Much will be changing at Denham Parish Church from this coming Sunday, 25 July. Not just some of the previous lockdown rules, but also our pattern of services from 1 August – lots to look forward to!
Edda and Christoph Lindner are taking you through the changes (6 minutes).
All Change!
Watch a short video update from Christoph and Edda here…
From Sunday, 25 July:
We can sing again in church! At a time when Covid numbers remain high, we are taking careful steps to ensure that everyone feels safe when they come to church:
We will continue to keep all our hygiene measures and social distancing in place. By reducing the distance between individuals and ‘bubbles’ to about 1m we can increase our capacity at St Mary’s a little.
Please continue to sign up beforehand. We will keep some free seats for those who turn up and are not aware of this arrangement.
Being able to sing was at the top of your list in our survey a couple of months ago. To make sure we keep one another safe, we are asking you to continue to wear a mask inside St Mary’s Church. Of course you don’t have to wear a mask if you have a medical exemption.
You can choose where to sit.
We will refrain from shaking hands when sharing the peace and at the end of the service.
We will delay sharing the common cup at Holy Communion while Covid infection numbers remain high.
As soon as we have established a new coffee rota we will serve coffee and tea after the service – probably at the back of church to avoid a bottleneck in the vestry. Please let Victoria know if you want to help with coffee.
From next Sunday, 1 August:
The 9.30am service at St Mary’s will move to 10.30am.
The service will be streamed live from the church on Youtube.
Only the front of church (chancel and sanctuary) will be visible on the live-stream. If you want to avoid being seen on the video (which is publicly available on the internet), please do not walk into the vestry from the church five minutes before the service or immediately afterwards. Please speak with our parish secretary Victoria if you are on a rota to read, lead, pray, etc. and do not want to be visible on the internet.
The month of August will be a time of experimentation – we will learn a lot and probably make a few mistakes. Your feedback is very welcome!
Last Christmas we invited you to contribute to our Christmas Appeal for LiFT, an orphanage home in Nigeria that provides a home for children who are victims of the humanitarian crisis in the country. Our associate minister Nnamdi Maduka knows its director personally and can vouch for the excellent work they are doing. Since then we have had additional donations for the building and equipping of their new orphanage home. Here is a letter from the director to our church. Please continue to pray for the work of LiFT.
On Sunday 11 April at 6pm Denham Parish broadcast a special service to mark the death of Prince Philip on Youtube and Facebook.
This service lasted about 30 minutes and can now be streamed:
Click here for the service…
The Church of England has created an online Book of Condolence in which you can submit a message.
Click here for the online Book of Condolence…
There will be a Service of Thanksgiving for the life of HRH, The Duke of Edinburgh at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, on Friday 16 April. The service will start at 6.05pm. It will be recorded and live-streamed both by the Cathedral and by BBC Radio Oxford. Visit oxford.anglican.org/livestream for details.
The BBC has published timings for the funeral on Saturday. A minute’s silence will be held nationwide, in memory of the duke at 15:00hrs
Click here for more details…
“I join with the rest of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth in mourning the loss of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, and give thanks to God for his extraordinary life of dedicated service. Prince Philip continually demonstrated his unfailing support and unstinting loyalty to Her Majesty The Queen for 73 years. He consistently put the interests of others ahead of his own and, in so doing, provided an outstanding example of Christian service.” The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. Read his full statement here…
Let us pray:
God of our lives,
we give thanks for the life of Prince Philip,
for the love he shared among us,
and for his devotion to duty.
We entrust him now to your love and mercy, through our Redeemer Jesus Christ. Amen.
(for use with young children)
Loving God,
We are sad that Prince Philip has died.
Thank you for his long life
and for his care for The Queen and our country. Amen.
Have you got your census letter?
The census is coming, and it’s about you. Without the information you share, it’d be more difficult to understand our community’s needs and to plan for the future.
By taking part, you will help inform decisions about the services you and your community need, like doctors’ surgeries and new schools. Anonymised data will also help us shape our church’s work in future years.
Census day is on March 21, but households will already have received letters with online codes explaining how they can complete their forms. If you haven’t received one yet, please get in touch with the census contact centre. You can also request a paper questionnaire if you’d prefer to complete your census that way.
There is lots of support available such as a help area on the census website and a contact centre that can give you help over the phone and guidance in a range of languages and accessible formats, including paper questionnaires and large print. You can also use your postcode to find local census support centres on the census website.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) runs the census in England and Wales and is independent from the government. All information is held securely for 100 years. Statistics are only compiled based on anonymised data and personal information is not shared with any organisation and is never sold.
For more information, and to find out how to get help, visit census.gov.uk or call the contact centre on 0800 141 2021.
Last Sunday we reflected on Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness. The number 40 is often significant in the Bible for a journey of challenge and growth (think about Israel’s 40 years in the wilderness!).
Join us in the “Mark 40 Challenge”!
Read the Gospel of Mark in 40 readings. You could do it in 40 days (good for stamina and discipline) or just read two or three passages per week. The important thing is to commit to it, put the times in your diary and then stick with it as much as possible. That way you will establish the healthy habit of reading the Bible on a regular basis.
Click here for a list of the 40 passages, always with a thought or a question for each day…
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has received his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and encouraged others to do the same. Calling the vaccine “an answer to prayer,” Welby said that receiving the jab is part of Christ’s call to “love our neighbour as ourselves”.
“I want to encourage everyone to get the Covid-19 vaccine when they are invited,” Welby said in a statement. “Staff across the NHS, and health workers across the world, are under immense pressure on the front lines of this pandemic. They deserve not just our admiration but our support – and getting the vaccine when we have the opportunity is something we can all do to help relieve the burden on them.”
Welby received the vaccine due to his work as a volunteer chaplain at St Thomas’ hospital in London. Early on in the pandemic, it emerged that Welby had been secretly volunteering as a chaplain to comfort the sick and dying.
“It has been a privilege to volunteer at St Thomas’ over the past year,” the Archbishop added. “Chaplains here and across the country are doing a vital job of providing spiritual and pastoral care to patients, staff and relatives at this acutely painful and difficult time.”
(Source: premierchristian.news)
Let’s pray together:
Here is a map of the worst parts of our world to live in if you are a Christian. They need our prayer. Can you pick one (there is more information when you click on it), find out more and commit to praying for this country regularly?
Click here for more information…
St Mary’s Church Office
Village Road
Denham UB9 5BH
Tel: 01895 832771
