24/01/21

ST MARY & ALL SAINTS WITH ST JOHN – NOTICES

24^th January 2021

The Third Sunday after Epiphany

“Our vision is to follow Jesus by learning His ways and sharing His love”

We seek to enjoy fellowship together as we worship God, grow in discipleship, develop in ministry and reach our community with the gospel.

We value welcome, worship and witness.

Please Continue to Check the Prayer and Worship section for the readings and sermon for each week. The rota schedule for worship leaders is now back live on the website. We also have produced a copy of the Morning Prayer Service and a copy of the service of Holy Communion. Please select the appropriate service for the link.

 • Following the resolution made by the PCC on 6^th January to close the church building to public worship, the first review of the situation was held on Wednesday, 20^th January 2021. The PCC voted unanimously to continue to keep the church building closed for public worship. The next review will be on 3^rd February 2021. Until then, all Sunday Services will be streamed on Zoom only.

 • Our service this week is Holy Communion on Zoom at 11:00am. You will be able to log into the “Zoom Meeting” from approximately 10:45am.

• Please contact us via email - stmarygoodshaw@yahoo.com if you wish to join the service.

• Please use the order of Services mailed out previously

• This Wednesday, 27^th January 2021, any and all members of our church family are invited to the following event on Zoom at 7:00pm :

• The email I received read as follows

• On behalf of Bishop Mark Ashcroft, I would like to warmly invite you to an archdeaconry-wide event on our proposals for creating Mission Communities across the diocese. The event will be hosted by Bishop Mark on Wednesday 27th January 2021, 19.00-20.30 via Zoom.

• For those who haven’t had the opportunity to engage with the Briefing Document yet, you can find it on the diocesan website. We encourage you to read it and begin your own discussions about what this could mean for your church community. This event will give you the opportunity to reflect and give feedback on these proposals.

• The Zoom link and meeting details are as follows :

• https://zoom.us/j/98159603765?pwd=WUZkZHpuRzdQdEpBUU5MV0hkcG9kZz09

• Meeting ID: 981 5960 3765

• Passcode: 727003

• Mother Union subscriptions for the year are now due. This year, the cost is £25.00, which includes two magazines. Please get the money to Denise as soon as you possibly can (under the circumstances !).

 • A date for your diaries. Following on from our Advent Study course, we will be holding a Lent Study course on Wednesday evenings, starting on February 24^th, at 7:30pm. Each session will only be an hour long, as we prepare for Easter. In this weekly course, we will be looking, over six weeks, at the prayers of Jesus in the Gospels. We will explore the prayers to His Father as He moved towards the cross. Hopefully as we explore the prayers of the Son to His Father, we will grow in faith, hope and love. Unlike the Advent course there will not be daily readings in addition to the study sessions

• If you want a course book, please email the church at stmarygoodshaw@yahoo.com. The cost is £5.00, which you can pay in cash or by bank transfer. The bank details are :

  • Account Name : St Mary & All Saints with St John’s

  • Sort Code : 09-01-53

  • Account Number : 75875484

  • PLEASE SEND REF of YOUR NAME AND “LENT”

• With the departure of the Rayner family, we will, once again, be without a Health and Safety Officer. If you feel that you could be able to fill this position, which isn’t very demanding at all, please contact Mike.

• Likewise, we now have another vacancy on the PCC. If you would like to join us on the PCC, please let Mike or Rachel know.

• Julie Barratt has prepared for us a series of reflections on the Holy Spirit, the first of which is attached at the end of the readings and sermons.

Re-Opening Church After Lockdown  

Please see the RE-OPENING OF CHURCH page for further information as Church will operate differently.

• As a reminder to everyone. Moving forward:

• If you are feeling unwell, or if you, or any member of your household are awaiting the results of a Covid-19 test, please do not come to church.

• Please pray for all families within our parish, who have been affected by Covid-19.
• The Covid special measures for Rossendale are being lifted this coming Wednesday (26th August), but do remember to follow all the guidance and take care, when you're out and about.

•  The Church of England updated its guidance for conducting services on Friday, 7^th August 2020. Under the new guidelines, those leading services no longer need to wear facemasks, with the exception of when communion is being distributed. We will follow this guidance, which will, hopefully make it easier for members of the congregation to understand what is being said !!

• Please follow the guidelines posted in and around the toilet. This includes sanitising your hands both before and after using the lavatory.

• Please do keep all those shielding or unable to join in physical or online services in your prayers, and remember to give them a call to see how they are doing. The Sunday readings and sermons will continue to be included in the notices. No notices will be handed out at the services.

PLEASE SEE THE RE-OPENING OF CHURCH PAGE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

 A REMINDER : Although lockdown is drawing to a close, many of our church family are still not in a position to go out and socialise. If you are feeling lonely and down after so many weeks of our social isolation, you’re not on your own. DO NOT BE AFRAID OF PICKING UP THE PHONE to any member of the church leadership team or Pastoral Team. It’s OK not to be OK. We have a loving church family, and plenty of help is available.

•   HAVE YOU GOT THE CHILDREN AT HOME ? DO YOU WANT THEM TO KEEP UP TO DATE WITH THE BIBLE STORIES THEY’D BE HEARING AT JUNIOR CHURCH ? Check out a website called sermons4kids.   https://sermons4kids.com

• Also, DON’T forget to have them follow the Facebook page set up by our Family & Community Worker, Claire. – select the link for ARK – Anglican Rossendale Kids on Facebook. It’s GREAT !!!

•  Although we’re now broadcasting our services on Zoom, there are still other places to take part in worship, if you can’t make it to the Zoom service .

Here are just some of the other options

• At 08:10am, the Sunday worship on BBC Radio 4 This week’s service comes from Carlisle. Marking the time of Holocaust Memorial Day, this week’s service looks at the topic of Be the Light in the Darkness. It is led by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Special Advisor for Reconciliation Programmes, Canon Sarah Snyder..
• At 9:00am, on The Church of England’s Facebook Page and live streaming on Facebook and YouTube. Rev Dr Paul Goodliff speaks of living with difference in this extract from our weekly service. The full service marks the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, featuring contributions from Chemin Neuf and led by Rev Charles Hadley.

•   Please do use the internet and social media, especially Facebook, to follow what the broader Church of England is doing during the crisis. Alternatively, the Church of England has launched a FREEPHONE service, Daily Hope, which you might find helpful and uplifting. Even if you just want to hear some hymns being sung, why not give it a call ? It’s free - call on 08008048044!!

•  As Christians, we are called to love our neighbours. We can do this in many ways, despite the enforced isolation in which we find ourselves.

• Give someone a call to check that they’re coping with the situation.

• Pray over the phone with a friend.

• Pray alone or with the other members of your household for safe deliverance from this epidemic for your families, those whose work puts them in danger of infection and those who lead our country through this crisis.

•  Pastoral Care Matters : We are facing worrying times at the moment.

• Because of coronavirus, home visits by the Pastoral Team will have to be placed on hold for the moment. This is being done to protect the members of our church family who fall into the “vulnerable” category of our population. Nevertheless, our Pastoral Team is still working and are more than willing to provide a listening ear or to pray with you over the phone. If you are forced to self-isolate and need someone to do your shopping, this can be arranged (but may not extend to loo roll). If you feel the need for support, please email us on stmarygoodshaw@yahoo.com, or call Elaine, who will act as coordinator for the Pastoral Team.

•   Dates for PCC Meetings in 2021 :

• March 9th

• May 4^th

•   We would ask you to please consider switching to donating through standing order. If you wish to do so, here are the bank details :

Account Name : St Mary & All Saints with St John's

Sort Code : 09-01-53

Account Number : 75875484

• If you have any Notices to be shared, please email them to stmarygoodshaw@yahoo.com by Thursday evening, so that they can be included on the Sunday Notices circular. If you wish to receive the notices electronically each week, please speak to Mike or email the above address.