It is almost week two!

Dear friends,

Thank you to all of you who came along to the zoom remembrance services offered across the Team on Sunday. I have had a lot of positive feedback for my service, for which many thanks indeed. In case you have not had a chance to make a donation to the Royal British Legion, you can do so here. Please do be as generous as you can so that vital support work for veterans and their families can continue.

As we enter the second week of our four week lockdown it is cheering to note that one vaccine trial has seen very promising results, and this news has lifted spirits around the world. Spring holds promise now, in more ways than one. Let’s hope and pray that the vaccine(s) pass their required safety hurdles, and production/distribution can be scaled up to the considerable numbers required. For now, the war continues.

Similarly good news came across the pond this week with a period of more settled weather forecast for the US. We can continue to pray for people of peace and goodwill on all sides as the result of the election sinks in. The pandemic has exposed the global leadership crisis; many have been weighed in the balance and found wanting.

Worship for Sunday 15th Novmber.

Our main worship options on a Sunday are via Zoom. You may join the service hosted by your local minister, or another of your choosing. You will need the zoom app installed on your device (laptop, tablet, phone or PC) – download from https://www.zoom.us.  Just before the appointed time, run the app, click on “join meeting” and enter the meeting number and passcode below for the service you wish to attend.

A Service of the Word with Revd John  10am        188 513 761 and 019797         Morning worship with Bible readings and prayers.

The Open Door with Revd Linda   10am     848 7857 0363 and 493121      An informal service to start the day with God.

Family Worship with Revd Kevin  11am   636 645 195  and 000162.     A service for all ages for encouragement and hope.

Morning Service with Revd James 11am     Please email James to receive your invitation.

Family and friends are welcome to join us online. It is a great way to stay in touch.  There are also midweek online service options available on Wednesdays and Fridays in the evening. Do check out the worship pages on the Team Ministry website for full details. Live worship in all of our churches has been suspended for the current national lockdown. Should the Government or National Church make any further pronouncements that affect us – check the Team website first of all: https://www.langtreechurches.org/coronavirus

To help keep your church’s bills paid, please support Woodcote or Checkendon or Ipsden  or North Stoke churches via their dedicated and secure card donation pages. Just click on the church you wish to help. Please also Gift Aid your donation if you pay any income tax. Thank you !

A Christmas to look forward to.

The weeks of November in some parts of the church are known as “The Kingdom Season”, when we pray for the rule and reign of Christ as the end of one liturgical year approaches, and the new one begins on Advent Sunday – this year 29th Nov. The Archbishops are encouraging us all to pray for one another and for our nation during this time as we begin to look forward in hope to the certainty of Christmas. Christmas is when we celebrate “God with us” – Emmanuel. For all those in the ICUs, for all the vulnerable confined at home, for all the elderly prevented from being with loved ones, we pray for God to be with us – every one of us, wherever we are.

The staff team in our churches are beginning to make plans for Christmas; it is likely that we will be offering a mixture of zoom services and small scale live ones, assuming of course that lockdown has been lifted. The small live services may well require a telephone booking to be made; details for each church will be available soon. Watch this space, as they say.  Christmas is going to be different this year. But it will be fine. We know how to do zoom. We’re getting better at looking out for our neighbours,  and thinking about others. We know where to get food and other things online, or locally. We’ve simplified our lives and have learnt to be flexible. We’ve found that we can trust God, and that we can do surprising things, because He strengthens us. We’ve rediscovered a well of gratitude, and have uncovered and re-dug it. Now it runs clear again.

May the Lord bless you, and those you care for.

Your Rector               Revd Kevin Davies