Good evening,It has been quite a week. I hope that you are all keeping safe and well.Tomorrow in church there is a service at 9.30 am. This will be an all age service with a nativity presentation. As with lots of things, the presentation will be adapted so that we do things as covid safe as possible. Then, in the evening we are holding our Carol Service at 6 pm. All are welcome.The pew sheet is attached as a separate Notice Sheet. If you feel safer worshipping at home, here is the link for this year's online Carol service again, if you haven't had time yet to watch it. The online all age nativity service will be available in the next few days.https://youtu.be/rZyqIx0UaOIWe are still planning to hold our Christmas Eve and Boxing Day services but we will be adapting things to make them as risk free as possible. As we are all aware, things do change very quickly so watch out for any last minute changes.There are more cases of covid in our community so please keep safe. Please continue to pray for all who are making hard decisions which affect all our lives.With prayers and best wishes,CarolRevd Carol H PharaohTeam Rector Blackrod, Daisy Hill, Westhoughton & Wingates Team
Dear All, I hope that you are OK and coping with 'plan B', At church tomorrow there is a service of Holy Communion at 9.30 am. The pew sheet is attached as a separate Notice Sheet and I am pleased to be able to share the link for our online Carol Service for this year called 'Sing the Story'.. https://youtu.be/rZyqIx0UaOI The service this year has traditional and contemporary music, bible readings, prayers and reflections. It also features some lovely photos of our church buildings looking lovely and christmassy. Below is also the link for last year's online carol service which had more of a traditional feel. (Just in case you fancy watching it again.) https://youtu.be/-H7kEBCcHMw You will be aware that it is now mandatory to wear a face covering in places of worship. As we've been used to doing this at St John's we will carry on as we have been doing. We've also decided to suspend tea and coffee after the service for the time being to be on the safe side. At the moment we are hoping that all our planned events and services will still go ahead in the next few weeks. As you will be aware, things can change very quickly, so please listen out for any updates. With prayers and best wishes Carol Revd Carol H Pharaoh Team Rector Blackrod, Daisy Hill, Westhoughton & Wingates Team
Dear All,We are celebrating the second Sunday of Advent tomorrow. There is a service at 9.30 am at church which is our Toy Service. We are asking for donations of new Toys for the charity Fort Alice which supports women and children who are fleeing domestic violence. Toys must be new and unwrapped. Please support this very worthwhile cause if you can. Thanks. For those worshipping at home, the pew sheet is attached as a separate Notice Sheet with prayers and readings.Thank you to all who have forwarded their feedback on the Team Online Services we produce. If you haven't done this yet, please could you consider doing so? There are only a few questions and your feedback will help us considerably in planning for the future. Thanks.1. Do you watch our online services?A. Always. B. Sometimes. C. Used to watch but don't any longer. D. Never watched.2. If you answered A or B, please can you tell us in a few words how you find the services helpful.3. If you answered C, please tell us in a few words why you no longer watch the services.4. Thinking about the future, what would you find helpful in terms of what we offer via the online services?5. Please let us know any other comments, ideas or thoughts about the online services.Thank you for your help. Please email me back or, if you would prefer to write something down on paper or remain anonymous, please hand it to our Church Wardens Barbara or Evelyn when you are next in church.Thanks again.Revd Carol H PharaohTeam Rector Blackrod, Daisy Hill, Westhoughton & Wingates Team
Dear All,Happy New Church Year for tomorrow. It has been very cold today. Hope you are managing to keep warm.The Christmas lights are switched on in Westhoughton and we begin the season of Advent tomorrow. There will be a service of Holy Communion at 9.30 am. There's no online service this week but the pew sheet is attached as a separate Notice Sheet, and Andy Jones’s homily can be found via the link on this News Story.There are other services for Advent on offer in our Team tomorrow.At 3 pm at St Bart's Church there is an Advent Christingle Service. This is very much a service for all the family.There are also two Taize Services available if you would like a more contemplative service. There is a Taize Service at 4 pm at St James' Church and a Taize Service at 6 pm at St Katharine's Church. Please could you help us with a little bit of feedback on the Team Online Services we produce?1. Do you watch our online services? A. Always. B. Sometimes. C. Used to watch but don't any longer. D. Never watched. 2. If you answered A or B, please can you tell us in a few words how you find the services helpful. 3. If you answered C, please tell us in a few words why you no longer watch the services. 4. Thinking about the future, what would you find helpful in terms of what we offer via the online services? 5. Please let us know any other comments, ideas or thoughts about the online services. Thank you for your help. Please email me via "Get in touch" or if you would prefer to write something down on paper or remain anonymous, please hand it to our Church Wardens Barbara or Evelyn when you are next in church or post in our black letter box.Thanks again.With prayers and best wishesCarolRevd Carol H Pharaoh Team Rector Blackrod, Daisy Hill, Westhoughton & Wingates Team
