Church Buildings, Coronavirus, Services, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Lockdown update

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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.

Coronavirus, Pastoral Care, support

Support a neighbour

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Have you got a few hours to spare? Could you help someone who needs company or assistance with practical tasks?

Farnham Neighbours’ Network, a new buddying initiative, aims to build sustainable friendship in Farnham, fostering neighbourliness, providing practical support and combating loneliness.

This local network is looking for volunteers: people with good listening skills and an hour or so to spare each week who are interested in getting to know someone new . In the current lockdown, the focus is on supporting people and combatting loneliness through social phone calls, which means you can safely volunteer from home.

In the longer term, volunteers will be needed to support others with learning how to use a new piece of technology; to do some light DIY and gardening; to go for walks and more, in line with the ambition to have a network which supports the needs and wishes of the town’s residents.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer or simply finding our more. click on the link here or email the coordinator Erin Beesley: erin.beesley@farnhammaltings.com

The FNN coordinator links volunteers up with a neighbour based on proximity, interests and the support they are happy to give. All volunteers receive a DBS check and will be given full support to ensure they feel confident and safe in volunteering.

Farnham Neighbours Network is run by Farnham Maltings in partnership with Farnham Town Council.

Picture by  Ave Calvar on Unsplash.
Services

Epiphany Services – 3rd January

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Today we are celebrating Epiphany – when the magi visit Jesus as a child. 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.
Meet virtually with others
At 7:30pm on 5th January Beyond Belief is meeting – a group to discuss interesting books related to faith. We currently meet online via Zoom and are discussing Days Of Awe And Wonder: How To Be A Christian In The Twenty-First Century by Marcus Borg. We are going to read it by themes rather than consecutive chapters and during the first meeting we will be discussing 1. Listening to the Spirit, 4. Jesus our model of being Spirit filled, 16. Listening for the voice of God. To join the meeting, click here: https://zoom.us/j/96494675106 At 7:30pm on 6th January Bible Book Club is meeting – a group will be looking at Genesis chapters 37-50, the story of Jacob, Leah and Rachel, on Wednesday at 7:30pm on Zoom. Everyone is welcome. There are details of it here: https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/explore-the-bible/bible-book-club/genesis/ The meeting can be found here: https://zoom.us/j/95184241513 Meeting ID: 951 8424 1513. If you haven’t used Zoom before, instructions can be found here: https://badshotleaandhale.org/2020/03/30/using-zoom/

Services

All-Age:
More Traditional:
Environment, Events, St George's Church, St Mark's Church

Have your voice heard over the future of Farnham

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Join the online public meeting on January 6 at 6.30pm to discuss the Farnham Infrastructure Programme which aims to improve traffic and transport across the town and make Farnham a better and safer place to live.

It is very important that north Farnham residents have their say so that all parts of the town are improved. For instance, if the centre of Farnham is pedestrianised, what impact would that have on north Farnham?

There are details of some of the issues in a leaflet here:

North Farnham Voice leaflet Issue 1 FinalDownload

If you are on Facebook please join the North Farnham Voice group (click here) and please sign up for the Zoom meeting on Wednesday – click here to do so.

There will also be Zoom hubs available. Contact Hale Community Centre or St Mark’s Church/St George’s Church.

Anyone who doesn’t want to or cannot participate via Zoom can email Catherine Powell, founder of North Farnham Voice, with ideas and/or solutions or can contact their local councillor – details of councillors can be found here.

Please join us and have your voice heard.

Giving and Fundraising, music, St John's Church

concert raises money for Macmillan Cancer Support

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Charity fundraising has been a victim of Covid, but there have been ways to keep bringing in money as a concert at St John’s before Christmas (and before Tier 4) proved.

The Gazebo Quartet, made up of local professional musicians, hired the church on December 13 and put on a concert for an invited audience who could sit safely in bubbles and appreciate the music.

Judy Dudley from the quartet writes: “

“The players who constitute the Gazebo String Quartet would like to give a big thank you to St John’s, Church Hale for making it possible for us to perform our Christmas Concert in December 2020.

“Being local musicians who play for both amateur and professional events, we formed the quartet when playing together outside under a gazebo during the early Covid restrictions, hence the name!

“We presented an eclectic programme of popular music items from Neil Diamond to Gilbert and Sullivan followed by beautiful arrangements of Christmas Carols from a variety of European roots.

“St John’s Church has a very fine acoustic for an event like this which made playing there particularly satisfying for string players. We were so pleased to be able to donate £175.00 to Macmillan Cancer Care donated by our generous invited audience.”

Judy Dudley (violin), Zoe Marshall (violin), Pippa Cuckson (viola) and Lynda Trice (cello).

Christmas, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Epiphany

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Come to any of our three churches this Sunday – January 3 – to celebrate Epiphany.

We will be holding all-age services for Epiphany at 9.30am at St John’s, 10am at St George’s and 11am at St Mark’s. Everyone is welcome – we have done everything that we can to keep congregations safe from Covid. Please wear a mask unless you are exempt.

Epiphany recalls the visit by the Magi – also known as the Wise Men – to the infant Jesus as recounted in the Gospel of Matthew. They came from eastern lands and were therefore not Jewish so they signify the way that Jesus is for all nations, Jews and non-Jews alike.

Because the story speaks of them bringing three gifts to Jesus – gold, frankincense and myrrh – the Western church has tended to talk of three Magi but the Eastern church suggests there were 12.

Come and join us and celebrate.

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