On Saturday 11th September Mother Claire Abraham was ordained deacon (along with 25 others) by the The Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, Bishop of Chelmsford at Chelmsford Cathedral. Mthr Claire now takes up her post as Assistant Curate in our parish and she was able to act as deacon for the first time at our Sunday Mass on 12th September. In the photograph she appears here with the rest of the altar party after the Mass on Sunday. We wish her every blessing in her future ministry among us and in the wider church.
The hymnbooks are dusted off and we are ready to sing a hymn after Mass for the first time since March 2020.This is possible because Coronavirus Precautions have now been relaxed by the Government. This means that we are now able to sing in church. We will sing the Mass Setting and one hymn at the end of Mass.However, we would encourage people to continue to:1) Wear face masks in church (unless exempt) when moving about: arriving at church, leaving church, receiving Communion. Please also wear your mask when we sing. You may choose to wear your mask in your place at your discretion. 2) Consider using the Track and Trace code or add your details to our attendance list.3) Sanitise your hands on entry to church.4) Maintain social distancing as far as possible which means that we will continue to share the Peace at a distance.All our worship will continue to be available via Livestream on Facebook Live.
We are very pleased to announce that after discussion at our Church Council and bulding on past work our parish has now been accepted as a member of the Inclusive Church network. This means that we are committed to work towards being a church which celebrates and affirms every person and seeks to not discriminate on the grounds of disability, economic power, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, learning disability, mental health, neurodiversity, or sexuality.We are the first Church of England parish to join in Southend Deanery. This is just the beginning of the journey!Find out more information at https://www.inclusive-church.org/Sign-up to receive the monthly Newsletter here: https://www.inclusive-church.org/receive-our-newsletter/
