A Pastoral Letter from the Parish Priest
30 August 2020
Twelfth Sunday after Trinity
My dearest Friends in the Lord,
Here I am again with my weekly Pastoral Letter since the lockdown as we continue to Stay Alert, Control the Virus and Save Lives! This will also be the last letter I am writing with the end of the lockdown and the reopening of our churches for worship from September onwards.
My wife and I have been away on our annual leave and have since returned safe and sound. However, as we travelled through France on our way back, we have to self-isolate (quarantine) for two weeks. But I am working from home and please feel free to call or write if you would like to contact me.
We had a lovely break although August in Italy was really hot! After living in temperatures of 35-39 degrees Celsius in Umbria, here it is hardly half that hot! A good difference indeed! Wherever we passed through on our way back (in car) the results of the coronavirus were evident. Life has changed so much! Social distancing, wearing of masks, sanitizing gels have become the norm everywhere. Let us hope we can return to normal human relationships in the not too distant future, that we can again do simple and natural things like shaking or holding hands and have the normal expressions of inter-relationships!
Schools are reopening and we wish all the best to the schools in our Parish – Ingham, Polyplatt and Scampton. There is a degree of trepidation on all sides but with confidence and mutual help we all will overcome this crisis, I’m sure. We wish all the best to the Head Teachers and the staff and the students! We need God’s help and blessing as we strive to return to some sort of normality in our human lives.
We are also restarting worship in our Parish churches from September onwards. A revised pattern of worship has been published and they will appear in the September edition of the ‘Village Venture’ as well as in the Parish website and other media forums. One of the features of this revised pattern is the monthly zoom service on the second Sundays of the month so as to build on the experience of the virtual church during the lockdown. The zoom services have been held weekly for most of the months during the lockdown.
Baptisms, weddings and funerals and similar life events can be held in church now following social distancing and hygiene norms. If you are planning any such events please know that the churches can be used again albeit following government and Church guidelines for such services.
As you have already heard, the Diocese of Lincoln is in the process of reorganising Parish Ministry around 9 Greater Ecclesial Areas (GEA) based roughly on the 9 local authority areas. Each GEA will be subdivided into a smaller number of Local Ecclesial Areas (LEA). Each LEA will have a collegial team ministry of both lay and ordained working across the variety of settings. Watch our for details in November.
“OUTDOOR” UNITED PARISH SERVICE AT NORTH CARLTON THIS SUNDAY AT 10.30 AM
The Reverend Sue Deacon will lead the service and Dr Neill Hepburn will preach at this service. The Covid 19 social distancing norms and other safety and health norms will be followed at the service so that all participants are kept safe and well protected.
Springline Parish on-line Home Worship resources for all
Please use these prayer and worship resources for children and adults during this lockdown period by following this link.
A word on Giving to God during the lockdown
During this Covid-19, our churches in the Springline Parish do not have regular services in church and, among other things, regular or retiring collections in churches also ceased. We have therefore designed a new webpage to help people give online. Please visit our giving page giving.springlineparish.co.uk if you would like to make a donation to promote God’s work through the Church in our village communities.
We are your Church: SL Parish – Nine Churches One Parish Following Jesus!
As we are doing our best to reopen our village churches for private prayer as well as for worship, we want you to know that we are still Church. We want to love God with all our hearts, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves. We will continue to do this. As Jesus exhorts us, we want to be people of Faith, not Fear. We will do all we can to reach out and help!
Please take care and do stay safe!
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you now and always.
With my love, prayer and blessing to each and every single one of you,
Father Sebastian
Revd Dr Sebastian Thomas Mattapally
Rector, Springline Parish, Diocese of Lincoln
Tel: 01522 731793 Email: rector.springline@gmail.com