderful reminder to me of why Psalm 8 tells us that God has set his glory in the heavens: the beauty of creation reveals God’s power and might and majesty – and in this summer season, despite the strangeness of Covid-19, there are so many reminders to us of God’s goodness all around us. So let’s not be afraid of the challenges ahead, but face them knowing that the God who creates so much wondrous beauty can do wonders in us too.

Last weekend I presided at communion for the first time in nearly four months, and it was a joy to focus again our Lord’s sacrifice as well as to share some, limited, face-to-face fellowship with the small numbers who joined us. The building had been immaculately prepared, and all the advised precautions were taken to enable us to reopen safely. Thank-you to those who joined us for worship – I hope the absence of song wasn’t too strange!

Over the next few weeks we’ll continue to slowly restart worship in various different venues around the benefice. As I’ve said previously, congregational leadership in helping manage safety, building capacity and the number of service leaders available to us are the major restrictions on how we can proceed, and therefore please don’t expect worship to return to your church immediately! Many churches across Worcester diocese (both large and small) are not reopening yet – indeed the Priory in Malvern will not be reopening for services until at least August.

Rather than waiting for a service to come to your familiar place of worship – let me encourage you to be willing to travel between our buildings for regular worship. It was good to see a number of visitors in Hanley Swan last weekend (from Ripple and Upton) and I’d encourage more of you to be willing to travel like this. Collective worship, wherever it takes place, is good for us, and its good for inter-church relationships as well!

Some of you I know are not yet able to travel to church, or do not yet feel safe doing so. We will continue to provide church online (and on DVD) for the foreseeable future, though we will be cutting back the provision somewhat as there aren’t enough hours in the day to do both physical church and virtual church well!

Before I tell you when and where services will be this weekend, please can you read through this guidance note setting out the “ground rules” for a Covid-safe church service.

  • If you are experiencing any Covid-19 symptoms (high temperature, new continuous cough, loss/change to your sense of smell or taste) please seek medical advice and do not attend services. We are continuing to provide services online.
  • If you are currently shielding (ie in the clinically extremely vulnerable group) please continue to observe government guidance, which is currently to stay home and not attend a place of worship prior to 1 August.
  • We will need to take contact details from you when you arrive to assist with contact tracing in the event of an outbreak of Covid-19. This will be kept for 21 days and then disposed of.
  • When you enter and leave the building, please use the hand-sanitiser provided.
  • Where single-use service sheets are supplied, please take them away with you after the service and dispose of them. Please do not leave them on your seat.
  • The social distancing rule is 2 metres. In practice during the distribution of communion, it may be hard to maintain the rule, and other risk-mitigating measures may be in place (for example the use of face masks or visors).
  • To enable social distancing rules to be maintained, please only sit in the seat(s) you are assigned. It helps us increase capacity if family groups/bubbles sit together.
  • At the moment we do not think demand will be such that we have to introduce a ticketing system, but we may have to do this in future weeks. In the event of the building reaching capacity we will have to turn you away, so you are advised to come early to guarantee a seat!
  • There is no requirement to wear face masks, but you may wish to do so if it helps you feel safer. Some service leaders will wear them during the distribution of communion when it is not practical to maintain a 2metre safe distance.
  • Singing is not allowed, due to the risk of virus transmission posed by energetic singing! Shouting and energetic liturgy is discouraged for the same reason!
  • Hard though it will be, family groups and bubbles are discouraged from interacting with each other in the building or in the church grounds.
  • Children are the responsibility of their parents/guardian during the service. In line with national guidance, childrens corners in churches are currently closed, and we are not yet in a position to offer any Sunday School or Breakfast Church provision.
  • Please exit the building as soon as the service ends.
  • There will be no refreshments served after the service
  • Holy Communion will be served in “one-kind” only (bread) as the common cup is seen as a greater infection risk.
  • Cash collections are discouraged. If you give using cash, please consider setting up a standing order or using the Parish Giving Scheme to support our work. You can find out details relating your parish here.
  • Please observe all directions the stewards give you.

Still want to come? Then this Sunday (12 July) Jane Fraser will be presiding at a service of Holy Communion at 9:30am in Upton and our lay reader Alison Martin will be leading Evening Prayer in Welland at 6pm.

Next weekend (19 July), we hope to have a service of Holy Communion in Hanley Castle, and a morning worship service in Earls Croome, though this is still subject to change. Please check next week’s newsletter for final details!

I’m grateful to you all for your continued patience as we try to work all of this out in a way that is safe for everyone concerned. Please continue praying for everyone involved in reopening buildings and restarting services: we need it!

Briefly, a few other bits of news. And remember, please also scroll down through the rest of this email to see details of readings for this Sunday, links to some fun things we’ve spotted this week, and our updated prayer list.

1) This week’s Online Events

Click the links on the list below to take you direct to the event at the appropriate time.

Sunday 12 July

Live

Prerecorded, (stream at your convenience)

Wednesday 15 July

Every Day except Sunday

Services for Sunday 19 July

  • T.b.c. Morning Worship, Earls Croome @ 11am (please check website or this newsletter next week for final details).
  • TBC Holy Communion, Hanley Castle @ 11am  (please check website or this newsletter next week for final details).
  • Service of the Word (traditional) – PRERECORDED available from midnight
  • Church Family (contemporary)– Facebook Premiere at 9:30am and PRERECORDED available from midnight.

 

 

2)Church finances – you can make a difference!

Like all small charities, your local church is suffering a significant financial shortfall as a result of lost income from collections and special fundraising events we’d have run through the summer.

Whilst there’s still some hope we might be able to run a few events in the open air later in the summer, we do face a very challenging future financially. If you are in a position to give an additional gift at this time, it would make a huge difference.

To make this simpler, we’ve set up a new GIVING page on our website (https://hopechurchfamily.org/giving), with all the information you’ll need to give a one-off, or regular gift to any of our churches.

3) Services on DVDs and CDs

Every week I produce the services on DVD and CD for a small number of folk across the area who don’t have internet access. It’s been a lovely way for them to stay in touch. If you know of anyone else who would be helped by this ministry, please let me know.

4) Churches Open For Individual Prayer.

Thanks to the hard work of our volunteer cleaners and organisers we’re able to open three of our churches for a short period each week for individual prayer. You can visit to pray at the following times:

  • Mondays 10am-noon        St James’ Welland
  • Tuesdays 10am-noon        St Gabriel’s, Hanley Swan
  • Wednesdays 10am-noon        St Mary’s, Hanley Castle
  • Thursdays 10am-noon        St James’, Welland
  • Fridays 5pm-7pm           St Gabriel’s, Hanley Swan
  • Saturdays 10am-noon        St Mary’s, Hanley Castle

To help keep you safe, the buildings are being cleaned before and after each opening period, and the three-day gap between each building opening will act as an additional “safety buffer” in which the scientists tell us any virus particles that the cleaners have missed will die.

Notwithstanding that, please help us keep the buildings clean and safe by minimising the things you touch while in the building, using the provided hand gel, observing social distancing, and following all safety instructions in the building.

Please do not enter the building if you are experiencing any of the key Covid-19 symptoms:

  • a new continuous cough.
  • a high temperature.
  • a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)

It’s also possible that we may need to close one of the buildings occasionally for a funeral, or other service, or because we haven’t been able to maintain cleaning safety. We’ll do our best to inform you of this.

 

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We long for the day when we can all gather together again, but in the meantime, stay safe, stay prayerful, and God bless!

 

 

 

Barry Unwin

 

 

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