On Friday 4th at 3pm, a peal of bells will be rung at St Mary's church in Blidworth to launch this special weekend of events and services. On Saturday 5th, St Andrews Mission Hall will be open from 10am-4pm when tea and coffee will be served and you can view an exhibition of History of the Rockings with photographs and memorabilia as well as an old film from the 50s.At 7.30pm on Saturday 5th, there will be a celebratory Concert at Blidworth Welfare with Blidworth Brass Band and Joseph Whitaker school band. Tickets are £5 and you can pay on the door. Should be a fabulous concert.On Sunday 6th - 10am service - fully booked but will be recorded and uploaded onto social media platforms. Following this service, there will be a procession to the Rocking sculpture on the corner of Dale Lane and Tesco. At the Rocking Sculpture, we will have a short outdoor service and Blidworth Oaks school choir will join us. We will then walk to St Andrews Mission Hall for a buffet lunch and another opportunity to see the displays. The Bishop of Sherwood will be joining us on Sunday.This weekend is an amazing illustration of working and partnering together as community; of story sharing and of light and hope.We'd love it if you could join in with some of these celebrations.
From October 2021, we resume our weekly Sunday services in St Mary's, Blidworth and St Simon & St Jude, Rainworth. Our morning weekly service at St Mary's Blidworth will continue at 10am and will at St Simon and St Jude will revert back to 10.30am. We will alternate between Morning Worship and Holy Communion services. On the 5th Sunday of the month, we meet at St Andrews at 10.30am for a Holy Communion service. The rate of Covid infection continues to be very high and as we seek to protect all people and keep people, especially the most vulnerable, Covid safe and secure - we continue to wear facemasks for church services unless you are exempt, we maintain some social distancing and hand sanitiser is available.We continue to offer an online service - mainly on Zoom and this will usually be at 10.30am, sometimes as a separate service or blended with the church service at St Simon and St Jude or St Andrews. Check out the calendar for each of of websites (St Simon and St Jude, Rainworth as well as St Mary The Purification, Blidworth and St Andrews Mission Hall, Blidworth) as well as our social media pages.
From Monday 19th July 2021, as you know the majority of restrictions were lifted with the Government urging caution and encouraging people to remain vigilant in light of increasing levels of Covid infection nationally. We recognize that whilst some welcome the lifting of restrictions, others remain anxious. We have a duty of care to all people especially the most vulnerable. We would like to update you about what the arrangements will be in our churches as we continue to play our part responsibly in reducing the spread of Covid 19:Facemasks - facemasks protect others not just yourself and are part of what it means to love your neighbour in these challenging times. We expect all people to continue to wear a facemask in our church buildings unless they have a valid exemption (please show your lanyard to the steward/churchwarden on entry). Social distancing - 1.5 metres with seating for family bubbles available every other pew row in the main body of the church. family groupings and individuals will still be seated by a steward/churchwarden. Hand sanitiser - this will still be available on entry, on the pews and on exit. We encourage you to use this please. Singing - from the beginning of August, singing will only be possible whilst wearing a facemask. Holy Communion - still in one kind only. Refreshments after services - still be reviewed at a later date. The above arrangements in our church buildings cover all services including WEDDINGS, FUNERALS AND CHRISTENINGS. There is no need to book in for Sunday services now. If you are feeling unwell, please don't come to the services in the interest of everyone - I know it seems obvious, but sometimes it needs saying too. We will of course be monitoring what is happening in terms of Covid infection rates as we continue to journey through the pandemic and will keep you informed of any changes. We hope this will enable everyone including the most vulnerable to feel comfortable, secure and safe in our church buildings
