Dear all,
One of the charities that I support is Open Doors, an organisation that helps persecuted Christians around the world, both in practical ways and through prayer and advocacy. They send me a monthly prayer diary and as part of this I recently read about isolated Christians in North Africa, who have been rejected by society because of their faith. For these Christians, social media is a lifeline, both for social interaction and spiritual support. It occurs to me that we are perhaps getting a temporary glimpse of what it’s like to stand in their shoes. Whilst we remain unable to meet together in a public place for worship, may we be inspired by the faith of our brothers and sisters in parts of the world where this was never an option.
We pray with Mojtaba from Iran:
”Father, thank you that you are present with me wherever I am. Help me to see opportunities to grow close to you and to held build your kingdom. Amen.”
Phill
TODAY
10:00 Morning Worship – telephone conference
Phone: 03300 945 940
Room number: 60527473 #
PIN: 2656 #
12:00 Morning Worship – live on Facebook
Revd Phill Harrison will repeat the reading, the sermon and lead some short prayers. Go to our Facebook page ‘Wroughton and Wichelstowe Parish Church’
4pm Church at 4 via Zoom – join the Church at 4 group on our Facebook page for the meeting invite and password.
NEXT WEEK
Tuesday
7.30pm ‘Pray and Bless’ – via Zoom. See details below.
Wednesday
12:00 Let’s will be live on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1168029310066050/
7th Sunday of Easter
Sunday 24th May
10:00 Morning Worship
Preacher: Revd Barbara Abrey
Intercessions: Sheila Tubey
Reading: Acts 12. 1-17
Reader: Ben Cooper
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’
4pm Church at 4
via Zoom – join the Church at 4 group on our Facebook page for the meeting invite and password.
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.
An opportunity for a cup of tea or coffee and a chat after the 10am service
One of the things that many of us enjoy doing after church is catching up with people and having a bit of a chat, it could be about the state of the weather, or the state of the vicar’s sermon. We also very much enjoy a slice of cake to go with our tea of coffee. It is hard to share a cake remotely; but perhaps we can still have that chat.
If you would like to join an informal conversation (about the state of the weather?) after the 10am telephone service on Sunday then choose your favourite treat and join one of our virtual meeting rooms. To access a meeting room you will need to dial the usual national rate telephone number:
03300 945 940 …followed by the room number and PIN.
Each meeting room has a pair of hosts, who will welcome you and hopefully help to get the conversation going. Just like in church, there is no obligation to stay for long, you can just pop in and say “hi” before rushing to the kitchen to think about lunch. Meeting rooms will be opened by their hosts after the 10am service and aim to close by 11:15 at the latest.
| Your tasty treat… | Room number | PIN | Room hosts |
| Lemon Drizzle | 11620235 # | 6880 # | Pete and Karen |
| Simnel Cake | 46145937 # | 2007 # | Mike and Tracy |
| Victoria Sponge | 86978612 # | 1062 # | Janet and John |
| Date and Walnut | 23905416 # | 6076 # | Helen and Helena |
| Battenberg | 31584976 # | 3650 # | Sally and Clive |
| Coffee Cake | 90442676 # | 3946 # | Ross and Jean |
Pray and Bless Wroughton and Wichelstowe
The next ‘Pray and Bless’ will be at 7:30pm next Tuesday 19th May via Zoom.
Please do join us to pray for our community on Tuesday, either via Zoom, or by praying by yourself or with a friend by phone that evening.
LECTIO 365
For any of you who would like to revitalise and deepen your prayer life, a number of us can highly recommend the “LECTIO 365” app by 24-7 prayer (you can download it on a smart phone or tablet via the App Store on Apple or the Play Store on Android). Each day there’s a 10 minute devotional, which you can either listen to and/or read. At the moment the authors are working through a series entitled “How to pray” (linked with a book of the same name by Pete Grieg), and are also addressing some of the issues thrown up by the current pandemic. Personally, I am finding it both a real comfort and challenge at this time, and find that the combination of being able to both listen to and read the content a real help to my concentration! Karen Harrison
Wild Worship
For those of you able to get out for walks (but also suitable for those confined to a garden), there is a lovely resource I’ve been using from the Sanctuary Centre, that explores the richness of the connection between creation and worship, and relates what you might see when you’re out to a verse of scripture. It’s very simple and can be used as a gateway to prayer or praise outside in our wonderful natural world. I’ve found it very helpful at this time. If you want to take a look the link is here: https://www.thesanctuarycentre.org/resources/creative_prayer_idea_wild_worship_field_guide.pdf
Easter to Pentecost – the book of Acts
During the period of time from Easter to Pentecost we will be reading through the book of Acts together as a church. Our sermons will pick up some of the key themes in Acts and this also ties in with the theme from Spring Harvest. If you would like a book to read alongside this then we suggest the Spring Harvest theme book for this year ‘Unleashed: The Acts Church Today’ by GAVIN CALVER and ANNE CALVER (available in Kindle and paperback). Daily readings from Acts are now appearing on our Facebook page, or a reading plan is attached. Like the disciples, we now find ourselves in a world where everything has changed – what can they teach us about the way ahead and what might the Holy Spirit be inspiring us to do now?
Christmas Angels
The Community Engagement Group have decided that it would be good if we could yarnbomb Wroughton and Wichelstowe as we did a few years ago with knitted angels and a note sending good wishes to anyone who picks one up. We will not do this until it is safe to do so. We don’t know how soon that will be but we thought we could prepare now by knitting some of the little angels that we used before. I hope that many of you will still have the pattern, it is very simple and requires only a small amount of DK yarn that many people have a little of at home. It also needs a little toy stuffing for the head, but that can be seen to later. If you no longer have the pattern or never had one I have a copy that can be sent as an email attachment if you let me know. If you know someone who would like a paper copy I could print and deliver if I have an address, please email requests to Janet office@wroughton.com or telephone 812050. Barbara
SPRING HARVEST HOME
There are lots of really great teaching, worship and prayer sessions for all ages on the Spring Harvest YouTube channel. The good news is that, due to popular demand, they have extended the time during which these resources will be available for free – you can now catch-up until the end of May. If you haven’t ‘dipped in’ yet then these really are recommended. You can watch something for a few minutes and if you decide you don’t like it, find something else – you have nothing to lose!
Daily Hope – free prayer hotline
The archbishop of Canterbury has launched a 24-hour free phone line for Christian worship and prayer, aimed at those who have no or limited access to the internet. People calling the free phone number will hear a greeting from the archbishop and can then choose from a range of options including hymns, prayers, reflections and advice on Covid-19. Daily Hope is available on 0800 804 8044.
Envelope scheme
Weekly or monthly 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. Thank you to those who have been doing this. You can also now give by card through our website http://wroughton.com/?page_id=2576 and if you pay tax you can gift aid your donation.
Parish giving scheme
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. They are able to receive instructions by post again at their new address Parish Giving Scheme, 76 Kingsholm Road, Gloucester. GL1 3BD. In addition they can now able to sign up new donors by phone, if you are interested in this please go to https://register.parishgiving.org.uk/. You will need our Parish Name (Wroughton & Wichelstowe) and Reference Number (050605188). If you have any questions please contact Ross Fralley our treasurer treasurer@wroughton.com.
Funeral this week
Please pray for the families and friends of Barbara Sherman as her funeral takes place.
And finally, a prayer for this week:
Keep us, good Lord,
under the shadow of your mercy
in this time of uncertainty and distress.
Sustain and support the anxious and fearful,
and lift up all who are brought low;
that we may rejoice in your comfort
knowing that nothing can separate us from your love
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.
The Parish Office, Priors Hill, Wroughton, SN4 0RT
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 9am to 1.30pm
01793 812050. office@wroughton.com
Janet is now working from home but normal hours.
Revd Phill Harrison – 01793 812301 vicar@wroughton.com
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