Dear Caroline,
Here is a little Boxing Day bulletin to let you know about church services and opening hours this coming week....
Tomorrow, 27th December, I shall lead Morning Prayer on Facebook at the usual time of 9.00am. There is no other church service from All Saints tomorrow as we all take a bit of a rest after a very full week.
If you would like to tune in for worship you might like to watch the national Church of England service which features the Bishop of Loughborough, Guli Francis-Deqhani.
This is available from 9.00am tomorrow morning.
I was very fortunate on Tuesday of this week to be joined by Bishop Guli on my weekly Ministers Muse with two other outstanding biblical scholars and preachers as we looked together at the biblical texts for Christmas and thought about how we might preach these texts this year. You can catch up with this Christmas special here: https://youtu.be/xnhZI7yIZ_A I have very much enjoyed taking this aspect of my sermon preparation online and plan to continue next year.
Our church building will<strong> be open next week from Monday to Thursday 10-12 and if you haven't yet had the chance to come and look round it is well worth coming to see this year's small but beautiful Christmas Tree Festival. Church will also be open on Saturday 2nd January from 10 - 12 as usual for private prayer.
Please only come in your own household or support bubble and observe social distancing when you are in the Church along with the wearing of a face covering at all times.</strong>
It is our intention for there to be a service in Church on January 3rd but we shall of course be paying close attention to the covid situation in our area so please look out for emails from me and keep an eye on our social media pages. You can catch up with the carol services and Christmas Day on our YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNymtzHV8G_EfZprXch9RIg
Midnight Mass and the Community Carol Service are available to view on our Facebook page:
https://fb.watch/2DgwCM8Fef/ - Midnight Mass
https://fb.watch/2DgESb39DA/ - Mayor's Carol Service
I am pleased to tell you that our Christmas Gift Appeal has reached an amazing £7860 so tomorrow I shall be running 7k dressed as Santa. The suit is getting a little frayed and so am I! But I am so grateful for every donation we have received towards this appeal. It is a great springboard for the funds we need to raise to upgrade our sound system and install cameras to make live streaming and recording a real long term option for us. Thank you for your gifts and for your encouragement with the running. The appeal will stay open until December 31st and I will keep running all the time people keep giving!
https://givealittle.co/campaigns/37c0759e-edf2-4572-8276-e8e003489758
Congratulations to Emma Pimm and Steve Mottram who were married amidst the Christmas trees on 23rd December. It was a lovely occasion and it was so good to be able to celebrate with them. We even managed to Zoom in some of their other guests who were unable to be at the service due to the restrictions on wedding numbers.
And lastly a huge thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to enable us to celebrate Christmas services and events this year. Lots of people have contributed to helping us keep our doors open in a covid secure way and to our worship. A highlight for me was the outdoor Carols on the Green on Christmas Eve which we were able to put on in partnership with our local community. There was a great turn out and everyone was very responsible whilst enjoying the opportunity to sing together. The projection on to the side of the church was done by a local firm Event Engineering who gave their time and expertise for free to help make it a truly magical occasion. I think we might have just started a new tradition....!!
Best Wishes
Revd Wendy