Hi David,

I hope you and your family have had a good week and are keeping safe after what has been a very hectic week on the news front. It looks like there will be a third vaccine available soon. A vaccination programme will be soon under way. We now know that we will all be in Tier 2 from next Wednesday. All we have to do is to try to work out how we can meet up with our families and friends!

Good news too about Gill. Her 3 years a Curate has successfully come to an end and she now has a new job title – Associate Priest. Congratulations and prayers and thanks to Gill, and to Glynis!

Other good news is that we can now proceed full steam ahead with our plans for reopening the Church in time for our Christmas services. We shall have our first Holy Communion service in Church on 13th December at 10.30am. Don’t forget to reserve your seat through Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/all-saints-church-daresbury-15013411336. We have a wedding on 5th December which means that we have to delay things by a week. But we are in the season of waiting! Advent starts tomorrow!

Plans for Carols in the Car Park are well underway. The Choir have been practicing. We have a brass ensemble lined up and everyone will be socially distanced and Covid secure in their cars. Again, Eventbrite will have free tickets available although the PCC has agreed to ask for a suggested voluntary donation of £10 per car to help cover the costs etc. Details will shortly available. It will also be streamed through FaceBook Live, as with all our services.

Looking a bit further forward we are having a virtual Christingle on Christmas Eve at 4.30pm and Midnight Communion at 11.30pm. There will be no service in Church on Christmas Day itself nor on 27th December. The first service in Church for the New Year will be on 3rd January at 10.30am.

This year we’re going to have 2 Christmas Trees, one in the car park and one in the Church. The car park tree will be arriving on 4th December. Thanks to the Ring o’Bells who have kindly donated the lights. They are also kindly donating the oranges for the streamed Christingle so let’s give them our support when they reopen We will provide a few decorations because what we would really like is for everyone make/bring their own and put it on the tree. That way it will become a tree for the whole community.

And then there’s the manger and stable! Thanks to Webbs of Runcorn, who have donated all the materials, we are going to build a stable in the car park so that you, young and old, can dress up as the Holy Family and have your picture taken as a reminder that the Christian story survives and continues despite all that has happened this year. We’ll provide the hay and straw; you provide the baby!
Hope triumphs always and Advent, which starts tomorrow, is the season of hope.

Thanks to Kathy and Billy Spann we will be able to light candles on the Advent Wreath tomorrow and for the next 3 weeks. So, the countdown begins. If you haven’t bought your Advent Calendar to the Church of England’s website https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/COFE_02977_AdventCalendar-ComfortandJoy_v4.pdf. You can also find a link there to light a virtual candle.

In the meantime, you’ll find tomorrow’s service attached.

With God’s blessing,
David