I hope you’ve had a good week and that all is well with you.

There have been some lovely early autumn mornings these past few days and the weather forecast for the week ahead looks good. Sally and I went out with Cadi (dog) this lunchtime (Saturday) and the hedgerows were full of hawthorn and elder berries. There were also plenty of ash keys and acorns. I’ll share some of the photographs I took on Facebook over the next few days.

The big event this week was the announcement on Wednesday from the Government about the change in the rules about social gatherings (the ‘rule of six’) from next Monday 14th September. As I said in my email on Wednesday, this does not appear to have any direct effect upon whether or not we can continue to hold services and the numbers who can come, and certainly for this Sunday. However, there may be other implications. At the moment we are awaiting advice and guidance from the national Church which we are promised in the coming week.

Thank you to all of those who reserve seats for our Sunday morning services. Tomorrow’s were all taken up by yesterday. We are still limiting the number available to 30 but will keep it under review in the light of experience. If you want to come, please try to reserve your seat as early in the week as possible. You can also reserve your seats from now until the end of November. There are some big services coming up – Harvest Festival 4th October and Remembrance Sunday 8th November. At the moment I am not sure what form they will take, but if you do specifically want to come to one or both of these, please reserve your seat now!

And on the question being our being ‘sold out’ on a particular Sunday when you want to come, please contact me and I’ll put you on a waiting list. We do occasionally have cancellations and it would be good be able to give those seats out on a first come first served basis.

Gill has already sent you the service sheet for this Sunday. There has been a slight change in who’s doing what. James’s wife, Jo, is waiting to go into hospital to have surgery so they will both have to self-isolate for the next few weeks. Thanks to Linda for agreeing to lead the first part of the service. Gill is preaching. Please keep Jo and James in your prayers.

Last week I forget to thank Simon (Sacristan) for all his help in getting things ready for the service. His role is a bit like that of a Stage Manager and it’s a great help to those of us who lead worship to know that everything has been taken care of before, during and after a service. So, a big ‘thank you,’ Simon, from me and all the team. You will like to know that Simon is exploring his vocation to become a Reader like Linda, James and Gavin. He has just started out on the Foundations for Ministry course run by the Diocese, along with Sam. If you would like to know more about the course, whether or not you want take up a formal role, please go to the Diocesan website:-https://www.chester.anglican.org/ministry/foundations-for-ministry/. Please pray for them as they embark on this journey of learning and exploration.

There are also a number of other roles for which training is offered e.g. Pastoral Worker, so do have a look further.

Finally, tomorrow’s service is attached case.

With God’s blessing,

David