News update 11 Sept

Dear Friends,

So how do you feel about the “rule of six.” It’s a dreadful name isn’t it? I am however glad that the government has to some extent clarified the “is it 30 or 6?” confusion that every event organiser in the country has been wrestling with for months!

In the immediate aftermath of the announcement on Tuesday evening a number of you contacted me to ask “Does this mean church is locked down again?” The good news is the answer is NO! In his press conference on Wednesday, the Prime Minister specifically mentioned places of worship as being exceptions to the rule: so we can carry on meeting!

The government’s website has a comprehensive list of exceptions to the rule (ie a list of situations where groups can be larger than six people). At the time of writing, these include:

• where everyone lives together or is in the same support bubble, or to continue existing arrangements where children do not live in the same household as both their parents
• for work, and voluntary or charitable services
• for education, training, or registered childcare (including wraparound care)
• fulfilling legal obligations such as attending court or jury service
• providing emergency assistance, or providing support to a vulnerable person
• for you or someone else to avoid illness, injury or harm
• participate in children’s playgroups
• wedding and civil partnership ceremonies and receptions, or for other religious life-cycle ceremonies – where up to 30 people will be able to attend
• funerals – where up to 30 people will be able to attend
• organised indoor and outdoor sports, physical activity and exercise classes…
• youth groups or activities
• elite sporting competition or training
• protests and political activities organised in compliance with COVID-19 secure guidance and subject to strict risk assessments

Last weekend we finally restarted the Deep End Youth Group (a BBQ in the vicarage garden) and my wife Carol restarted the Welland toddler group, so I’m delighted to see that both Youth and Toddler activities are in the exception list!

You’ll note also that exceptions are allowed for voluntary and charitable services – which means that if our PCCs want to meet physically, they can. Other church business-type meetings can occur too. Though they must take place in a Covid-secure way, which typically means we have to abandon the comfort of a home and meet in a larger Covid-secure venue, wearing face masks. So, in some cases it may continue to be more helpful to meet electronically!

What is less clear are all the implications for Christmas. Thursday’s Daily Mail headline of “There goes Christmas” is over the top, but it’s clear that for many of us, Christmas may work very differently this year. For the last twenty years or so, I’ve gathered a group of 10-15 friends for a Christmas meal a week before Christmas, and unless the rules change before then, this year it won’t be happening.  But small gatherings of six are still possible: so Christmas is still coming, the goose just need not be quite so fat! And perhaps with less catering to do, and fewer parties to attend, it’ll prompt us all to look beyond the celebrations to Christ, our Saviour and the life and hope his birth brings.

Frustratingly our Christmas services will not be as they were last year. With the need to clean or quarantine buildings between services, and fewer service leaders than in the past, we can’t run all of the carol services and Christmas Eve / Christmas Day events we have in the past. I’m working with the service leaders and venue managers, to try to find a balanced and creative way through this.  The ongoing “no singing” rule, combined with restrictions on attendance, mean that it’s unlikely each church will have a carol services this year: but we’re exploring some creative alternatives and we’ll tell you more nearer to.

It isn’t just Christmas that will be different this year, Covid impacts our Remembrance Sunday activities too. Our church in Upton hosts the largest Remembrance Sunday service in the area, but this year, it won’t be in church (or we’d have to turn 300 people away). It’s likely an event will happen around the war memorial at the Pepperpot, but my brief initial discussions with the council  lead me to think that it’s scope will be limited. I’ll let you know more as soon as I know more!

Finally, changing tack a little, Clare our administrator is leaving us this weekend. We’re sad to see her go and very grateful for all the work she’s done, particularly during the confusion and uncertainty of the last six months, when she’s often been working from home, balancing childcare and work, and often during hours of the day that we didn’t contract her to work for. So thank-you Clare, we wish you all the best in your new role and pray that you’ll enjoy it, provide great support to your new employer, and continue to grow in the failth and love of Christ.

We advertised the post about a month ago now, and you’ll all be pleased to hear that we had a large number of very high quality applicants, We’ll be interviewing some of them next week. Please be praying for the candidates and the interviewers, as we seek to discern the right way forward.

Here’s what else is happening this week:

1) Services – Sunday 13 September

IN-PERSON:

• 8am Holy Communion @ Hanley Castle
• 9:30am Holy Communion @ Upton
• 11am            Holy Communion @ Earls Croome
• 11am            Morning Worship @ Ripple
• 11am            Morning Worship @ Welland

VIDEO (online and CD/DVD)

• Sunday Service (traditional hymn version) – watch anytime from midnight onwards (also available through our Youtube channel).
• Church Family (modern music version) – watch anytime from midnight onwards at www.hopechurchfamily.org/virtual or through our Youtube channel or join the live Facebook Premiere at 9:30am.

• Daily Prayer. A new initiative. Alison Martin is producing a weekly “daily prayer” service, which can be used on any day of the week. Updated on a Wednesday or Thursday, you can access it at hopechurchfamily.org/virtual or through our Youtube channel.

2) Next Weekend (Sunday 20 September)

IN-PERSON

• 9:30am Breakfast Church @ Upton
• 9:30am Holy Communion @ Hanley Swan
• 11am            Morning Worship @ The Hook

VIDEO (online and CD/DVD)

• Service of the Word (traditional) –available from midnight

3) New Regular Pattern of services

Now that most of our buildings are open again for worship, the service leaders, church wardens and I have agreed a new pattern of services, which the service leaders and wardens think is sustainable for the foreseeable future.

Inevitably there will be occasional deviations from it due to things like Harvest festivals and special events, and we’ll also need to cancel the occasional service so that buildings can be quarantined after weddings, or when service leaders are unavailable. Please keep an eye on www.hopechurchfamily.org/calendar for the most up to date information.

4) 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.

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://www.hopechurchfamily.org/giving), with all the information you’ll need to give a one-off, or regular gift to any of our churches.

5) 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.

6) What Covid-safe church will be like.

We’re mostly getting used to this by now, but just in case you need a refresher, here’s a reminder of the basic common-sense, 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.
• We will need to take contact details from you when you arrive.
• When you enter and leave the building, please use the hand-sanitiser provided.
• The social distancing rule is 2 metres.
• Please only sit in the seat(s) you are assigned. It helps us increase capacity if family groups/bubbles sit together.
• Congregational singing is not yet allowed (either inside or outside)!
• Children are the responsibility of their parents/guardian during the service.
• Please exit the building as soon as the service ends.
• Holy Communion will be served in “one-kind” only (bread) as the common cup is seen as a greater infection risk.
• Giving. If you value what we do and would like to support it, please consider setting up a standing order or using the Parish Giving Scheme (where possible) to support our work. You can find out details relating your parish church here.
• Please observe any directions the stewards give you.

I’m grateful to you all for your continued patience as we work to keep everyone safe. Please continue praying for everyone involved in managing the Covid-safe regime in our buildings, and also for our service leaders as they try to think of innovative ways of being church within the rules!

7) Churches Open For Individual Prayer.

Thanks to the ongoing 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.

It’s 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.

__________

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

Rev’d Barry Unwin