Dear Friends,I hope you received the new look newsletter on Wednesday? If not do check your junk folder. I forgot one very important piece of information in my haste to get it sent out to you so please note there is an evening service as well tomorrow at 6pm which is the first of our series of Global Worship events where we are celebrating the different cultures of our church community. Tomorrow evening we are focussing on Zimbabwe and Nigeria. This will be zoom only service so do come along and join us if you can. Details for all the services tomorrow are below and the zoom links for the Lent groups can be requested from office@allsaintsloughborough.org.uk . Our Lent groups are for those engaging with our Lent theme 'The Crown and the Cross,' through watching, reading or listening to various resources. Please see the Lent booklet 'The Crown and the Cross.' It is also fine for those who have just listened to the Sunday sermon to join in. More details in the note attached. Hope to see you there!Worship on 21st February First Sunday of Lent9.00am Morning Prayer on Facebook led by Revd Emily9.30am Family Worship on zoom 'Jesus is tested in the wilderness' led by Kezia and Dora ThornhillCoffee and Chaton the same zoom link above hosted by Liz Piki10.45am Morning Worship 'Reconciliation: God with us' led by Penny Pullan, preacher Revd Wendy - broadcast on YouTube11.30am Individual Prayer with Revd Emily6.00pm Global Worship: Zimbabwe and NigeriaBest WishesRevd Wendy
Dear Frends,Sunday Worship 7th FebruaryTomorrow we begin a pattern of worship and prayer that will remain the same for the coming couple of months whilst we are not meeting physically in the church building. I do hope you will feel able to worship with us at one or more of these services:9.00am Morning Prayer on Facebook. Lasting approximately 20 minutes this service is said every day of the week. Prayers are said for all those who have asked for the prayers of this church and you are welcome to put your own requests into the comments as we pray together. Tomorrow morning Revd Emily will be leading from her shed which regular attenders at Facebook Morning Prayer will be very familiar with!9.30am Family Worship exploring the theme of the day in story and song. Perfect for young children but not limited to those of younger years - young at heart will also find this an accessible and moving act of worship. Our theme tomorrow is the Baptism of Jesus. Join us on zoom for this half hour act of worship, please contact office@allsaintsloughborough.org.uk for the zoom link.10.00am Church Coffee and ChatYou can join the call above from 10 for a chance to catch up with one another and say hello.10.45am Morning Worship live streamed on our Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNymtzHV8G_EfZprXch9RIgEach week this 45 minute service will be led by different people from their homes and include hymns, bible reading, sermon and prayers. The order of service for tomorrow is attached to this email. Our music tomorrow will be led by Motje and Tim Wolf and I shall be preaching. Similar to the service we had the other week when we celebrated Reader ministry this will be a service of the Word. 11.30am Individual PrayerIf you would like to receive prayer after Morning Worship you can use the zoom link below to be prayed for. Tomorrow Revd Emily will be holding this space for people for half an hour at the end of the service. Only one person will be let in at a time so it will be a private space to receive prayer. This won't be a social space so please don't use it to drop in and say hello, it is simply for anyone who would value a quiet moment and to be prayed for. This is a ministry we used to offer in the church building before the pandemic and we feel we should try offering it again in this form. You do not have to share any details if you don't wish it is perfectly fine to simply come and ask for prayer - God knows what is on our hearts. Please contact office@allsaintsloughborough.org.uk for the zoom link.Sunday 14th FebruaryNext week the pattern will be the same. The theme at Family Worship will be The Week Before Lent (Jesus gives up everything for us). At the 10.45 service we shall be marking Racial Justice Sunday and launching our Lent theme for this year. Then at 6pm Martyn Davison and members of the choir will lead a service of Evensong on Youtube.Tuesday 16th February Shrove Tuesday zoom Pancake Party 6pmCome and join the fun. Contributions of music, poems. etc all welcome and we think we might have a quiz lined up to. More details next week.Ash Wednesday 17th FebruaryThe church building will be open for private prayer on this holy day to mark the start of Lent. You will be able to come to church between 10am and 12 noon and between 4pm and 6pm. There will be a simple liturgy of confession available to pray through quietly on your own or myself or Emily will also be available to pray with you and pronounce the words of forgiveness. This will all be done with covid secure measures in place so please remember to wear a face covering, sanitize your hands and keep 2 meters distance from those not in your household. We shall also live stream on YouTube a Communion service from the church that evening for you to make your spiritual communion at home.Church cleaning Saturday 13th If you can lend a hand to help get the church ready for reopening on Ash Wednesday please contact Penny White on penelopewhite@yahoo.co.uk who is overseeing the church cleaning. This will be done in a covid secure way and we suggest that those in the clinically extremely vulnerable category or who are vulnerable due to age don't volunteer on this occasion. Thank you for reading this far! From next week we are going to try a new way of sharing news. On Wednesdays there will be a weekly newsletter emailed out with general news about church life and then on Saturday we shall send a brief email with any relevant zoom links in and a brief reminder about Sunday worship. I hope this will make it easier to digest information and stay connected. If you have any thoughts or feedback on how things are going as a church do please drop me a line and don't be afraid to reach out and ask for help even if that is just a conversation.Best WishesRevd Wendy
Dear Caroline,Welcome to the weekly news bulletin from All Saints. I hope you have had a positive week. I know a few of our folk have had their vaccine now which is wonderful to hear and a small sign of hope. Read on for news of tomorrow's worship and things coming up....Sunday WorshipTomorrow we mark Candlemas, otherwise known as the Feast of the Presentation. In our liturgy we recall the story in Luke's gospel of Jesus being brought to the temple by Mary and Joseph 40 days after his birth, where he is recognised by Simeon and Anna as the one who would be a light for the whole world. It is a good day to give thanks for the faithfulness of the most elderly members of our congregation, those who through a lifetime of prayer and worship have eyes to see where God is at work in our world.Candlemas takes its name from the tradition of blessing the candles that were to be used in the home and the church in the year ahead. It is a pivotal moment in the church year when we turn from the crib of Christmas towards the cross of Easter. I do hope you will be able to join us for worship tomorrow at any of the three services:9.00am Morning Prayer on https://www.facebook.com/allsaintsloughborough10.30am Family Worship (Diddy Disciples) for all ages using songs and story to explore the theme of the day. Zoom only. Contact office@allsaintsloughborough.org.uk for zoom log in details.6.00pm Choral Evensong live streamed from the church building on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNymtzHV8G_EfZprXch9RIgPreacher: The Very Revd David Monteith, Dean of LeicesterCantor: Motje Wolf, Acting Director of Mission through MusicOrganist: Simon Headley, Principal OrganistThe order of service for Evensong and details of the words for the morning service are both attached to this email. You can join the morning zoom call from 11.00am for a half hour social time too.Shrove Tuesday 16th February - Pancake Party on Zoom?Given that we wont be able to have our traditional fish n chip supper in church this year I wonder if we might get together on zoom and have a bit of general silliness instead? I'm sure we could still have a pancake flipping competition, perhaps a quiz or maybe each of us bring some entertainment to share - a joke, a poem, a song a juggling routine?! Let me know if you would like to do this and whether in the day or evening. All ideas welcome. Ash Wednesday 17th FebruaryThe Church Wardens and I have decided we shall open the church building for private prayer on this holy day to mark the start of Lent. You will be able to come to church between 10am and 12 noon and between 4pm and 6pm. There will be a simple liturgy of confession available to pray through quietly on your own or I will also be available to pray with you and pronounce the words of forgiveness. This will all be done with covid secure measures in place so please remember to wear a face covering, sanitize your hands and keep 2 meters distance from those not in your household. We shall also live stream on YouTube a Communion service from the church that evening for you to make your spiritual communion at home. Details of Lent worship and ways in which you can engage in this year's theme will be shared next week. Pastoral Care and ongoing PrayerIf you would value an occasional or regular phone call from someone from church, or know of someone who might, please get in touch with me directly so I can let our pastoral team know. Prayers are said every day by the ministry team and we are very happy to pray for people by name. Please contact prayer@allsaintsloughborough.org.uk to pass on details. You can join in with daily prayer throughout the week on our Facebook page at 9.00am and 7pm. The service we use can be found here https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/join-us-service-daily-prayer You might like to try Pray as you Go https://pray-as-you-go.org which is a 15 minute audio service including music, bible reading and a guided meditation. It is also available on Spotify. Personally I have found it very helpful over the last few months especially when I've found it hard to pray.Don Clarke Sadly I need to share the news of the death of Don Clarke who was a former Church Warden at Holy Trinity and who some of our church famiiy will remember well. Please remember his wife Joy and their family in your prayers over the coming days as they prepare for his funeral.Ministers MuseMy weekly look at the Sunday bible readings continues on Tuesdays at 12.15pm on YouTube. This week the passages are Proverbs 8.1 & 22-31, Colossians 1.15-20 and John 1.1-14. My guests are Fr Paul Cartwright, Anglo-Catholic Priest based in West Yorkshire, David Welch, Head of Mission Enabler team in the Diocese of Guildford and Revd. Sue Willetts, Vicar of the Good Shepherd in Loughborough. If you watch live you can join in the conversation via the comments. And if you're still reading....next Sunday we have a new schedule for Sunday mornings which will stay the same until Easter. After the usual Morning Prayer there will be Diddy Disciples at 9.30am on zoom followed by a social time at 10.00am. Then at 10.45am a more formal liturgy will be live streamed on YouTube. I very much hope this will allow for everyone to be able to access and enjoy worshipping together over the coming weeks.Yours in ChristRevd Wendy
Dear Caroline,A few things to share with you this week but firstly many congratulations are due to Penny Pullan and Bob Smith who were licensed as Readers to our parish at a service led by Bishop Martyn today. Although not quite the same as all gathering in the Cathedral it was still a very special occasion and lovely to see Penny and Bob in their formal robes and being given their licence.Tomorrow morning, we shall be continuing that theme from today of being 'called together' and as we celebrate the Reader ministry of Penny, Bob and Martyn we shall think about the calling we all have as those baptised into Christ. An order of service is attached. Our preacher will be the Revd Liz Rawlins and the service will be live streamed on YouTube at 10.30am. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNymtzHV8G_EfZprXch9RIg Once the service finishes we shall stop the live stream and open up the call for after church 'coffee and chat' on zoom so I do hope you will be able to come along and say hello and congratulate our Readers yourself. For zoom log in details contact office@allsaintsloughborough.org.uk In the evening the annual united Loughborough Churches Partnership service will be available to watch from 6.30pm on both the LCP Facebook and YouTube pages on the theme of Hope. It will be good to support our brothers and sisters in Christ at the end of this week of prayer for Christian Unity. https://youtu.be/hpxWp6BdZuIWorship on 31st January for CandlemasFamily Worship 10.30amIt has been lovely worshipping with our Little Saints over the last few weeks on zoom using songs and storytelling and we shall return to that way of worshipping next week for a Candlemas service. All ages can really get a lot out of worshipping with the children so please do come along whatever your age. Choral Evensong 6.00pmAt 6.00pm we shall be live streaming a service from the church building on our YouTube channel. This service will feature music recorded by our choirs and the preacher will be the Dean of Leicester Cathedral, David Monteith.Giving to All SaintsWith our building still closed we have set up an easy way for people to make a donation to All Saints, particularly for those who would normally bring a financial gift to church on a Sunday or perhaps when visiting in the week. This link https://tinyurl.com/y4xswfto allows you to make a donation of any amount of your choosing at any time. For those who have a regular income and who consider All Saints their church community we encourage people to think about setting up a regular pattern of giving by using the <strong>Parish Giving Scheme. Just call 0333 002 1271 and use the reference number for our church 190 619 199. If you would like any help or would like to ask any questions about church finance please get in touch with our treasurer Bridget Towle on treasurer@allsaintsloughborough.org.uk. Creation CareCongratulations to Ed Cubitt who has become the first member of our church to get his bronze award on Creation Care. This is a scheme that Revd Emily asked us to consider taking part in as individual households. Take a look at this little film and see if this might inspire you to go for your bronze award too. https://youtu.be/hNaoSdc6pYASupport for local families - a message from Equality ActionWe have been receiving requests from local disadvantaged families who are struggling with supporting their children’s education via remote access. We understand there are pathways for technology from schools, colleges, and local authorities but currently the need outweighs the supply and families are struggling to support their children’s education. Help us support Charnwood children continue their education during these times. If you have an old tablet or laptop sitting in a drawer, please contact us and help our local children.https://forms.gle/ph7nvXBobYm2RcYF6 Lastly perhaps like me you were deeply moved by the poem written by Amanda Gorman for the US Presidential inauguration. The last line of her words delivered with such passion particularly struck me 'for there is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.' May you find the light of Christ this coming week in whatever you are facing and may each one of us find ways to be the light of Christ for others.Revd Wendy
