Dear Friends, Thank you to all who have responded to my email last week about beginning to plan for a Sunday service in the Mission Community, both to offer to help, and also to give me a sense of how you are feeling about returning to church (or not being ready to at this time). While everything was in lockdown it seems as though there was a sense of security and of fellow feeling in our society as a whole. We were “all in this together” however frustrating it might be. As the lockdown has eased people are now having different experiences, different reactions, different expectations; and are making different judgements for themselves about what is safe or wise. I think this is totally understandable but it is also creating anxiety and tensions in how people look at others’ behaviour. It is my hope that as a church community, with the desire to “love our neighbours as ourselves”, we can support one another without anxiety and tension, each to continue our faith journey within the changing pattern of pandemic guidance in the way that is comfortable and feels safe for everyone, in the abiding knowledge that God receives our prayer and worship and is with us whether in church, at home, or in the special places many people have discovered as sacred to them at this time. I will give a very clear picture of what we can expect a Sunday service to be like, and what precautions those attending will need to take. When we have a prospective date for a first service I will also ask if you could give me an idea of whether you are likely to want to come. I know the decision for some will be guided by how many others will be there. As I have said, I will also continue this mail out so those who don’t feel ready to be in church can continue share the reflection we will all continue to share the unity of our prayers. God bless, Samantha
Revd Samantha's thoughts on reopening churches for services and Eucharist. Please read and reply to her if you are able to help.Dear Friends,You will probably be aware that we now have permission, under very strict conditions to open churches for public worship.The main principles within the guidelines concern maintaining appropriate hygiene and good social distancing and they need careful application.After careful consideration, I would like to suggest that we start progress towards opening one church as a test case so we can learn and become confident in offering safe worship, step by step across the Mission Community.St Mary’s Lynton is the obvious place to start as it is spacious and the first stages of preparation have taken place there as it is open for private prayer on a Sunday, but I would like to gather a group of people from across our churches to be a working group for putting the guidance into practice, so that the experience can later be shared across the Mission Community, and so this first service back is a full Mission Community enterprise.So, I am looking for volunteers who would like to help with planning for a new Sunday Eucharist, appropriate for the current restrictions, at Lynton. I will take full responsibility for the liturgy and the plans for the communion itself, but we also need to look at how we set up the church, how we communicate what services will be like and how the service is stewarded. Once people have volunteered I will send out, by email, a document about the things we need to consider. I would then hope to be able for as many of the volunteers as can to have a virtual meeting by Zoom, before a few of us meeting at St Mary’s to look at the logistics. I am not setting a date for a service yet, because we need to be comfortable that all is in place.Please could you let me know in the next couple of days if you feel you would like to be part of the working group.I fully understand the range of feelings people have about coming back into church. I don’t want anyone to feel any pressure to do things they are not comfortable about and will give as much information as I can over the next weeks to help you decide for yourself whether you are ready to come into church for worship. The sermon and Youtube reflection will continue whatever.God blessSamantha
<b><a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-churches">https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-churches</a></b>
Dear friends, This week has seen new rules around face coverings worn in enclosed places coming into force for those who can safely wear them. The rules mean we have one more thing to think about before we leave the house for certain activities - the habit of taking a mask or covering with us, the habits of putting it on and taking it off with care, getting used to what it feels like and how we communicate while our mouth is covered. <br>
