News Archive - November 2020

Message from Catherine - Remembrance Sunday

Dear All,

I'm sure you will be aware that the new Covid-19 regulations announced by the Prime Minister earlier this week mean that no services can take place at St Mary's for the period of the lockdown. This means there will be no celebration of Holy Communion on Sundays or Wednesdays. The church will however, be open for private prayer on those two days from 10am - 4 pm (Wednesday) and 11am - 4pm (Sunday) so do come along for a few moments peace and quiet reflection. We will also continue our online services which have been greatly appreciated and given us so much comfort and sense of connectedness throughout this troubling time. Many thanks to Joy, Gordon, Stephen Burge, Stephen Axford and all the readers and intercessors for the time, skill and effort they have put into creating them.

The annual Memorial Service, organised for those who have lost family members during the course of this year, has now been cancelled. However, we do hope to have a special online service which Stephen is preparing, so look for it on our Facebook page, website or You Tube channel on Sunday afternoon. I'm sure recently bereaved families and those who have lost friends and family members no matter how long ago, will take comfort from it.

The new regulations do allow the Act of Remembrance to take place this Sunday morning but as announce previously, only representatives of organisations who usually lay wreaths are expected to attend. We ask all others to stay away this year and to remember those whose names are on our village memorials in other ways. Here are some suggestions:

• Stand quietly outside your house at 11 o'clock for the 2 minutes silence. If you live close enough to the church, you may hear the Last Post and Reveille.
• Download a copy of the service from our website to use at home.
• Put a British Legion poppy or a poppy poster in your window
• Bring a poppy, home-made wreath, decorated pebble or other token, to the war memorial at a different time during the weekend or perhaps on Armistice Day, Wednesday 11th November.

Let us pray for, and support each other in whatever ways we can during this difficult time.

Best wishes
Catherine

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