We will be able to welcome each person for up to 15 minutes per person to sit and be with space for quiet reflection, to pray and an opportunity to light a candle.Our dates for ‘Private Prayer’ are all on Saturdays from 10am – 12 noon:25th July St Mary’s Blidworth1st August St Simon & St Jude, Rainworth8th August St Mary’s Blidworth15th August St Simon & St Jude, RainworthIn order to keep everyone safe, we ask that you follow all the guidelines please:• sanitising your hands on entry and when you leave, • observing the 2 metre distancing at all times• following the one way system around church, • following all the instructions from the stewards who will sit you. • You will also be asked to complete a ‘NHS test and trace’ consent form. You will find one with your Parish Link but forms will be available too at church. If possible, please can you bring your own pen with you. A box will be provided for you to post your consent form through as you leave the church. Your consent forms will be retained for 21 days and then destroyed. You will appreciate with 2 metre distancing the numbers we can accommodate, at any one time, in church are very limited. Please be patient if you are asked to wait.If you wish to light a candle and someone is already at the candle stand, please remain in your seat until the person at the candle stand has moved on. At the candle stand, please only touch the candle you intend to light, light your candle from the large lit candle and place in a free candle holder.Unfortunately our toilet facilities will not be available for use for Private Prayer. We are also unable to provide Bibles but please feel free to bring your own. There are also posters in church with QR codes to be used with smart phones to access prayers and Bible readings.There will be posters and notices around church to remind you of the guidelines and friendly stewards available to help. Check out the Newsletter (Parish Link) with our welcome notices with symbols and signs to help you to visualise the guidelines. These same posters will be in church. If you are on facebook check out our walk through ‘New Look’ St Mary’s Church, Blidworth video.We want your time in church to go smoothly and well and be a blessing for you.If there is anything you are not sure about and want to check out, please ring me or our churchwardens – contact telephone numbers are available on the website.We look forward to welcoming you!Revd Zoe
In the short time since my arrival, the government and the Church of England have released guidance about re-opening church buildings – for private prayer and funerals and from the 4th July for public worship. In order for any of this to happen, risk assessments must be completed, in line with the government and Church of England guidance, in order to assess how churches may open to keep all people safe. We have begun our journey and our Church Councils, Churchwardens and the Vicar are very busy with all the things we need to do in order to prepare well to open up here in our Benefice.As I speak with people, I am hearing different responses about how people feel about the church buildings opening, some can’t wait and others are very nervous and anxious – we are all different so quite a broad range of feelings. Our hope is to take as many people with us on the journey as is possible in these early days – this will mean some people will have to be very patient and others will need time to catch up – we will need to bear with one another in love and keep mindful of others.In our Benefice we will be taking a step at a time – when the time is right we will open for quiet reflection and prayer and work towards opening up for church services on Sundays. It is important to say and perhaps hard to take in, that what this will look like will be different to what you had before this pandemic and for a long time it will look and feel different – for instance, the guidance does not allow singing at this stage of the journey, we will have to adhere to physical distancing within the buildings and thus number of people possible in the building at any one time will be limited and there will be a flow system that we will need to follow in church when entering and leaving the church. These are some of the changes. Once we are ready and as guidance changes, you will be fully informed of all the necessary things we will need to do in order to keep everyone safe.Over the last few months, whilst at home, we begun online services which have been enjoyed by those who have the technology and going forward, some form of online services will continue to enable us to continue to serve those in their homes and reach as many people in our communities who for various reasons will find themselves unable to come into our buildings. Online and physical gatherings will be here to stay. I want to thank you for your patience and graciousness so farGo well and keep safe and healthyRevd Zoe
A very warm welcome to our new Priest in Charge Rev Zoe Burton, who has been licenced to our Benefice this morning. The service was held virtually, via Microsoft Teams because of the pandemic, but be sure we will have a wonderful celebration to welcome Zoe and her family as soon as possible.If you go to our facebook page United benefice of Blidworth and Rainworth you will find a short message from Rev Zoe Burton
