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pastoral letter

The Coronavirus Pandemic & Its Effects On Our Lives

A Pastoral Letter from the Parish Priest

Letter 21 – 2 August 2020

Eight Sunday after Trinity

 

Hello Everyone,

Well as you know Fr Sebastian and Alida have gone to their house in Italy for 3 weeks, so I am hopefully keeping the ship afloat until they return!

I hope this pastoral letter finds you well and perhaps slightly happier as more and more businesses relax their isolation conditions. I’m sure you’ve all already been to the gym for several sessions!

I don’t know about you but I found Richard Steele’s sermon last week very thought provoking- the radical change in the mustard seed to a huge tree and with the addition of yeast a loaf grows and expands.

All our lives have been in turmoil now for several months and although we’ve been able to zoom and records services electronically, I just wonder how people are going to react when our churches in this parish will reopen in September.

Lockdown has seen a vast increase nationally in people connecting with church services via the internet. I am rather hoping and praying that this is the ‘change’ Richard Steele was talking about, i.e the ‘mustard seed effect’.

When the rota is published for September you will find some changes, although we are keeping a monthly Zoom service within our parish, the Ministry Team have been concerned with how to cover the pre lockdown rota. Following the sad deaths of David Young and Bill Williams we are depleted to two priests and two readers-three of which are volunteers.

We do ask for your understanding over this matter and if you would like to express any views please contact John Moore on springlinepcc@btinternet.com in readiness for the PCC meeting on 11th August.

I ask you all to join with me and the ministry team in prayers to discern God’s will for our parish so that we like the mustard seed and yeast can expand beyond recognition.

Just remember, Jesus started with 12 disciples- by Pentecost there were 3000 new believers who were baptised and soon the message spread all over the Roman Empire by the likes of people like us!  

We are restarting worship in churches from September onwards. A revised pattern of worship will be published shortly. 

“LIVE” PARISH SERVICE this Sunday.

It will be A SHORT LIVE EUCHARIST ON ‘ZOOM’ AT 10.30 am led Revd Sue Deacon
You will have received an invitation to join the service if you are in the Parish database. If you are not in the Parish database and wish to join in the service please contact your local Churchwarden before Sunday morning.

Please use the following link to view The ORDER OF SERVICE.

Springline Parish on-line Home Worship resources for all

Please use these prayer and worship resources for children and adults during this lockdown period. Please visit our online Church page.

A word on Giving to God during the lockdown

During the lockdown due to Covid-19, our churches in the Springline Parish had been closed 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’s mission and ministry in our village communities.

We are still Church – Springline Parish – 9 Churches, 1 Parish, Following Jesus!

As we are doing our best to reopen our village churches and some of our church buildings might still be closed due to safety and hygiene norms, 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 all now and always.

God bless you all

Revd. Sue Deacon