Coronavirus Updates

January 2022

Dear Friends,

A very happy new year! I hope that even with the ups and downs of covid you managed to have a good Christmas with friends and family.

I want to thank everyone who made Christmas so special at St Marks this year. Fiona did an amazing job organising the Christmas Fair and it was lovely to welcome so many people from our local community in to meet Father Christmas, decorate the tree, enjoy crafts and singing and buy some of the lovely craft items.

Once again our flower team led by Ann Tarrant made the church beautiful with their arrangements throughout the church and our Nativity Trail for Christmas eve added to the decorations, plus our beautiful tree decorated by all of the children at the Christmas Fair.

I also want to thank the staff team Ros, Heather, Amanda and Fiona who worked with the uncertainty of the new variant covid and creatively changed our Christmas plans around. Carols in the Carpark will, I think, become a St Marks tradition and our orange free Christingle packs went down well too with our local families who enjoyed the Nativity trail with us on Christmas Eve.

I particularly found the Autumn Series of living with contrasts in the real world hugely helpful as we navigated some difficult things in the lives of the team. If you missed any of the series they are all still on Youtube.

Coming in to the new year we are still keeping masks and social distancing in place until towards the end of January when we will see if there are any new guidelines. A huge thank you to you all for bearing with this so well and for the support you have given us.

Our new series for this term is focussing on the Life and Ministry of Jesus in the morning and we will be working through some of the smaller New Testament letters in the evening, starting this Sunday with Philippians. Our Thursday church congregation is small and we would love to encourage some more people to join us. It is a beautiful traditional service with lovely organ music and hymns. We are open from 0900 for coffee and cake and the service is from 1030. May be there is someone you could invite to join us? We have some invitation cards at the back of church.

Finally I would like to thank all those unseen people who quietly keep the church ticking over, changing the clock, stripping the Christmas tree, fixing the fence, climbing up high to change the bulbs, making the teas and coffees, washing and ironing the white linen, tidying the garden, cutting the lawns, baking the cakes and so much more, your love and service do not go unnoticed or unappreciated.

If you are new to St Marks and would like to find out how you can get involved do come and have a chat with someone on the team. You can contact all of us through the office.

Once again, a very happy new year.

2 July 2021

Dear Friends,

It was very special to see so many of us in church on Sunday morning and to spend some time together afterwards at the picnic.

As I said in the service we are in a time of change and change again as we adapt to what is happening with the Covid Virus.

As some of you will know, Brookhurst School has had to shut this week due to rising numbers of Covid cases amongst the children. In the light of that and because we have children from across different schools we have very sadly decided to cancel our children’s work until September.

This does not mean we don’t want to see our children in church but that they will have to stay in family bubbles and we will be producing all sorts of things for them to engage with during the service. We will also be going ahead with our All Age Service on July 11th. All of our summer services will be all age too. We also hope to run summer fun in the church gardens during the holiday.

For those of you who are a bit anxious about coming back into the building, I just want to reassure you that there was plenty of space for everyone and space for a few more. When you are ready we would love to see you.

We are continuing to live stream our services from church on Sunday morning and are grateful to the tech team who are supporting this. If you have some skills in this area, or would like to learn some, we could do with a few more volunteers so do let us know in the church office if you are interested.

Thank you to so many of you who have offered help and support to get things up and running again we could not move forward without you.

We are very excited about the possibilities of this new beginning at St Marks and a group of us have been meeting to re-evaluate our five year plan and vision statement so that it is relevant to to where we are now and what are priorities are. At the moment we are focusing on rebuilding our community and our worship, both on Sundays and on Thursdays and welcoming new people as they join us. We want to put mission at the heart of everything we do so as we move forward we ask ourselves, where is God in this and how does this serve our local community and our church community?

Exciting times.

6 January 2021

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year! I hope that despite all of the changes and difficulties over Christmas you were able to celebrate the birth of Christ. Ian was in Canterbury with his parents and I was at home with Jack and Tom but we managed a couple of days altogether before Jack returned to Newcastle so we felt very blessed.

It was lovely to welcome so many people in to church on Christmas Eve and to share a quiet Holy Communion together with a small gathering on Christmas Morning. Ros and Heather made Christingles with Brookhurst and Milverton Schools via zoom and we made about 750 Christingle packs for all the children to join in. We also made and delivered about 45 hampers which have been really well received, thank you so much for your generosity.

One of our trees in the church gardens is decorated with many colourful ribbons as people have remembered people who they are missing this Christmas and this and our remembering wall have been a lovely way of engaging with people of all ages across our community.

We had hoped to open things up a bit more in the new year but with the latest lockdown and local infection levels rising we have decided to stay closed for public worship. This has been a really difficult decision and will be kept under review by myself, the wardens and the PCC as we know how important it is to worship together.

To try and fill some of the gaps we will be trialling a zoom service at 1030am on Wednesdays which people can join by zoom or by phone and we will be printing the joining details on a separate sheet. Heather will be leading Celtic Prayer via zoom on a Monday evening from 2000hrs and you are all welcome to join us at either of these times. The church will be open for private prayer on Wednesday from 0930-1030 and on Saturday from 0930-1030. There will be a clergy person available to talk to during these times. On Sundays our young people will be zooming with their leaders who are doing a sterling job and on You tube you can find a short service for our younger church family and our 1015 Service for everyone. You can also join us for the evening via zoom at 1830. All the details will be in the notice sheet.

We love hearing from you so do contact us on the usual numbers if you have any queries or need any help.

With much love

December 2020

Dear Friends,

I write to you again as we begin our Advent journey to Christmas and on Sundays we are picking up on the themes of Love, Hope, Joy and Peace, traditional Christmas themes but with the year that has just gone how much more do we need to find them in the waiting for and in the arrival of the Son of God, Emmanuel, God with us.

So my prayer for you all is that in the midst of preparations, conversations, planning and surviving you will find moments to pause and remember again that God is with us, in our isolation, and in our celebration.

We are keeping things very simple at St Marks this year. The plans are as follows…

Sunday 6th 1015 St Marks at Home on YouTube (Also Advent 2 online for our younger members)

1730-1930 Advent Reflections in a Candlelit Church.

Monday 7th- Fri 11th Experience Christmas Milverton School in church

Wednesday 9th 2000 Zoom Advent Course. Shepherds

Sunday 13th 1015 St Marks at Home on YouTube (Also Advent 3 online for our younger members)

1830 Blue Christmas Zoom Service

Monday 14th -Friday 18th Christingle Service via Zoom in Milverton and Brookhurst Schools (We are happy to make Christingle packs for our church children if they would like one, do let Ros know)

Wednesday 16th 1030 Holy Communion in Church

2000 Zoom Advent Course. Anna

Sunday 20th 1015 St Marks at Home on YouTube (Also Advent 4 online for our younger members)

1600 Zoom Nativity (Dress up!)

Thursday 24th 1530-1730 Christmas Eve Reflections in Church

1130 Midnight Communion Service on Youtube (available from 1800)

Friday 25th 0800 Christmas Day Communion in Church

1015 Christmas Day Celebration on Youtube

Sunday 27th 1015 St Marks at Home on YouTube

We are disappointed that there are some things we just can’t do this year and some things we have chosen not to do as we try and keep everyone as safe as possible.

I want say a huge thank you to everyone on the team at St Marks, Amanda, Ruth, Ros, Heather and our wardens David and Marcella, thank you for adapting so quickly to all the changes and finding joy amongst the challenges.

And I want to say a huge thank you to all of you who have faithfully joined us over the weeks and months online and in church, who have continued to give so generously to keep the work here going and to stock the hampers and who have encouraged, advised, questioned and supported us. Thank you.

With much love

November 2020

Dear Friends,

Today is the first day of the latest lockdown and I wanted to write to you all to let you know what is happening at church for the next month or so.

In line with Government guidance we have stopped all of the services we have been doing in the church building on Wednesday mornings and Sunday evenings. We will continue recording our Sunday morning service which is available every Sunday on YouTube at 1015 followed by zoom coffee after the service. From this Sunday 8th November we will be Zooming our evening service for the first time and you are welcome to join us. At the moment we are working our way through the Prayer Course with Pete Greig. I am really being challenged by this course and am enjoying the discussions and worship. Each session stands alone so don’t be put off if you have missed the first couple of sessions.

All the links to these services can be found on your notice sheet, on the website and usually on Facebook too.

We are also looking at doing the Wednesday service via a phone connection so people can join us in worship from home using their own phones. Watch this space as we get our heads around new ways of doing things!

We are being encouraged as churches across our nation to come together and pray at 6pm every evening and more information on this initiative can be found in the notices.

The church will be open for prayer on Wednesday mornings from 0930-1100hrs and you will be able to contact someone in the church office on Mon, Wed and Fri mornings or you can get in touch with me at the vicarage. We will also be continuing zoom prayer at 8pm on Monday evenings and Explorers and Pathfinders will continue on zoom too for our younger church family members.

Please may I encourage you to keep in touch with one another and let us know if you are anyone else needs a bit of extra support, practical or prayer support. Heather and Ruth are planning some short term small groups for people who may like to link in to a group while we are in these strange times and you can find more information about these in the notices.

This weekend the church will be open from 1100-1300 and 1400-1600 on Sat and 1400-1600 on Sunday for our Remembering Weekend. You are welcome to come in and pray. There are some prayer stations for adults and for children too. One of us will be there to welcome you.

We are beginning to plan Christmas and if you have any ideas we would love to hear from you! Thank you already for your generosity in providing items for the food hampers. Donations can be left in the vicarage porch or in the church office. We are also collecting Shoe boxes and the deadline for these has been pushed back to the beginning of December due to the lockdown. These can be left in the church porch too.

Thank you for everything you are doing to support us as we lead the church in these changing times. Stay safe and look after yourselves and those around you.

May you know Gods peace and love

Jo x

September 2020

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your patience and encouragement as we work out how to take the church forward in these frustrating and confusing days.

I had hoped that this letter to you all would be about reopening the church for Sunday Morning worship but sadly, in the light of rising Covid 19 levels and ongoing changes to the rules about what we can and cannot do, we have decided that the safest thing to do is to continue with online services for now.

Despite our best efforts on Sunday (and hours of preparation, huge thanks to Ian and Marcella) we were unable to live stream the morning Ordination service but we are hoping that all of the technical difficulties have now been sorted out and that this is something we can begin very soon. This will mean that we can be live on Sundays and more people can be involved in leading our worship.

It will also mean that when things settle down again we will be ready to open up on Sunday mornings and stream the service at the same time so people can choose to come in or to stay at home for the time being.

Unless anything changes we are going to continue with our Wednesday morning service at 1030-1100. Ruth is playing the organ for us so even though we can’t sing yet we can enjoy her playing. We are sharing communion every other week at this service.

We will also be continuing our Sunday evening reflective service which has been a lovely space to come into God’s presence and share our lives and worship with one another.

Both of these services are carefully planned and set up so they are very safe to attend and there is plenty of space to accommodate more people, so if you want to give it a try do come along.

In other news Ros is now back with us two days a week and is working with Heather on streaming assemblies and they are both going in to schools to work with some of the children in small groups to build their confidence after such an up and down year.

Ruth is developing an online prayer course and that will be happening soon and is overseeing the evening service. We are all learning how to work together as a team and in an environment where best laid plans need to be changed at short notice. Sadly we have had to suspend the Fire Pit and Picnic Praise but we have other ideas up our sleeves.

Do keep checking the news sheet for any updates and if you want any more information do call the office on Monday, Wednesday or Friday mornings or contact Jo.

We continue to pray for you all at Morning Prayer and hope that you are finding new ways to draw close to God, I am still enjoying sitting in the church garden in the sunshine and praying for the people and the parish as they go by and the interesting conversations I have when people stop to chat.

Every blessing,

Jo and the team

20 August 2020

Dear Friends,

Thank you very much to all of you who have responded to our survey. The feedback has
been really helpful, encouraging and challenging.

In trying to find a way forward where we can safely begin to bring things back into the
church building, this is the plan for September.

We will continue to stream the 1030 morning service on Youtube. On Sunday afternoons in
September we are going to begin Picnic Praise for our families. This will be a short,
interactive service with stories, activities and music on the church lawn (weather permitting)
or at the back of church followed by snacks and drinks (which you will have to bring).
Alongside this, Ros, Heather and Ruth will be developing a short Sunday Service for the
children which can be watched at any time and will be linked to the theme for that day so
we are all learning about the same thing!

Starting on Sunday 13 th September we will have a Sunday Evening Service with a reflection
linked to the reading for the day and conversation. There will be music too but no singing
just yet and we will be meeting in the church hall so we have space to distance. We will also
need to wear masks for all services inside church.

We will continue opening the church for private prayer on Monday evening from 2000-2100
and on Wednesday from 0900-1030, followed by a short Service of the Word at 1030-1100.
We will also continue the Firepit on a Saturday evening, as long as the weather permits or it
gets too dark, from 1900-2100, bring a drink and a chair and come and toast marshmallows
and watch the sun go down.

We have made huge efforts to keep in touch with people during the lockdown but
understand that people are still feeling isolated. If you are struggling in any way then do
please let us know and we would love to spend some time with you (either over the phone
or socially distanced). Please can I encourage all of us to reach out to people who may need
some ongoing extra support as we continue to be affected by Covid 19.

We hope to begin to share Holy Communion (bread only) at some of our services very soon
and are now able to bring home communion to people. If you would like to receive
communion then do let us know and we would be happy to chat with you about this.
If you are hoping to get to know a few more people, maybe people you have met at zoom
coffee, this would be a great time to join a small group. Please contact the office and we will
be very happy to put you in touch with one.

Finally, I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped us keep things
going and discover new ways of ‘being’ church, especially our musicians and technical team.
With best wishes

Jo and the Team.

13 July 2020

Dear Church Family,

I want to keep you all up to date with where we are up to with opening the church for prayer and worship.

After talking together with our team of Leaders and Preachers and consulting the PCC and the church wardens we think the best way to take things forward is this.

We will continue to worship online on Sundays until September when we will review what is happening with Covid 19 and any potential spikes in infections as things begin to open up. With the current guidelines whilst we can open for worship we can’t sing, sit or have coffee together.

In the light of this and because we simply couldn’t have everyone in (we think our maximum is between 50-60 people) and because children’s activities and movement will have to be limited and it would be necessary to clean between each service we feel that it is easier, safer and more inclusive to continue with St Marks at Home.

This will be reviewed during August and we will let you know when things will change.

We would like to offer a simple Service of the Word, especially for the more vulnerable members of our congregation, and those who can’t join us online, on Wednesday morning from 1030-11am. This will be a simple liturgy, with a short sermon and prayers and hopefully some organ music. We hope to offer communion as well at a later stage. The church will continue to be open for private prayer on Monday evenings from 8-9pm and on Wednesday mornings from 9-10.30am.

We have done a careful risk assessment and will do everything in our power to make the church a safe place to come to but there will always be some risk and if you feel uncomfortable or unable to come then we completely respect your position. You are very welcome to wear face masks to the service and hand sanitiser will be provided. Seating will be spaced at two metres apart and we would ask you to come in through the car park entrance and leave through the south door (unless you are unable to climb the steps). Everything will be clearly marked and there will be a sides person to show you where you can sit. You will have to leave the church straight after the service finishes but there are lovely benches which are well spaced in the church garden where you can have a chat if you would like to.

I hope this is helpful. If you have any questions we would be happy to answer them so do get in touch by phone or email with the office or with Jo or one of the church wardens. We really want to hear from more people about how we take things forward and we would love your thoughts and ideas about what might change about church or worship or outreach after this strange time we have all been through. To help with this we will be sending out a survey next week and would be very grateful if as many people as possible would complete it for us.

With much love and every blessing.

Jo and the team.

24 June 2020

Where we are up to…

You may have heard the announcement yesterday that we can begin to worship again in church. This is great news and I am so looking forward to us all being back together again.
However, there are still restrictions in place which will have a big impact on our worship, and we are waiting for more guidance from the Church of England as to how we can take things forward.

It seems likely that we will not be able to sing together, and I am not sure how we will be able to share communion either, and we will not be able to share refreshments. Our numbers will be restricted and we will still be observing the 2 metre rule (as we have the space to do this in church).

Added to this, the possibility of a second wave of the virus may change any plans we make to move forward.

All of us involved in preaching and leading will be meeting to discus the way forward, with close consultation with the church wardens. So watch this space and we will try to keep you informed as things progress. This will not be a return to church as we know it just yet, and it may not happen in July. In the meantime we will keep our new online presence on Sundays and during the week and we hope to develop more online worship opportunities for our children over the summer.

Please pray for us as we plan and prepare and we will continue to pray for you all.

April 2020

As many of you know by now our Sunday services and midweek meetings have been suspended. We love meeting together but we love you more, and want to ensure that you all stay as healthy as possible.

Check out our facebook page for news at https://www.facebook.com/StMarksLSpa/

A weekly service is streamed on Sundays at 10.30am. The link can be found on our Facebook page and usually on the weekly notice sheet. If you would like to receive the notice sheet by email please contact the church office (office@st-marks.net)

In the meantime, keep praying, keep singing and keep looking out for each other and your neighbours. I have a feeling that this could become an exciting time of doing church differently, of learning new things about prayer and service. In Isaiah 43 we are told not to fear, God is with us, and will not leave us. The chapter goes on.... 'Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert'. I think for many of us this time feels scary and unknown. Even in the most barren places God makes a way for us, gives us water in dry lands. May you know God's presence and power as you encounter Him in new ways in the coming weeks.

Information about the wider church can be found on the Diocesan Website https://www.coventry.anglican.org/

March 2020

I never imagined in over 40 years of church going and 13 years as a priest that I would ever have to lock our church and not allow people in. It goes against everything I believe about the inclusive welcome we want to show to all people at all times.

This is a unique time in our history however, and we must do anything we can to try and hold back this onslaught of this virus. So the church is closed, but it’s people are out there and doing amazing things to help people in our communities.

Do pray for our frontline workers, carers, doctors and other health professionals, shop workers and all those who are keeping things going, postal workers, and council staff. Pray for those who are frightened and lonely and pray for our leaders who are facing decision making that is unprecedented.

Look after yourselves and call us if we can do anything to support you. 01926 421004 (ext 1)