Dear Friends,Please be assured of my prayers as once more we are asked to stay at home as much as possible.Today in my sermon I have referred to the letter to the nation from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York which you can read in full herehttps://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/letter-nation-archbishops-canterbury-and-yorkI also mentioned their call to make this a month of prayer and you can find details of that at:https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-churches/call-prayer-nation#naThere is a prayer for every day of the week and one for each week of November. The prayer for the coming week is:Loving God,at this time of crisiswhen so many are suffering,we pray for our nation and our world.Give our leaders wisdom,our Health Service strength,our people hope.Lead us through these parched and difficult daysto the fresh springs of joy and comfortthat we find in Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen. As part of our prayerfulness, I encourage us all to be alert this week for the things that bring us joy and comfort – rediscovering simple pleasures, and allowing the blessings of the beauty of where we are living sustain us.God bless,Samantha
Dear Friends, This just a very brief email to point you in the direction of some resources that have been hastily gathered to support us in responding to the call from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to make this "stay at home" time a time in which the Church can offer prayer for our communities. In particular they are encouraging us to pray at 6pm on a Thursday evening, wherever we are in the knowledge that we are all in this together.I will be saying more about using some of the ideas linked here over the next weeks, but for now I just want to pass them on so we can all start tomorrow. There is a dedicated web page at: https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-churches/call-prayer-nation and I have attached the prayer booklet document with this email. May we draw strength from the gift of prayer, and in our unity as members of the body of Christ, bring our desire for the well being of our world to our Father in his name. God bless, Samantha The Reverend Samantha Stayte The Lyn Valley Mission Community
Dear Friends,You will now all be aware that there are new "stay at home" rules coming into effect on Thursday.This means that during the month of November we will not be able to have services in church or acts of worship in church premises (including churchyards) except for funerals.This means that all church services for Remembrance Day will not be able to happen.There will be a Civic Act of Remembrance at the Town Hall in Lynton on Sunday only attended by the representatives of the community who are laying wreaths on behalf of us all, but everyone else is encouraged to stay at their own doorsteps to pay their respects.We cannot go ahead with the corporate act of worship the church had planned in Parracombe, so if members of the community wish to pay their respects at the war memorial I would suggest that you do so individually on a walk through the church yard later in the day - keeping social distance apppropriately.I will send out my usual you-tube video and an Act of Remembrance to make at home. The London Cenotaph service will be televised and the Exeter Diocesan website also includes links to streamed services.So although this may not be the way we hoped mark our gratitude for all who have died and suffered in war, nevertheless, in our own way in this year of our own challenges: "We will remember them"God blessSamanthaThe Reverend Samantha StayteThe Lyn Valley Mission Community
Loving God, be with me on this special day of remembering. Amen
