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Weekly News 28/3

28 March 2020 09:24

Hi Everyone

I hope you've all had a decent week, and managed to find ways to stay close to God and others, even if it's on the phone or online!
(There are a lot of web links in this email connecting to various websites. If they aren't highlighted blue to click on, then you can select the link with your mouse, right click and copy, and then paste into your web browser's address bar. You can reopen this email throughout the week to get back to the links or bookmark them in your browser.)
 
A few things to update you on:
 
Sundays
We've now been instructed by the CofE that we can only stream content from our homes, which does add an extra degree of difficulty. Our reading tomorrow is Psalm 150 if you'd like to have your Bible ready. I've tried to simplify and increase the access to it. Here are a few ways to watch, read, sing and pray along:
 
(This will definitely be available afterwards, but hopefully live as well. I will try to get it onto our Church Facebook page too.)
 
After the short service, you might like to make use of:
(Just watch out for adverts that you can skip after a few seconds, and scroll through the list below the video for a range of hymns and songs)
 
The Archbishop of York is also broadcasting a service this coming Sunday from his home, more details here: https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/news/archbishop-york-leads-front-room-sunday-service
 
Connecting Online
It was great to have 34 people online together for the virtual coffee morning on Wednesday. I know a few people couldn't connect so I'm going to put revised instructions below. 
 
Prayer is of course vitally important, so I'm also going to host a weekly online prayer meeting at 7pm on Sundays.
 
Instructions for Zoom
On a computer - as long as you have a camera and mic, you should only need to click on the 'https' links below to join. But don't click the link until the start of the meeting!
 
On a phone or tablet - it helps to download the Zoom Cloud app from either the Google Play or Apple app stores in advance. Then when it's time for the meeting, open the app on your phone or tablet, and copy in the 'Meeting ID' you've been sent.


Practical Support
I have been working on a system that will allow us to share practical support with one another, and particularly for those who need to take stricter precautions over the following weeks.

- If you would like someone to pick up some shopping or a prescription, please let me know.
- If you could help pick up some shopping with your own shop to drop to someone, please also let me know
- If you have a shopping delivery and could include some additional items, especially for those with specific dietary needs, please let me know

In all these cases, we will make sure that the church organises the money so that there's no awkwardness or anyone left out of pocket. If we have enough volunteers, it would be lovely to think that we could offer this a little more widely in Wick, for the benefit of the isolated and vulnerable, so do please let me know.

Finance
A few people have asked what the impact will be on the Church. It's a sensible question because we're not meeting and collecting an offering in the same way. There isn't much space here, but I just want to say a few things:
- This situation may well be affecting you financially. If that is the case, please adjust your giving accordingly. Do not feel guilty if you need to reduce or stop your giving, especially if you now have no income coming in.
- Thank you to those who are able to continue with your regular giving
- If, and only if, you usually give through the weekly collection and would now like to give via a standing order, then the form for that is available at  https://www.allsaintswick.org.uk/45/Members-Area 
- Let's pray for those who are facing a real struggle with finance right now, and as a church continue to trust that God will supply all our needs.

Other Updates
  • Annual Meeting and Church Council - this has been postponed by the national CofE until September
  • Prayer Walk - I had mentioned doing one today, which can't happen now. But why not use your daily walk to also pray locally. We will get more resources and ideas out to help with that soon
  • Directory - Do make use of our directory to keep in contact with others. Now is also a great chance to upload a photo of yourself so that we can remember what we all look like! https://allsaintswick.churchbox.co.uk/
  • Online Videos, links and resources - We're constantly adding to and updating our online hub of resources at: https://www.allsaintswick.org.uk/151/Dispersed-Church So do keep checking back, more coming soon...
  • Weekly News Sheet - Jane has worked on a new format for our weekly news sheet and this week's is attached to this email.
  • Your stories - Are there ways that God has been speaking to you through this? Do you have a testimony of what the Lord has been doing as we've adapted. If you could share a few words on this, please send me an email as I would love to keep encouraging us all with stories of God's faithfulness. Thank you!
Take care everyone, and God bless, the Lord is with us!
Tom