Dear Friends,It was a great joy for me to be able to celebrate the Eucharist for the first time after so long last week – a joy to see many people again in church and a joy to be able to hold the whole community in prayer in the midst of this sacrament. My sermon this week is perhaps a reflection on this experience – and the link between what we do in church and the challenges of our everyday life. Our church community gathered in church and dispersed at home makes that link well.Today seems a good time to pass on some good news to you all, (news already given to Lynton and Barbrook PCC). Bishop Jackie has given Revd Laurence Hillel “Permission to Officiate”(often known as PtO) so that he is formally authorised to offer priestly ministry, primarily in Lynton. Lynton residents may know Laurence well, but if you don’t know yet know him and are in church on Sunday, he is the person who is going to read and lead our intercessions. I asked Laurence for some words of introduction:“I trained for ministry in my late 30s. I became a School Chaplain in a large Church of England Secondary School for ten years, as well as serving as an Assistant priest in three London Parishes. I also developed an expertise in inter religious dialogue with other world faiths, and in that capacity worked at a Christian centre for inter religious engagement finishing up as Co-Director for five years before retirement.” I am delighted that Laurence is willing to join with Revd Jean and me in priestly ministry here – especially at a time when we are moving step by step in response to the new patterns of life we share.Please keep us in your prayers, and be assured of ours,God bless, SamanthaPS I have written an artice to be published on Sunday evening on the Exmoor Magazine Facebook page - if you are on Facebook you may want to take a look!
Dear FriendsThe readings for the 11th Sunday after Trinity:Isaiah 51:1-6 Ps 138 Romans 12:1-8 Matthew: 16:13-20This Sunday sees the restoration of the celebration of the Eucharist at the heart of our life together. My prayer is that it will enrich our sense of communion with God and each other – whether we are experiencing it in church, or joining in prayer from home – remembering that God’s grace is not bound by time and space.From the communications I have received I anticipate that we are heading towards a congregation of about twenty people. That is wonderful, but I also want to affirm the decisions of those who are continuing to be cautious about coming into gatherings and assure you that as we all pray together we are one in the Body of Christ whether at home or at church. I can imagine how difficult a decision it is for some of you and will hold all those who cannot come in my heart as I say the words of the Eucharistic prayer.God blessSamanthaText of service Trinity 11 sermon
Dear Friends,As promised I am sending out suggestions for preparation for coming to the Eucharist on Sunday 23rd at 11am at St Mary's Lynton. I have included the practical guidance I sent out on Sunday, but added a second piece on ways to make spiritual preparation so that in the midst of something that feels a bit new we can each draw on the depth of our own relationship with God and find ways of expressing that within the liturgy we will share.I hope those who feel it is too soon to return to church will be heartened by my suggestions of times when we hold our whole church fellowship in prayer and I would ask you to join us in the prayer of your hearts at 11am on Sunday. Of course, the Youtube reflection and sermons will come out as normal.My thanks to Barbara and Rod and Keith and Vivien for their work in preparing St Mary's for Sunday.God bless,Samantha
Dear Friends,This weekend’s service is a little longer than some because I have tried to reflect on the significance of this weekend as an anniversary of VJ day, the anniversary of the Flood and St Mary’s matronal festival.Next week this email will continue, but there will also be the opportunity to return to church for the celebration for the Eucharist at St Mary’s Lynton at 11am. I am grateful to the working group who met last week to finalise what we needed to do in preparations and you can be assured that it has all been very carefully thought through – and there are a group of people who will be willing to help with anything which feels new.I will attach the first of two guide sheets to help you know what to expect and decide whether you are ready to come to worship in church. As part of the guidelines from the Church of England I am asked to remind anyone who is vulnerable to think very carefully about how wise it is to come into a larger group of people. If you need to talk this through with me, please get in touch. We have decided to make 40 the capacity for the service – which is a cautious use of a building like St Mary’s. I am not expecting us to get close to capacity, but if you could let me know if you are planning to come, my knowledge of this would be helpful to those who are not sure how they feel at the moment.The instructions sheet that comes with this email is deliberately practical, so that I can send another over the next couple of days which helps us reflect on how we can prepare spiritually before coming to the service, and use features of the current service to support our experience of God’s presence in a distinctive way.God bless,Samantha
