29/11/20

ST MARY & ALL SAINTS WITH ST JOHN – NOTICES

29th November 2020

Advent Sunday

“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.

***We are holding some of our Sunday services on Zoom. The link to each service is fund in these notices. When this lockdown period ends, we will be able to continue to broadcast our services live from church, using Zoom.***

 • Our service this week is Morning Prayer at 11:00am. You will be able to log into the “Zoom Meeting” from approximately 10:45am. Log in to the service on Zoom by following the link found here :

• Topic: St Mary & All Saints Goodshaw's Morning Prayer on Remembrance Sunday

• Time: Sunday, Nov 29th, 2020 10:45am

• Join Zoom Meeting

• • Click on this link :

  • To join the service, simply launch Zoom, click on “Join Meeting” (DON’T “Sign In”), and enter the following when prompted to do so :

• Meeting ID: 818 0750 3823

• Passcode: 818599

• Although we will be “allowed” to hold services in church again as from next Sunday, 6^th December, we will not be back in church until the following Sunday, 13^th December, as the wedding of David Holt and Natalie Mather will be in church on Saturday, 5^th December. The decision has been in order to ensure that we maintain our Covid-secure environment in church.

• Next Sunday, 6^th December, our service will be held on Zoom. It will be a service of Holy Communion at the normal time of 11:00am, at which Denise will preside.

 • On Sunday 13^th December, there will be an additional service of Holy Communion in Church, which will be led by Bishop Mark Ashcroft, the Bishop of Bolton. The service will be at the normal time of 11:00am.

 • We have received permission from the Lord Bishop of Manchester to hold services of Holy Communion by Extension on the following dates :

• Friday 25^th December

• Sunday 10^th January 2021

 •  Our Advent Study Course, led by Lorraine and Pam will be starts this Tuesday evening, 1^st December, at 7:30pm on Zoom. The course will be using the book “Cover to Cover : Unexpected Jesus”. The book contains weekly group studies and daily private study for Advent.

• The course will run on Tuesday evenings from 7:30pm to 8:30pm on the following dates:

  • 1^st December

  • 8^th December

  • 15^th December

  • 22^nd December

• To join the study course, simply launch Zoom, click on “Join Meeting” (DON’T “Sign In”), and enter the following when prompted to do so :

• Meeting ID: 860 9651 1532

• Passcode: 466355

• We still have two copies of the book available for sale, priced at £5.00 each. If you’d like one, please send an email to : Stmarygoodshaw@yahoo.com

• To pay for your book, please do so via bank transfer to the church bank account :

  • 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 “ADVENT COURSE”

   • You may be aware that Archbishops of Canterbury and York, together with the Bishop of London, are calling for all Christians to pray earnestly during this period of lockdown. Attached to these notices are two documents, which might help you to pray.

• The first is the “prayer diary” for the four weeks, which has been published by the Church of England. It links in to daily prayer at 6:00pm on a different topic each day of the week. Prayer for the Nation is found here.

• The second is something, which our own Rev Julie Barratt was already putting together before the Church of England published its “diary”. Julie’s document is here and is very much a thought provoker about what or whom you might want to pray for during this lockdown.

• Together, we hope that these aids might support you in your prayer life and, in particular, during these difficult weeks ahead.

• As we will not be able to hold our normal services in church this Christmas, as suggestion has been made that it might be a nice idea to set up a “scarecrow Nativity scene” outside church, so that passers-by, of which there are many, will be able to see that we are still active as a church, and as a reminder of what Christmas is about. If you would like to get involved in this, please call Elaine on 07500 936 662.

 • Due to the retirement of Noreen, we are still appealing for volunteers to fill the following post :

• • Churchwarden (1)

  • Mike will need to retire as churchwarden in 2022, by which time he will have served the maximum six years in office (assuming he’s not voted out at next year’s APCM). Now would be an opportune time for someone to step forward for this vacant position, so that they can “learn the ropes” alongside Mike.

 • In case you haven’t heard the news, the Rayner family will be leaving us at the end of the year for pastures new. Their departure will be a big loss to us as a congregation. The list of the areas of our ministry which have been touched by their gifts and talents is so long. This is a big step for them, and we do sincerely wish them every blessing in the door, which the Lord has opened for them.

• Some of you may have noticed that RBC have finally got round to having a clear-up in the graveyard. It is part of their legal duty, as the graveyard is "closed". A suggestion has been made that it might be an idea to set up a "Friends of Goodshaw Churchyard" Group to ensure that it doesn't fall back into the terrible state it has been in for the past 12-18 months. More on this will appear as the plans start to take shape, but please do email us if you would be interested in joining such a group.

• Quiet Days – A message from Rev Julie Barratt : “While I will not be doing an online Quiet Day I have prepared some Quiet Reflection/ Bible Study material for people to use online and hope to produce it on a more regular basis than a twice a year. The material is here. Quiet Refelction: Peace"

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 In the first of the Advent series, theologian and scholar of Celtic Christianity, Gilbert Markus, and parish spiritual director, Anne Buhrmann, mark the eve of St Andrew’s Day by reflecting that cities have always represented the best and the worst of humanity, and by offering a vision of the values upon which they could be built.
• At 9:00am, on The Church of England’s Facebook Page and live streaming on Facebook and YouTube. The national online service, with Rev Sam Wells from St Martin in the Fields, will celebrate the first Sunday of Advent with music, reflection and prayer. Like our page https://www.facebook.com/thechurchofengland to watch our Comfort and Joy services this Advent and Christmas.

•   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 :

• January 5th

• March 9th

•   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.