NEWS


Friday 5th June  2020
Reading the Bible 4
"Big lessons from a little book" 
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If you want to see previous videos in this series click on the link below

For an Act of Worship for Sunday 7th June     
- Trinity  Sunday
Holy Communion   -

click on the link below 
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It can be done anytime but we  suggest 10.00a.m so that we are all together.
​We join in fellowship with all the community of Christ Church.
-News  -  Sunday 7th June  2020

Dear Friends
 
There is a Sunday service for 7th June which is Trinity  Sunday
This is  major service in the churches year and thus it  is a communion service filmed in Christ Church. It is continuous – you don’t need anything but to press play on the video on the Sunday Page.
 It can be found on the Sunday page of the website-
https://www.christchurchstaines.co.uk/sunday-page.html
 My suggestion is that, wherever we are, we say the service together as near to 10.00a.m. as possible.
 There will be a link to the website on  Facebook. We have had some trouble posting videos on Facebook this week.
 
The status of what Holy Communion means in this situation has not been clearly defined but the words and actions of the service are familiar to us , and I believe helpful in these very strange times.  
I cannot tell you if you are allowed to  have a piece of bread and take it as part of our Communion or not. I do know that if you do the “liturgical police” will not be coming round to your house -  do whatever helps you experience the Lord!
 
There is  a daily prayer video (expect Mondays) on the website. This  week will be a continue  a “beginners guide to reading the Bible” .

The Future of Churches
Bishop Graham wrote to all clergy this week with a summary of the current situation. It was a very long letter but its contents were so clear and concise I thought I would share some “Highlights” with you. This explains exactly where we are now.

Quote:- 
You may know that discussions between the Church and the government had led us to believe that an announcement would be made at the Prime Minister’s briefing on the 28th May announcing entry into ‘phase 2’ for churches, enabling them to open for small-scale weddings, private prayer and some elements of funeral ministry from the 1st June. It was something of a surprise to everyone (including the civil servants) that no such announcement came. It seems that the government were looking to relax quite a few measures, whereas the scientists were more cautious. The key factor, as you know, is the ‘R number’ – the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to, on average. The more lockdown measures are relaxed at one time, the higher the R number is likely to go, so some difficult choices needed to be made. 
 
The Government decided that the priority was to enable family gatherings and measures that might kick-start the economy, so went for six people meeting outside and (for example) the opening of outdoor markets and car showrooms, rather than opening churches. That may tell us something about our national priorities. On the other hand we do not want the church to be responsible for a spike in the number of deaths, which continue to be over 300 a day across the country with around 2000 new COVID cases reported every day. 
 
While many within the church would have welcomed the possibility of opening for private prayer, other faith communities have less of a tradition of private individual prayer in religious buildings, and were concerned that if their buildings opened at all, they would not be able to manage the numbers of people wanting to enter with proper social distancing. 
 
Whatever the reasons, this is where we are. +Sarah has been involved in many of these discussions and has been urging the government to give us a date for these measures to be introduced. Her press statement reads:
 
 “We all want to see places of worship open as soon as is safe and practical and we have been very actively planning to that end, drawing up detailed advice to help parishes prepare. While I welcome the Secretary of State’s declaration of intent to see them begin to reopen, at least initially for individual prayer, I would encourage ministers now to set a date so that we all know where we stand. Working closely with the Government’s Places of Worship Task Force, we are committed to finding a safe way of opening up our buildings as soon as possible, wherever proper physical distancing can be maintained. We believe it could help bring healing and strength to many who are hurting amid this traumatic time, with our churches acting in so many places at the centre of community life, which is now beginning to resume.”
 
COVID-19 – Looking Ahead.
 
It is therefore impossible to give an absolute timescale for opening churches. Many of us are frustrated by the lack of clarity on many issues such as weddings and how they will be conducted. The honest answer is that for many of these things we are waiting on government guidance which is not always as forthcoming and co-ordinated as it might be.
 
However, there are some things we can say. The government has indicated that subject to continuing reduction in the R number there will be reviews of the lockdown regulations in mid-June and early July and it is possible that either of those reviews might lead to changes to what we may do in church.
 
 
COVID-19 – Practical Questions
 
As we plan towards the next stage of being allowed to open for limited private prayer and for small weddings and funerals, we know that not all churches will be able to do so easily.
 
If you do choose to open, then this will be subject to a range of important conditions, covering hygiene, cleaning, physical distancing and other ways of mitigating the risk of spreading the virus. The Church of England is continuing to update its guidance and we will also continue to help churches interpret this locally.
 
+Graham
 Unquote

My comment at the end is simply  “watch this space” !!! 
 
Do keep our community in your prayers
Michael


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 Hello Church Family
 I just want to say a really big thank you on behalf of Christian Aid for the donations that were given for Christian Aid week.  I am now handing them over to Linda for banking and I said I would let you all know our total.



The overall amount came to £1155 which was broken down as follows:

 Donations collected over CAW         £810
Lent lunch                                               £110
Gift Aid                                                     £200   
Direct online donation but linked to CC               £ 35
 Again, thank you so so much. 
Stay safe and look forward to seeing you all, hopefully some time soon.
 Pauline  Christian Aid Rep  ​
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​​We may be closed but the Church is far more! Make the Kingdom presence felt.
Public services of worship might be suspended but the love of Jesus is never suspended and as a church, as a community, we will go on. In the past we have survived persecution, wars, blitzes and plagues and  we will get through this. For the coming weeks we will need to be  a different type of church. When we do eventually gather again on a Sunday morning it will be with great rejoicing and we will thank God for having brought us again to the beginning of a new day.

  

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  Chrissie Parsons died on Tuesday 25th February  in Sam Beare Hospice. There will be a Memorial Service with Communion at a later date  in Christ Church.
(She wanted a party! Dress code: bright colours, no black please.) 
This will happen after the current Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

​HALL HIRE :- For prices and booking information
please contact Carol Bartlett  (carol.mistral@googlemail.com) 07931 858563

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Have a look at our  Facebook page 
: https://www.facebook.com/staineschristchurch ​

GALLERY

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 We support Canaan Christian Ministries and  encourage people to call in the shop for their purchases of books and card.
Parish Safeguarding Statement.  We follow the Diocese of London Guidelines, and keep updated through regular training at Diocesan House, and through personal contact with the Diocese Safeguarding Officer. We have a Parish Safeguarding Policy which can be found on this website. All our volunteers who work with our children or young people are DBS checked (or are in the process of being checked) and receive Safeguarding training. We review the Safeguarding Policy each year and report to our PCC twice yearly. Our Safeguarding role also covers the care of Vulnerable Adults, i.e. those who are 18+ years and up to our eldest members.
​Our Safeguarding Officer is Luani Baird tel  07887843142 (luanibaird @gmail.com)