Update 21st July: St Mary’s and St John’s and opening for worship
The restrictions on opening churches are gradually easing and I am pleased to say that the time is drawing nearer when we will be able to open at least one of our churches for public worship. We are currently planning to start holding public worship at St. John’s from Sunday 16th August. This is a longer delay than we had hoped for and I will try to explain the reasons for it.
As you may know, St John’s church was infested by mice during the lockdown and this has required several weeks of pest control followed by thorough disinfection and a deep clean. This has already prevented us from opening our childcare services and it will prevent us from opening the church for several more weeks. The clear-up operation has been a huge and time consuming task. Two skips and two large bins have been filled with contaminated equipment and other items! My special thanks to churchwarden Jean Guppy; managers Theresa Cobbing and Amy Cummins; maintenance man Pete Coverdale and twelve other staff volunteers who are continuing to work on this. Unfortunately, it does not appear that our insurance will cover much (if any) of the cost. This will be substantial as you can imagine! We had hoped to open earlier but it has become clear that we cannot complete all the necessary stages of the clean-up in time to open for worship before Sunday 16th August.
Jean Guppy and Nik Wright are in the process of completing a risk assessment for St. John’s and when we do open for worship it will be for a limited number of people and subject to restrictions to ensure safety. It will be necessary to book in advance so that seats can be arranged and allocated to individuals and households. Precisely how this is going to work will be communicated when the situation is clearer.
Our Parochial Church Council set up a working group to consider the reopening of St Mary’s church for worship. A thorough risk assessment has now been carried out by warden Ian McNally and Nik Wright. To their (and our) disappointment they were unable to find a way in which St. Mary’s could be safely opened for public worship in compliance with the current guidelines. It has therefore been decided that we will continue to broadcast a morning communion service online from St Mary’s at 9am on most Sundays with only a minimal team present. We are continuing to review the situation in the hope that the time will come when it will be safe to extend attendance beyond this small team. Once again, even when we are able to extend attendance, this will be subject to restrictions to ensure safety and these will be communicated when the situation is clearer.
We are very sorry that we are unable to offer more in our churches at this time and we hope that it will soon be possible to gather together more freely for worship and fellowship. In the meantime, I want to pay tribute to all those in our community who have been offering support to one another during lockdown and to invite you once again to make use of the various resources and opportunities for fellowship offered through our website at www.langdonhills.net.
Rev. Colin Hopkinson
St John’s Kids Online
Come and join us today for the first St John’s Kids online
Follow this link to the churches videos
Copper Kettle Virtual Cafe
Wednesday’s at 10am
A chance to meet up online and have a chat
For a zoom link please email: nik@langdonhills.net
Sunday Streaming Church Service
Join us on Sunday for a service from Colin and Christine’s home.
When you follow the link you will be taken to a Facebook page. You do NOT need to have or create a Facebook account to view the video. To watch go to the videos section and click on the video you want. Previous services will also be there.
You can find the service in the video section by following this Link
If you would like an order of service follow this Link
Morning Prayer Online
Just the Mon and Tue after Easter Sunday there will not be any morning prayer.
Join us for Morning Prayer online at 9am from this Thursday 26 March and thereafter on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings.
It is very easy to join us. Just send an email to me at cchopkinson@aol.com requesting to join. I will add you to the group and send you an invitation email to join a “Zoom meeting”. Click on the link on the email a few minutes before 9am to join the meeting. (The first time you do this Zoom will download and install the Zoom app. It is safe to install this).
To be able to join in with the words you will also need to download the Daily Prayer app (search your app store for “Daily Prayer Church of England”, it has a blue logo with Daily Prayer in it) and when you open it should take you straight to the words for that morning. You will need one screen (e.g. phone) to look at the words and another (e.g. laptop) to join the Zoom meeting.
If you would like a prayer request to be included please be sure to have the consent of any person named in the request and send it to me at cchopkinson@aol.com on a separate email titled “prayer request”.
Bishops Crook – Virtual Pub
Every Saturday at 7.00pm
For a lively chat and catch-up with your friends or an opportunity to make new friends come and join us. Bring you own bottle!
For a zoom link please email
Nik@Langdonhills.net
Reaching-Out
Hebrews 13v16:
And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
In these troubling times which is causing anxiety for many, it’s time to reach-out and support one another.
We want to encourage people to join a new WhatsApp group ‘Reaching-Out’ to provide a simple way to connect folks so that they can ask for support, ministry, advice or give your time to support others. You just need to give us your name and mobile details.
We also are encouraging folks to subscribe on our web site so you can receive information directly on what’s happening in our church.
Don’t feel you are alone – our church wants to help.
Please hand your details to one of our church wardens or email comms@langdonhills.net or text 07754 540005
Name: _________________________________
Mobile:_________________________________
Church Services and Midweek Activities in Langdon Hills Suspended
Following direction from the Church of England all public worship services at St Mary’s (including 9am Sunday service) and St. Johns (including 11am Sunday service) will be suspended until further notice during the coronavirus crisis. We are in the process of planning a streaming service online so please watch this website for further information in the next few days.
The following midweek church activities will be cancelled until further notice:
- 0-3s (Monday and Tuesday)
- Lent course (Tuesday evening)
- Coffee morning (Wednesday)
- Tea and Chat (Wednesday afternoon)
- Rendezvous (Thursday)
- Connect Youth Club (Friday)
- St John’s Nature Walkers (Sarturday)
Please watch this website for updates on any further measures including plans for offering pastoral support during this crisis.
These are troubling times which will cause anxiety for many. In his letter to the Philippians Paul writes:
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Most weeks we hear words based on these verses in the blessing. They are not just an idle hope. They are a promise that God’s peace will keep us in tune with Christ if we bring our anxieties to him. Let us claim this promise during this crisis.
The Church of England has published guidance for parishes which will continue to be updated to reflect any change in circumstances. Please publish the link below on your websites and share any Church of England social media posts on the advice.
Coronavirus Advice for Parishes
Public Health England has produced a poster which you can print and display in your church and church buildings.
Download the poster
Colin
Basildon Churches Together
Praying for Our NHS
Please see attached a picture of the banner that was put up next to the hospital yesterday on behalf of all Basildon churches.
Please keep praying for our NHS workers, our front line workers in the care homes and the shops as well as everyone who is fighting the corona virus at the moment.
Heather Alblas
Secretary
Churches Together in Basildon