<span style="font-size: 1rem;">During the closure of our churches we have continued to receive income from many of our congregations via </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">the Parish Giving Scheme (</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">PGS) (and in some cases by standing order into our account); but in the case of those who give at services that income has temporarily ceased. However, our expenses mostly haven’t ceased, so the amount in our churches’ current bank account is dwindling quite rapidly. </span>If the giver is a taxpayer, and authorises their payments to be made under the Gift Aid scheme, the churches will receive 25% more that the giver pays in. <span style="font-size: 1rem;">It is easy to stop, reduce or increase regular payments through PGS when the need arises.</span>If you prefer, the amount you give doesn’t have to be identified to you.There is no management charge payable to PGS by either the giver or our churches. To try out PGS please either phone our treasurer Greg; or if you prefer you can (during lockdown) phone PGS direct to set up your regular payment. If you wish to contact PGS direct their number is 0333 002 1271 and you will need the PGS code for Mabe and Ponsanooth; it is 390639025.If you would like to catch up with payments which have been suspended since the churches have been closed please phone Greg to discuss which method of payment would be best for you.There is lots more information available online.<span style="font-size: 1rem;">PS. Did you know that if you renew your house insurance through Ecclesiastical Insurance they will make a one-off payment of £150 to your parish?</span>https://www.parishgivingscheme.org.uk/for-donors/
I write to tell you about the Mabe Emergency Group which has been set up to support the members of Mabe Civil Parish during this difficult time. We are a small committee of people from Mabe parish council, St Laudus Church Mabe and MYCP and in contact with Volunteer Cornwall and Penryn Foodbank. This group is for volunteers, people in need and anyone in Mabe during this difficult time.The situation is of course developing all the time. At the moment the group is supporting a number of people with things like picking up shopping and delivery of take-away meals for people who are shielding / self-isolating. We are also shortly going to be able to take referrals for the Penryn Food bank. You can help, please, by:Volunteering with the Mabe Emergency group (to help deliver shopping etc)Referring anyone you know of (with their permission) for food bank or other help.Donating to the food bank either financially or in terms of food. Please leave food donations at the vicarage and we shall arrange for it to be taken to the food bank. To make a monetary donation please use the food bank web page https://penrynfalmouth.foodbank.org.ukAnd please go on praying for the sick, for those caring for them and their families; pray for all key workers and all who are volunteering in any way. Thank you and God bless you!
So… I’ve texted, whatsapped, zoomed - and even telephoned everyone I know. I’ve cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom, my office has never been so tidy, we’ve even cleared that wild area at the bottom of the garden. Given the awful state of the reality of the world at the moment, it’s tempting to retreat into the universe of virtual reality but I know that would only be another distraction. I’ve done everything I can think of - all the really good escaping/deflecting behaviours my mind can come up with. Now maybe it’s time for a different kind of retreat… On several occasions during my life I have gone to a ‘Retreat’ for a week or so as a guest in a monastery or convent. Nothing to do with war or running away, this kind of retreat is actually the very opposite. It certainly means stopping and turning round, but is really about taking time out to have a good long look at yourself. Examining your life, your attitudes, your relationships; facing up to past mistakes so you can learn from them; taking stock of the things you like about yourself – and the things about you that you might not like or want to think about.Retreats are about honestly coming to terms with, and accepting yourself for who and what you are. About looking to the future, wondering what life might bring, which direction you’re going to take, and who, and what, and how, you choose to be. Ways of approaching this differ: writing a journal or blog, reading one of those ‘self-help’ books to help guide your reflecting; using music or silent meditation as an inspiration. Individual aims will differ too, depending on who you are: maybe learning to listen to life rather than just to commentate on it; or perhaps learning to cope with the particular challenges you face in life. Whichever way you do them and whatever your particular aims, retreats aren’t easy. They’re challenging and require courage and persistence – but then so does every adventure – and it strikes me that that’s what a retreat is – an adventure into life. Your life, if you’re up to it!Today I find myself on another kind of retreat. This time it’s not actually my choice, it’s not as the guest of a religious community and it’s definitely going to be for more than just a week or so. I’m finding, I admit, that just like on my spiritual retreats, for the first few days I want to be doing things because the last thing my mind wants to do is something much more important - actually confront who I am, who I am being… So I’ve been (as well as sleeping quite a lot!) busying myself, losing myself in doing things, - some of them useful and maybe even important! - but doing anything rather than the one thing I know will be the most challenging, uncomfortable, but by far the best thing I could do with this free time I’ve suddenly been given: retreating from all the ‘doing’ distractions of life and instead, looking at and listening to life; and having a go at really being.Rev Steve Smith
