21st June 2020

Trinity 2

Dear all,

It’s a happy-sad moment as we say goodbye to Cheryl who leaves us this week to move to

Westbury-on-Trym in preparation for her ordination and a new phase in her life and Christian ministry.

It’s a good opportunity to remind ourselves that as Christians we are all ‘called’ by God, irrespective of our age, life experience or talents (or supposed lack of them). We each have a general call that is common to all believers, as well as a specific or particular call, which is just for you. Our general calling as Christians is the call to discipleship, to follow Jesus. We are all called to worship God, work for his purposes and witness to his presence in the world. Hopefully most of us are aware of this call and are taking steps, however faltering, to live it out in our lives. It may be more challenging for us to think about our particular calling. What is the specific way that God wants us to live our lives? Each of us has a particular and unique way to engage with God’s will for his world. You were made differently from me and I was made differently from you. My calling is mine is mine and yours is yours. God has a different plan for each of our lives and those plans are both equally valuable and important in God’s kingdom. What does God’s call on your life look like today? Is there someone who you might be able to affirm today by recognising the gifts that God has given them and the way that he is using them at the moment?

Phill

TODAY

10:00                   Morning Worship – telephone conference

Phone: 03300 945 940

Room number: 60527473 #

PIN: 2656 #

12:00                   Morning Worship – live on Facebook

Cheryl Hawkins 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 3

Sunday 28th June

10:00                   Morning Worship

Preacher:             Revd Phill Harrison

Intercessions:    Helen Toomer

Reading:              Phill 2. 12-18

Reader:                Clive Parker

12.00                   Morning Worship live on Facebook

Cheryl Hawkins 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
Date and Walnut 23905416 # 6076 # Helen and Helena
Chocolate Cake 96925570 # 9984 # Cheryl and Phill
Battenberg 31584976 # 3650 # Sally and Clive
Coffee Cake 90442676 # 3946 # Ross and Jean

Opening the church building for private prayer

In response to the easing of some of the measures put in place by the government to control the spread of COVID-19 we are now able to open the church building for private prayer by members of the public. The church will be unlocked this Sunday between 12:30 and 4pm and you are welcome to visit during this time. Please use the hand sanitiser located in the church porch before and after your visit, stay within the areas that have been clearly marked and remember to maintain a 2m distance from anyone else who might be there. You’ll find that much of the interior has been cordoned off – this is to make cleaning simpler and therefore help to keep everyone safe; the areas in use will be cleaned at 2pm and 4pm. We hope to be able to open the building every Sunday afternoon from now on, but this is dependant upon the agreement of the building contractors who start work on Monday.

Saying Goodbye

So my time has come to leave Wroughton and Wichelstowe – not quite how I was hoping to say goodbye to you all, but I look forward to the time when we can all meet in Church and I can come back and say a proper goodbye to you all. But for the time being I wanted to say a huge thank you for journeying with me during my discernment process and my training. Being held in prayer when things have been challenging and also being able to celebrate the successes too with you all has sustained me during this time. I will never forget the wave of love I felt from you all when I stepped into the pulpit for the first time to preach. All of you in your each way have encouraged me through prayer, a conversation or a reassuring smile when I am about to do something for the first time and sometimes recognising things in me before I have seen them in myself – your love, care and support have been a  true blessing – so thank you!

At the moment I don`t know when my Ordination will take place, but unfortunately, the service when it does take place is likely to be very different because of the current restrictions  – as I find out more I will let you all know. However, hopefully we can all look forward to the celebration next year of my Priesting and the celebration of my first Eucharist.

Take care –  with prayers and Every Blessing to you all.  Cheryl

 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, this work WILL 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 LAST 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.

Face Masks
If anyone is making their own face masks and need elastic, I accidentally ordered too much.  If anyone

wants some give me a ring on 813823 and I can let them have some.  Carolyn Perry

 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 Edward Meaden, Margaret Guyatt and Louise Wilson as their funerals take 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.

 

‘Red Kite over Old Walcot’

‘My Heuchera Collection’ taken by Lillian Wicks