The Lockdown Blues

Dear friends,

It has been a long time. Thank you for all you are doing to care for your households, family members, and neighbours. This crisis has shown at a stroke how vulnerable we are, and how dependent upon each other. But even small acts of kindness can make a big difference to someone’s day. A phone call, an email, an offer of help with shopping, a packet of tea bags, a link to an encouraging or funny video, a prayerful moment, all can combat the lockdown blues. We are at our best when we are not thinking about ourselves. Keep going!

Sunday Worship for VE day, 10th May.

This weekend was to have seen major celebrations and thanksgiving across the UK for the 75th anniversary of the end of the second world war in Europe in 1945. We are going to honour this in our services on Sunday with a special focus on VE day at 11am. Do join us, using the Zoom app on your PC or tablet. You will need to download and install the app beforehand from https://zoom.us/ . (You will not need to “sign up” unless you’d like to be able to “host” meetings yourself.)

10am Short Service of the Word led by Revd John     Meeting ID: 188 513 761     Passcode  019797  A Service with prayers and readings.

10am Short community service led by Revd Linda    Meeting ID: 850 7262 4972   Passcode  017892  An informal service suitable for those who aren’t familiar with church.

11am  VE Day Service led by Revd Kevin       Meeting ID: 636 645 195        Passcode 000162     A service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance for VE Day.

It is absolutely OK to invite friends and family to join us. All services will be child-friendly. Its a great way to stay in touch. The 11am service will “open” from 10.50am for those who wish to come early and chat. Do bring your coffee!

A Shared Blessing

A group of the larger churches in the UK tasked their locked down musicians to encourage the nation, and this wonderful prayer of blessing has recently taken the internet by storm with over 1M views. Do listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUtll3mNj5U or click here

The prayer comes from the Old Testament, and was first used when the tribes of Israel had broken free from enslavement in Egypt, but were now homeless and wandering frustrated in the wilderness of the Sinai desert. They could neither go back to imprisonment, but were afraid to go forward to the promised land. Their “stuckness” led to a period of forty years – a whole generation – as nomads. Our country seems also now to be entering a period of “stuck” when we cannot return to the places we were, but neither can we go forward for fear of a hidden and dangerous foe. In the midst of this intense uncertainty let us hear once again the words of Aaron the priest who said :

“May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and give you peace.”

Revd Kevin