Trinity Sunday
Dear All,
My ‘staycation’ last week went well. We were able to spend some family time relaxing together without the nagging feeling that one or more of us ought to be getting on with some work. The weather was wonderful so the garden got a bit of attention and we went for some long family walks and cycle rides. We also managed to avoid the news all week, which we found helpful as a way of taking some time-out from everything that’s happened recently. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the news hadn’t really changed very much when we re-connected a week later, still COIVID 19 and Donald Trump…
Theses are challenging times, which is one reason why we’re going to spend the next 8 weeks studying Paul’s letter to the Philippians. It’s a letter written by someone being faithful to the gospel in difficult circumstances (Paul is in prison) to people who are also being faithful in difficult circumstances. Yet it’s a letter that is full warmth and love that speaks of hope, patience endurance and the joy of knowing Jesus Christ.
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
Trinity 1
Sunday 14th June
10:00 Morning Worship
Preacher: Revd Barbara Abrey
Intercessions: Dr John Godfree
Reading: Phil 1. 12-26
Reader: Keith Bassett
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. Service sheets are being delivered 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 |
| Victoria Sponge | 86978612 # | 1062 # | Janet and John |
| Battenberg | 31584976 # | 3650 # | Sally and Clive |
| Coffee Cake | 90442676 # | 3946 # | Ross and Jean |
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
Church building work
Although the church building is closed due to the COVID 19 pandemic, our stewardship of it continues and we have been busy making plans for a programme of maintenance work. Following the government’s easing of some aspects of lock-down, we now expect this work to begin on Monday 22 June. This will take approximately 7 weeks to complete (taking us to around Friday 14th August). The work includes a significant amount of re-pointing on all of the external walls, removal of vegetation, repair/replacement of guttering, stone repairs, window repairs and some internal re-plastering around the tower. All-in-all some £40k worth – work on listed buildings isn’t cheap! The contractors intend having up to five people on site in the early weeks, with fewer for the later weeks. Before starting they will provide a full risk assessment, including appropriate Covid-19 specific measures. If you visit the churchyard then do look out for the builders and give them a wave hello, the happier they are to be here the better a job they might do!
Wroughton Pre-school reopening
We were very pleased to be able to support Wroughton Pre-school with their re-opening this week. This means that that the Church Hall is once again a ‘living’ building and so we have been able to ask our cleaner, Jo Ridd, to return from furlough. In order to comply with government advice around COVID-19 infection control, the Pre-school have had to make some significant changes to the way they operate and we have worked with them to facilitate this. Pre-school will be running from Monday to Thursday and Jo will do a deep clean each week on a Friday. They will be using the rear entrance (the fire escape into the car-park), so any collection envelopes that you put through the letterbox in the front door will be perfectly safe.
A NEW NORMAL?
Archbishop Justin has talked of seeking a “new normal” and many of us are wondering what the world will be like in the months and years to come. If you are pondering what sort of world we need to help us recover from the pandemic and deal the climate emergency, do look at Tearfund’s “Reboot” campaign. There’s a short document, with lots of pictures, but enough content to help our thoughts, discussions and actions as we go forward.
Wroughton Church Choir and Choral Society
Local singers have not be completely silent during the current crisis. Together with Angela and Robert Breakspear of Stanton Fitzwarren Church, John and Janet have been recording virtual anthems every week since Palm Sunday. We have also been joined by singers from Wroughton Choral Society and St John’s in Devizes. Each singer records their part in isolation onto a smart phone and these are then mixed together by Angela to make a choir – we call ourselves the ‘Corona Choir’.
A few weeks ago one of the singers in Wroughton Choral Society revealed the shocking news that she was terminally ill with cancer. At her request we have made a recording of Mozart’s Lachrymosa and added photographs of Wroughton. It can be seen by clicking on this link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g6n5x38sd57klr2/Ruth%20Video%20Final.mp4?dl=0
Other recordings we have made include:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/e0n0nrufbz4uf5f/Lord%27s%20Prayer%20video.mp4?dl=0 (John Sheppard The Lord’s Prayer 16th Century)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qm2kr0uy6d1in7m/haec%20dies%20video.mp4?dl=0 (William Byrd Haec Dies 17th Century, for Easter). We are currently recording some music for Ascensiontide. Janet & John
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
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.
Funeral this week
Please pray for the families and friends of William Tutton, Joyce Ham and Violet Dunkling as their funerals take place.
And finally, a prayer for this week:
O gracious and holy Father,
give us wisdom to perceive you,
diligence to seek you,
patience to wait for you,
eyes to behold you,
a heart to meditate upon you,
and a life to proclaim you,
through the power of the spirit
of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Taken by Martina Lewis
Carolyn Kirk’s Garden
