Hi everyone,
It was lovely to be able to welcome some of you to worship back in our church buildings today, and others watching live or joining on Zoom. The video is just uploading here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Gr58e7z8THHIN3SqcRzErMizLPNKGC76/view?usp=sharing
(If it doesn’t work for you, check back in an hour when it may be ready)
The notices for this week are below:
Worship Evening Playlist
As we’ve decided for now to open only for Sundays and our two Christmas services, our worship evening remains online. You can find a playlist here for an hour of worship this evening, or whenever suits you: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPPGeA6oCdvwa5TYzHgegy5smv0W3MyR1
Advent Daily Prayer
You can find a video to help you pray every day at https://www.youtube.com/c/movementdayuk
On Thursdays at 6pm, join with others on Zoom to pray together using these details:
Using Zoom online: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87866448267?pwd=TlF4ZG9KMXV6M0Z0WnZDZk9TcVJ2Zz09
Meeting ID: 878 6644 8267
Passcode: pray
Dial in by phone: Phone 0203 481 5240, then enter details when asked:
Meeting ID: 878 6644 8267
Passcode: 316569
Christmas Services
There are details of our Christmas services on the pdf link below, with opportunities for all ages to join in online or in person. Please note if you want to come to any of the services in person, you will need to email or phone Jimmy to book, as spaces are limited to allow for social distancing. Please book as soon as you know you want to come, as it’ll be first come first served, and let us know if plans change so others can have your space. See here for more info:
Hannah’s maternity leave
This is the last Sunday I’ll be sending this email for a while (though they’ll keep coming from Jimmy). Thank you so much to all those who joined in with the surprise baby shower this afternoon and sent gifts, prayers, bears or well wishes! Here’s a message from me about maternity leave (it’s also in the St Matthew’s magazine which will be coming out soon, but included here for St Stephen’s too). Thank you for all your support during my pregnancy and for your continued prayers – we’re so grateful to be part of this community.
This year, when I hear the Christmas story, I’m sure I’ll connect more than usual with the character of Mary – I’m also preparing for the birth of a child, due just before Christmas Day, in quite unusual circumstances thanks to Covid-19! 6th December will be my final Sunday before I begin 9 months (possibly up to a year) of maternity leave. During that time, I won’t have any formal responsibility in the parishes – so I won’t be leading services, taking part in meetings, and if you ask me a question about something church-related I’ll probably direct you to Jimmy instead! However, we’re not going to disappear – though I’m on leave from being ‘the curate’, I don’t consider myself to be on leave from being a part of the church community, and as a family we’d love for you to keep in touch as you would with any other family who are members of the church. I plan to join Fraser and our children regularly to worship at St Stephen’s on a Sunday, and to keep linked in to St Matthew’s too. We’re close by, so I hope that soon many of you can meet the new baby, even if it’s from a 2m distance over the wall! I’m very grateful for this opportunity to take time out of formal ministry to give undivided time to my family, and we’d really appreciate your prayers over these next months as we adjust to this new season of life together.
Our prayer for today:
Father in heaven,
who sent your Son to redeem the world
and will send him again to be our judge:give us grace so to imitate him
in the humility and purity of his first coming
that, when he comes again,
we may be ready to greet him
with joyful love and firm faith;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Praying you have a hope-filled, joy-filled week
Hannah