WEEKLY MESSAGE FROM OUR VICAR, ALEX –13th JANUARY 2022
Dear Church Family Members and Parish Friends,
Hoping very much that this email finds you well.
It is a little while since we last had a news update and this one is packed with information on the months to come!
It includes:
An overview of dates (set so far) for January to April 2022. This is attached as a PDF document, so it can be separately printed. Please do store all the dates in your diaries...
and information on:
1. The Fellowship Group
2. The Marriage Course
3. Baptism and confirmation
4. Leading in Love and Faith
5. The upcoming Banstead Five Pantomime
6. Becoming a Banstead Five Trustee
More next week... there is a LOT happening, which is brilliant.
Love and prayers,
Alex
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1. A new group: The Fellowship Group
A number of you have been saying to me how much you appreciate being able to share with one another and encourage one another on the Christian journey - and how you would like more opportunities to do this.
The Fellowship Group (for which we may think of a better name at some point) will be a trial group that will meet 3 times in the next few months on these dates:
Monday 30th January
Monday 28th February
Monday 4th April
The idea will be that, each time we meet, everyone will bring something encouraging about how God has been working in our lives to share (in the space of 2-3 minutes each) with the rest of the group. This could be a bible verse, something form nature which has prompted prayer, a photo of a painting which has done the same (which would need to be sent to me first so it could be easily shared). Anything which has prompted us in praise and thanksgiving, or helped us to hear from God.
These meetings will be on Zoom at 7pm.
If you'd like to join in, please use this link to let me know and I will send more information to you: https://forms.gle/7J2D77uz8hUbtvnaA
2. The Marriage Course
We will be running HTB The Marriage Course, for married couples in our parish, in February and March. This will be on Zoom on Wednesday evenings (time TBC, 7pm or 7.30pm- we need to experiment to see how long the sessions take). Michael and I will be acting as the Zoom hosts, although we will be doing the course along with any other couples who wish to join us. (Please do not worry we do NOT think we are experts on this, having probably the newest marriage in the church family ??!)
There will be videos to watch and questions to answer in your couples only. There will be no sharing with the rest of the group on private matters - it is simply an opportunity to spend time growing marriages, helping couples to set aside time for talking about important topics.
For more information about the course, please take a look at this link: https://themarriagecourse.org/
To sign up, please use this link: https://forms.gle/DRKrz8cJMQXFGmk39
The dates are below:
Wednesday 9th February
Wednesday 16th February
Wednesday 23rd February
BREAK FOR ASH WEDNESDAY
Wednesday 9th March
Wednesday 16th March
Wednesday 23rd March
Wednesday 30th March
3. Baptism and Confirmation
In recent weeks I have been having some lovely conversations with several of you who are considering either baptism or confirmation as an outward expression of faith in our Loving Lord Jesus.
Below is a link with a 2-minute video about baptism and confirmation in the Church of England (although it starts by talking about infant baptism, it does talk about adult baptism as well - and confirmation too). If you have not been baptised or confirmed and are interested in this idea for yourself or for a child, please take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnpXtAPFZqc
And then email me to arrange a chat. I would love to hear from you.
4. Living in Love and Faith
The Church of England are currently undergoing a period of church-wide learning together, listening to one another and listening to God as part of discerning a way forward for the Church of England in relation to matters of identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage.
Some materials called Living in Love and Faith have been designed to help those who would like the opportunity to reflect on these topics together to be able to do so.
I have reviewed the materials myself and would like to give anyone who would appreciate also doing so, the opportunity to spend time in five reflective sessions with me on these topics.
To register your interest, please use this link: https://forms.gle/M3wDe3eBd5eboJdR8
Dates and details are still TBC.
5. The upcoming Banstead Five Pantomime
Members of the Banstead Five are putting on a pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, at the end of January and there are still some tickets available for this on Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th.
If you'd like to go along, please book your tickets on Ticketsource through the Pilgrim Pantomime website: https://www.pilgrimpantomime.com/
6. Becoming a Banstead Five Trustee
The Banstead Five (five local church of which we, as the Parish of Nork with Burgh Heath are a member) are looking for a volunteer from our parish to be a trustee of the Banstead Five Monies, which are allocated to joint churches works in the local area.
There are five trustees - one from each of the five churches / parishes represented - and our place is currently vacant. I am not able to fulfil this role, as I am on the Banstead Five Executive Committee and the two are kept separate because one funds the other.
Please have a look at the 'advert' for the role attached. I am told it is not arduous! Susan Major, church warden from All Saints Banstead, is chair of this group.
Please let me know if you may be able to take on this role. Susan is happy to have a conversation with anyone who may be interested.
Love and prayers,
Alex
Rev Alex Stevens
Vicar
Parish of Nork with Burgh Heath
07312 113019
The PCC of the Parish of Nork with Burgh Heath is a Registered UK Charity No 1180563
WEEKLY SERMONS - To access our past weekly sermons, please click here
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COVID SAFETY IN OUR CHURCHES FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS
As we are all aware, the Government lifted all COVID restrictions on Monday 19th July.
The Church of England and the Diocese have urged all church leaders and PCCs to make decisions over COVID safety which
• continue to manage the risks of COVID as safely as possible
• take into account the needs of the more vulnerable members of our church family (ie thinking of the needs of others - rather than our own wishes as our focus)
• and demonstrate responsible love & care for all
Decisions over COVID measures are now being made in each individual parish, according to the unique circumstances of different areas and different groups of people.
I wrote to you last week, seeking your preferences on topics such as social distancing, mask wearing, singing and sharing the peace. Thank you so much to everyone who responded, it has been very helpful.
The PCC and I then met on Monday evening and discussed all the findings, which are shared below with the decisions which we think are wise for the current time and which will be reviewed again in our next PCC meeting on Monday 20th September.
We have tried to go with the majority preferences wherever possible as will also be shown below.
At the bottom of the outcomes to the key questions asked are some further general points, which were highlighted by some of you and which we discussed as part of the process.
Sharing the Peace
The easiest decision to make, following everyone's responses is that - for now - we will continue to share the peace by waving & nodding at each other, including those on Zoom.
76% of respondents said that their preference is to keep waving for now.
10% suggested elbow or fist pumps
14% are happy to share the peace by shaking hands, but would avoid those who are uncomfortable (there was a suggestion that perhaps those who don't wish to share the peace could stay seated) and would hand sanitise afterwards.
The majority, by far, wished to keep waving & nodding.
This will next be reviewed at the PCC meeting on Monday 20th September.
Mask Wearing
Again, this was an easy decision to make (because of the high majority preference): For now, we will ask you to continue to wear masks when you enter the church building for worship, until you exit at the end.
73% of respondents said that they would prefer us to still wear masks
Of these 3% suggested that if someone refuses to wear a mask then it may be helpful for them to be asked to sit at the front of the church to keep others safe (I will not be asking this of anyone - but instead will ask everyone to consider the needs and wishes of others around them)
10% of respondents said that they would prefer to stop wearing masks, but are happy to continue to do so if others would prefer to keep them
16% of respondents stated that they would like to stop wearing masks and of these 3% wished to put them on during the sharing of communion and 3% wished to review according to local infection rates over time
This request does not apply to children under 12 and does not apply to the medically exempt. Please do chat with me about any concerns you may have in this regard.
This will next be reviewed at the PCC meeting on Monday 20th September.
Singing in Church
From this Sunday (August 1st) we will begin to sing again in church, but we will ask everyone (excepting children under 12 and those who are exempt) to keep their masks on to do so.
94% of respondents would like some kind of singing to resume.
Of this 94% 17% of people said that they would prefer this to be outside
Of this 94% a different 37% (ie not including the 17% above) of people would only feel comfortable singing inside with masks on
Of this 94% a different 20% of people would prefer to start by singing some of the songs only so that everyone can regain confidence in this
Of this 94%, the remaining 23% had no additional stipulations
Additional comments made:
27% of respondents said that it would be sensible to ask those who are keen to sing to sit at the front and those who are nervous about singing to sit nearer the back
11% of respondents commented that having some services where there is singing and some where there isn't would probably not be helpful
The approach taken by PCC to decide to sing all songs, but keep masks on was an attempt to 'go down the middle' of all the different suggestions.
This will next be reviewed at the PCC meeting on Monday 20th September.
Social Distancing in Church
Of the decisions made, this was the most complicated! We would ask you to bear with us in the process which we will go through on this.
For now, we will continue to keep 2 metre social distancing, however over the next few weeks we will experiment with how to make church look 'more like church used to':
From the 29th August,
• We will re-establish rows (though there will be some rows which people do sit on and others which they don't)
• We will also re-establish choice over where people sit (thank you for your patience up to now in sitting in allocated places, which - although trying to take into account hearing & other specific needs people have shared - has not always been to everyone's ideal!)
53% of respondents stated that they would prefer to keep to 2 metre social distancing for the current time
6% suggested reducing to 1.5 metres
22% suggested reducing to 1 metre
3% suggested sitting on alternate rows and sitting 1,2,3 (appropriate number) of seats apart
12% suggested social distancing isn't needed any more, but 3% suggested they would be happy to continue if others would like it
3% suggested having church half and half- 2m social distancing in one half and none in the other
3% were happy to go with the majority
A key point made, for us all to be aware of, is that little children do not understand 2 metres, 1 metre (etc). The parents who fed back on the questions are keen to support those who would like social distancing, but ask for understanding and kindness where their little ones unwittingly wander nearer to others than intended.
The approach taken by PCC here, was to try and honour the majority - over half of respondents still wish to keep 2 metre social distancing for now; but also to try and honour those who would like things to start to change by reshaping what the 2-metre social distancing looks like.
We have made the date of the 29th August to give time to experiment and re-prepare the churches. This will follow the joint service on Zoom on the 22nd August and so also gives extra time for those who will be involved in helping move the furniture for the revised church layout.
This will next be reviewed at the PCC meeting on Monday 20th September.
Some Further General Points:
Some further points were raised by a number of you and were discussed at PCC and in addition to the points above:
1) Zoom provision will continue for both services: Zoom is a new gift from the last 16 months which will stay with us as an additional tool for meetings and worship probably forever now, which can be applied as appropriate to different events. 16% of respondents to the questions do not feel safe enough (for medical or other reasons) or ready to return to church yet and will continue to join us from Zoom for the foreseeable future.
2) Our Monthly Joint Service will continue on Zoom for now, due to the higher numbers of people and also to enable those who are continuing on Zoom regularly for the moment to be able to see the rest of us and us them more easily
3) Booking for services will continue (at least until 20th September): one thing the government has requested is that a registering system continues for events, including worship, and this is a good way of doing this as well as planning for those who come. This is so that if there is a covid outbreak, we know who may be affected by it and can let you know swiftly.
4) Communion will continue in one kind only - although we are actually allowed to consider using the cup & sharing wine with one another, this is simply not safe or sensible at the current time.
5) Cleaning, good ventilation, hand sanitisation and other sensible measures will remain in place - everyone will continue to be asked to hand sanitise on arriving at the churches (to protect each other from the spread of germs) and everyone will continue to be asked to hand sanitise on the way out (to protect the local community from any germs which we still may have amongst us)
6) A more adaptable approach will be needed for Messy Church and Community Alive, the services where we have most children at each church: Although social distancing measures will still be in place for the adults, children need to interact and be able to be free (as far as their parents are happy with) to engage with one another - as they do at school. It is important that they can really enjoy the craft activities, games, role play activities and other items planned for them. Safety measures will still be in place for these services, but they will need their own risk assessments and different planning.
7) Each group activity will need its own risk assessment: although safety plans for group activities will be expected to be in line with the decisions for worship, individual risk assessments will be needed for each of these as we begin to open out again from September (consultations are currently taking place with team leaders on plans for the autumn)
8) Refreshments: Although we would all love to share refreshments with one another after services, as it is a key part of church in usual times, we have decided not to restart refreshments at the current time. As with each of the decisions made, this will be reviewed at the next PCC meeting on the 20th September.
This decision about refreshments does not apply to the group & outreach activities in the week (where numbers are generally smaller), and decisions on how to approach this in each different circumstance will be made by the team leaders and myself, jointly.
These points will next be reviewed at the PCC meeting on Monday 20th September.
I hope it is helpful to have read our thinking and you now feel confident about what to expect on Sunday at church and why.
Thank you again to all who took time to answer the questions either in email or discussion. It has been greatly appreciated.
Love and prayers,
Alex
Rev Alex Stevens
Vicar
Parish of Nork with Burgh Heath
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