Sunday 30 August 2020Service of Holy CommunionSt Helen's Church will be open again on Sunday 30 August 2020 for a service of Holy Communion starting at 10am.We will of course continue to follow precautions to minimise the risk of spreading the coronavirus. The service will be kept short (30 minutes) and we are not yet permitted to sing. Hand sanitiser will be provided and we ask worshippers to use face coverings in the church.More details of the coming month's services will be published in the Link magazine and on the church websites. For those who of you may still need to shield, and for others will not yet feel ready to go somewhere public, online material will continue to be produced for broadcast on our YouTube site: https://www.youtube.com/c/stmaryschalgrovewithsthelensberricksalomeincluding readings, a sermon, and prayers.
You will I am sure be aware that, in their initial response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, the Church of England and the Methodist Churches suspended all public acts of worship. St Helen’s Church, Berrick Salome, has been closed since 19 March 2020.The Government has subsequently announced that church buildings can now be opened up for individual prayer. This represents a start of the journey for churches to open up safely in line with Government advice (Statement from the Church of England).We are very pleased to inform you that, starting from Wednesday 1st July 2020, St Helen's Church will be open to parishioners for private prayer on Wednesdays, between 10h00 and 16h00.It is of course vitally important that we minimise the risk of spreading the coronovirus, and we ask all parishioners to follow the appropriate precautions. St Helen’s Church has been cleaned and reorganised according to safety requirements; hand sanitiser is available in the porch; and pew-cleaning wipes are available for use if required.Father Michael is continuing to broadcast Daily Prayer services on behalf of the benefice. You are very welcome to join these using a suitable device connected to the internet - please visit https://www.youtube.com/c/stmaryschalgrovewithsthelensberricksalome.Further information on our next steps for re-opening of the church for services, including baptisms, weddings, and funerals, will be communicated separately.
Many of you may already have hear the news that, in response to the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, the Church of England and the Methodist Churches have suspended public acts of worship until further notice. This applies to all of our public worship here in Chalgrove and Berrick Salome. The bishops have given permission for clergy to celebrate worship without a congregation and to broadcast these services to the community.For those of you who are online, Fr Michael has set up a YouTube live feed to broadcast Daily Prayer services on behalf of the benefice. Those of you with a suitable device and an internet connection will be able to access these using the address below:https://www.youtube.com/c/stmaryschalgrovewithsthelensberricksalomeFr Michael is in regular contact with priests in neighbouring benefices and with Revd John from the Methodist Circuit. The aim is to ensure that pastoral care provision continues, even if clergy in one benefice are laid low with the virus.It would be helpful to have a directory of people who would like to be kept informed of developments in the benefice, or who would like to receive occasional pastoral communications from Fr Michael, Revd John and other clergy operating in our benefice. If you would like to subscribe to this, please send an email containing your name and contact details to vicar@chalgrovechurch.org. (You may unsubscribe in the same way).Lastly, it is only natural that some of you will be worrying about whether baptisms, weddings, and funerals, specifically whether they can go ahead. Further information about this will be communicated separately.
