Sunday 12th April 2020

Sunday 12th April 2020

Easter Day

Dear all,

It is often said that the church isn’t the building, but the community of people who worship in it; we are the church. The truth of this is being borne out in our present situation, where we are seeing the church at work in both practical and spiritual ways. Some people are still working, and they have the practical task of carrying Jesus Christ with them into sometimes challenging situations, where the old assumptions are gone and new restrictions mean rapid changes to new ways of doing things. The way we respond as Christians under pressure will tell people all they need to know about the love of God. Others of us have perhaps the opposite challenge; whether it’s ‘lockdown’ or furlough from work, there is now time to fill. All of time belongs to God, from beginning to end, so this unwanted and maybe even unwelcome time is also God’s time.

  • For those who are still working we need to pray for stamina and strength, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually for the weeks and months ahead.
  • For those who have time on their hands, let’s pray that they are able to redeem this time by seeking God and reading His word in a way they possibly haven’t had time to do before. We can pray that as people spend more time with the Lord their First Love will be re-kindled and their lives, and the lives of their families will be transformed.

Good Friday – A reflection on the passion at 2.45pm live on Facebook

Sunday 12th April 2020

10:00                   Morning Worship – telephone conference

Phone: 03300 945 940

Room number: 60527473 #

PIN: 2656 #

12:00                   Morning Worship – live on Facebook

Phill Harrison will repeat the reading, the sermon and lead some short prayers.

Go to our Facebook page ‘Wroughton and Wichelstowe Parish Church’

Next week:

Tuesday 14th / Wednesday 15th / Thursday 16th [go to: YOUTUBE.COM/SPRINGHARVEST]

9:00                     A bible thought for the day (Pete Grieg) followed by ‘Big Start’

10:30                   Teaching session (Gavin and Ann Calver flowed by Malcolm Duncan)

7:30                     Celebration

Friday 17th [go to: YOUTUBE.COM/SPRINGHARVEST]

9:00                     A bible thought for the day (Pete Grieg) followed by ‘Big Start’

10:30                   Final Celebration

Next Week

Sunday 19th April, 2nd Sunday of Easter

10:00                   Morning Worship

Preacher:            Revd Barbara Abrey

Intercessions:    Cheryl Hawkins

Reading:             John 20:19-31

Reader:               Ann Stone

 

12.00                   Morning Worship live on Facebook

Revd Barbara Abrey will repeat the reading, the sermon and lead some short prayers.  Go to our Facebook page ‘Wroughton and Wichelstowe Parish Church’

 

10am service by telephone

Our Sunday morning service is an audio meeting that people can dial into using just their telephones – no computers involved! Follow these instructions to join:

  • To join the Sunday service first dial this number: 03300 945 940.
  • When prompted, enter the room number, followed by # on your telephone keypad: 60527473 #
  • Finally, enter the guest PIN: 2656 #
  • You may have to listen to some announcements, but you will then be automatically joined to the conference call. Join in with the responses in the liturgy as you would normally.

Please try and dial-in at 9:55, as it may take a little while for everyone to be connected to the conference. Calls to ‘03’ numbers are charged at the standard national rate and are included in your ‘free minutes’ if you have a call-plan. Revd Phill has delivered service sheets and dial-in instructions to a number of people that we know don’t use email, or for whom we have no email address. If you know someone who doesn’t have email and would like to be included please let us know so that he can drop something through their letterbox.

The Let’s Team

The Let’s team are now on Easter Holidays.  Our next session will be Let’s Talk – Live ‘Finding the Silver Linings’ on the 29th April.  Wishing everyone a pleasant Easter time.

Church building closure

The Bishops have instructed that church buildings should now be closed for all private prayer – including by priests. This is a sad step and one that we did not expect. However, the motivation behind it is so that the church of England can be seen to be taking a lead in showing our communities how we must behave in order to slow down the spread of the Coronavirus. Whilst it is closed, the church will be floodlit as a visible reminder to the village (and the M4!) that hope shines in darkness – and that hope is Jesus.

Weddings and Funerals

It is no longer possible to hold any services in church buildings. Wedding can therefore no longer take place and all funerals will be at the graveside or in the crematorium chapel. The number of people able to attend is limited to just the following – Spouse/Partner, Parents/Carers, Brothers/Sisters, Children (and partners). The maximum number will be just 10.

APCM postponement

Our Annual Parochial Church Meeting was due to take place on Sunday 26th April. Due to current circumstances this has been postponed; a new date will be set in due course. This means that PCC members and officers (Churchwardens/PCC Secretary etc.) will have their terms of office extended until the date of the new APCM. A number of PCC places will become vacant at the APCM. Please prayerfully consider whether you might be able to support us by becoming a member of our church’s wider leadership team.

SPRING HARVEST HOME – Starting on Easter Monday – do join in! 

Spring Harvest Home will be available on-line from Monday April 13th to Friday April 17th, via You-Tube (https://www.youtube.com/user/SpringHarvest). It’s a completely free online conference programme with content suitable for everyone in the family, all built around the 2020 theme of “Unleashed – The Acts Church Today“.

There’ll be different things to tune into with Big Start, Bible teaching, worship, specialist seminars and some light-hearted viewing, and just like the real thing you’ll be able to dip in and out of whatever takes your fancy during the day. The programme can be found here: https://springharvest.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/1596SH_SH_Home_Programme_Final3.pdf and you can find a guide to how ‘Spring Harvest Home’ content works here:

https://springharvest.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/1594SH__SH-Home_Need_To_Know_Sheets_V3.pdf

We’d love to enjoy this together as a community. So far, we’ve set up a Messenger group chat, so that we chat about what we’re watching and learning. If you’ve have Messenger, and would like to join in with the group chat, please message Karen or Phill Harrison (or phone or email Phill), and we will add you into the group. If you don’t already have Messenger, you can download it via www.messenger.com (Or https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.orca in Google Play). As Karen learnt this week, you don’t need to have a Facebook account to be able to use Messenger! If anyone is unsure about how to do this, please phone the Vicarage and we will talk you through it. We’re also hoping to have a Zoom meeting at some point next week, so please keep an eye on the church Facebook page and your email for more details.

Parish Office

Our Parish Office has temporarily relocated to Janet Burchell’s dining room! The telephone number and opening hours remain the same: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 9am to 1.30pm 01793 812050 (email: office@wroughton.com)

Parish Giving Scheme and envelopes

The parish giving scheme is still functioning, with all members of staff working remotely.  If you need to contact them to amend your giving or for Gift Aid changes, please either ring them on 0333 002 1260 or email: info@parishgiving.org.uk. Please note they are not able to receive post at the moment. Any post is being securely stored by Royal Mail.

Giving envelopes with cheques in can be sent to the Parish Office (by post or put through the letterbox); they will be collected once a week.

Mission to Seafarers Knitting 

Got time on your hands? Why not join the army of knitters and make hats for the Mission to Seafarers . These are given to seafarers who may have been recruited in warmer climes and then travel to colder areas. For more information please contact Janet Henderson 525856.

Filling Station Suspend Service

With regret, The Filling Station is suspending its support for the Homeless in Swindon to ensure the safety of both their clients and volunteers during the current crisis.

The Filling Station, which has operated every Thursday night in Swindon for over 20 years, supports around 50 homeless or “near” homeless people each week

Trustee Angus Macpherson said “The Trustees have had to make this decision based on national advice. We have had not received any specific advice from Swindon Borough Council Public Health. We know that many of the clients have underlying health problems, and bringing them together in not a responsible approach. The Charity has a long established working relationship with Threshold Housing Link which continues.”

We very much hope that we will see a strong response from Swindon Borough Council, with a strategic plan to support this section of our community. As an independent charity we will support such an initiative.

Funeral this week

Please pray the families and friends of Robert Whitfield as his funeral takes place. 

And finally, a prayer for this week:

God of compassion,
be close to those who are ill, afraid or in isolation.
In their loneliness, be their consolation;
in their anxiety, be their hope;
in their darkness, be their light;
through him who suffered alone on the cross,
but reigns with you in glory,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

 

 

The Parish Office, Priors Hill, Wroughton, SN4 0RT

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 9am to 1.30pm

01793 812050.  office@wroughton.com

Revd Phill Harrison – 01793 812301 vicar@wroughton.com

Church Twitter Account

We have Twitter @WroughtonWichel

Please follow us for all the latest updates from Wroughton Parish Church.