Trinity 4
Dear All,
As you know, the government announced that services in church buildings could resume from 4th July. In response, the Church of England published updated guidance that states that the option to return to our church buildings is permissive, not prescriptive. Decisions about resuming public worship will need to be made locally and on different timescales in different churches, based on consideration of the safety and practicality of doing this.
Having spoken to many of you, it’s clear that whilst everyone misses being together in church, there are a significant number who do not yet feel ready to be part of a public gathering. The 10am telephone service will therefore continue throughout July, after which we will review the situation again. In the interim, we will continue to think about how and when we might open the church building for services again, perhaps in parallel with the telephone service. The PCC will be having a discussion about this on Wednesday and we will update you next week.
Whilst we debate how to get back into our buildings let’s not forget that WE are the Christ’s church, the building was only ever meant to help us to be church together. It would be ironic if all of the Christians in the country responded to coming out of lock-down by rushing back inside…
Phill
TODAY
10:00 Morning Worship – telephone conference
Phone: 03300 945 940
Room number: 60527473 # PIN: 2656 #
12:00 Morning Worship – live on Facebook
Tracy Mason 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 5
Sunday 12th July
10:00 Morning Worship
Preacher: Revd Phill Harrison
Intercessions: Janet Henderson
Reading: Phil 3: 12-21
Reader: Jean Ford
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.
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 |
| Lemon Drizzle | 11620235 # | 6880 # | Karen and Peter |
| Victoria Sponge | 86978612 # | 1062 # | Janet and John |
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 open 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.
…and an opportunity for a new rota:
We have building repairs going on at the moment, which means that we have handed the building over to the contractors as their work site. They have agreed to allow us to us it on Sundays on the condition that it is supervised at all times. Therefore we need a team of volunteers who are each able to commit to being in church for half an hour on Sunday afternoon. If you can take a turn doing this (perhaps you were planning to visit anyway?) then please can you let Janet in the church office know (office@wroughton.com).
We also need cleaners to cover the 2pm and 4pm cleaning slots. Again, please let Janet know if this something you help with. Thank you.
Update on Cheryl
Cheryl Hawkins will be licenced as a lay worker in the parish of Holy Trinity, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol on Sunday 5th of July. This will be a private service due to COVID-19 restrictions. She will then be ordained deacon probably in August or September. Please support Cheryl with your prayers on Sunday.
PCC meeting this week
PCC will meet via Zoom at 7:30 on Wednesday 8th (the Zoom link will be sent to PCC members). Agenda items include a possible increase in the scope of the current church building repair work, the time-table for re-opening the building for public worship and our current COVID-19 risk assessment.
Church building work
Contractors arrived on site as planned on Monday 22nd June and have begun the slow process of chipping away at some of the cement based mortar that has been trapping moisture and is now starting to come away from the wall. The timing of the various other jobs that they have to do will depend partly on the weather (they will work outside if it’s fine and inside if it’s wet). Do say hello to the builders if you see them!
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 Ken Middleton and Edward Meaden as their funerals take place.
‘Gill Hand celebrating her 80th Birthhday’
‘Ducks on Jubliee Lake’ taken by Janet Burhell