Coronavirus, Health and Wholeness, support

Community Support

Leave a comment

The Farnham Helpline 01252 745446 is open from 10am until 4pm for anyone who needs help because of Covid – shopping, prescriptions etc.

Also, if you need pastoral support please let a member of the clergy know. Alan and Lesley can be contacted on 01252 820537 or by emailing:
revd.alan@badshotleaandhale.org or 
revd.lesley@badshotleaandhale.org

You can also contact the church office:
07842 761919 or admin@badshotleaandhale.org

The NHS Volunteer Responders are active and available to support with collection of shopping and other essentials in all areas. You can call them for free on 0808 196 3646.

How can you help the Foodbank? They are generally well stocked up, but are always short of certain items which they highlight on their website. They also have posters of these specific requests at food collections points: Waitrose, Nationwide, Wine rack on Ridgeway and Co-op in Rowledge. 

The Hoppa Service is still running if people are in need of transport.

Hale Community Centre is staying open for reduced hours to carry on delivering the Community Fridge & Store and the Swap Shop. They are open Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 10am-12pm.

Brightwells Community Meals are running and have the capacity to accept more clients. You can get in touch with them on communitymeals@brightwellsgostry.org.  

These community meals can support those living alone, or in residential facilities, and provide a freshly cooked hot meal.

Picture by Jonathan Sanchez on Unsplash.

Lent

Lent

Leave a comment

Next month we move into Lent which begins on Ash Wednesday, this year February 17.

Lent is that six-week period leading up to Easter, a time of reflection and prayer, a time when people often ‘give up’ something – chocolate, alcohol, social media etc – as a type of self-discipline and active reflection.

It is a solemn time but also a time of looking forward, moving from the barren darkness of winter to the new life and light of spring. This winter has been particularly dark as we have faced Covid-19 and all that this has meant, but there is hope that we are on a slow journey to light.

With this in mind, our Lent observance will focus on looking forward and looking outwards, seeing how we can grow our ministry to our community.

There will be a sermon series in the three Sunday services at the churches plus the Wednesday service at St Mark’s, and in the online Sunday Morning service. This will start on February 21. The Lent groups will also be following this theme and will meet on Zoom. They will be on Tuesdays 2.30-4pm, Wednesdays 7.30-9pm and Sundays at 1.30-2.30pm, especially for families.

Please contact Alan on 01252 820537 or revd.alan@badshotleaandhale.org to tell him you are interested in coming to Lent Groups.

If you want to follow your own Lenten reflections here are suggestions of devotional reading, courses and books.

Children and Youth, Five year plan, outreach

Five year plan

Leave a comment

Where will we be in five years?

The PCC is putting together a five-year plan to help us become stronger as a parish.

There are three strands to the plan:

  • Outreach – enabling our churches to be more accessible and relevant to our communities, and making sure we are engaged fully at the heart of our communities;
  • Youth – ensuring we engage with young people of all ages in our communities;
  • Finance – ensuring we have a strong financial base from which to minister.

Each year we will have targets to ensure we are on track and there will be groups set up to help guide these three strands. You will hear lots more about this and if you want to help out in these areas please let me know Lesley know on 01252 820537 or revd.lesley@badshotleaandhale.org.

Art

Art at St Mark’s, Unlimited!

Leave a comment

The Song of Simeon

“Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace,
according to thy word:
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.”

So what’s that all about? 

Well, the story of it is that when Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple as a baby, an old man called Simeon met them.  Simeon had been promised that he would see the Messiah and so he recognised Jesus.  Simeon was so delighted that he couldn’t keep from singing and we have his song remembered in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 2:29-32). 

For our art theme this time, take the words of the Song of Simeon, read them through and see which phrase jumps out at you.  You can use whichever version of the words you like, I like the King James version (above) but you may have another copy of the Bible which uses slightly different words, or trying looking online – search Luke 2:29-32.  I’ve put another version at the end of this message.

Remember, art is unlimited – it could be a picture, but it could be a poem, or sculpture, collage of model.  I have been working on a piece of jewellery.   

So whatever art it is, photograph your work and send it to me
(LLM Lesley:  llm.lesley@badshotleaandhale.org ).  Also, tell me why you chose these particular words and I will put an online exhibition together.  Please sign your work so I know it is your own and confirm that you are happy for us to exhibit it online and in St Mark’s

Closing date for receipt of photos: Sunday 31 January – which is in time for Candlemas, the date when the church remembers the story of Simeon.

(We will have a display which you can see at St Mark’s too, so bring your work there if you can.)

Just in case the King James’ version of the song doesn’t appeal to you, here is another:

“Now, Lord, you have kept your promise,
    and you may let your servant go in peace.
With my own eyes I have seen your salvation,
    which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples:
A light to reveal your will to the Gentiles
    and bring glory to your people Israel.”


What are you waiting for?  I want to see that art!

Art

Lockdown Poems

5 Comments

Could you write down your thoughts about the lockdown? We’d love to include lockdown poems by adults or children in our online services. Here is a lovely poem to inspire you.

Or this poem by Jim Carruth

the long bench

For the times ahead
when we will be

as if at either end
of the long bench

where distance kept
is love’s measure

and death dances
the space between

when words alone
are not enough

and queued memories
reach out to touch

let longing be a store
of nut and seed

that grows each day
in strange hibernation

readying for its end –
the sharing of the feast.

Please send your work to me – revd.lesley@badshotleaandhale.org

Services

Baptism of Christ Services – 10th January

Leave a comment
Today we are celebrating the Baptism of Christ. Below are the services.  First here are the notices:

Notices

Giving
Please Give to our Ministry This church relies on donations to provide care and support to everyone in this community. Now more than ever, please consider giving generously to support our mission and ministry by clicking the button above. Thank you for your support.
Stay Well
If you are struggling in any way please don’t suffer in silence – give the Rectory a call – 01252 820537 – it is tough at the moment and we would love to hear from you.

Services

All-Age:
More Traditional:
Church Buildings, Coronavirus, Services, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Lockdown update

Leave a comment

We are back into lockdown with schools closed to most children; restrictions on leaving our homes; all but essential shops closed; and other rules which are now law which you can find here.

However, churches can remain open for worship as long as they follow strict precautions such as social distancing, hand sanitizing, no mingling between households/bubbles, everyone of 11 and over wearing masks (unless exempt), and the parish is continuing to monitor the situation. We have increased the space between chairs where possible, have moved the altar at St Mark’s back to create more space and at St Mark’s will be bringing communion to people rather than expecting them to move around to take communion so that there is enough room for everyone.

However, no-one who feels uncomfortable about coming to church should feel any obligation to come and there are online services every week here.

Lesley explains the thinking behind this: “Churches offer comfort and support which is particularly important at a time when our mental health is under such strain. Moreover, the risk of catching Covid has been shown to be very low in UK churches and we have gone out or our way to ensure that we have mitigated any risks. We will continue to follow the guidelines and to ask our congregations to do the same.

“We also want churches to remain open for funerals. For many families, church funerals are important and we are also able to accommodate larger numbers than many crematoria – we can have up to 30 people – so enabling more people to experience this important aspect of grieving.

“Of course many of our congregations may not wish to come to church at the moment. We are continuing our services online as well as in church so those who have internet can join in. However, we are acutely aware of those people who do not have internet and cannot come to church and we are doing what we can to ensure that they are not isolated. We even have people ringing others up and playing the service through the phone as well as just having a general chat.”

Our services are at 9.30am at St John’s, 10am at St George’s and 11am at St Mark’s, and online services are here.

Serving the Villages North of Farnham: Badshot Lea, Hale, Heath End & Weybourne