Dear friends, brothers and sisters,
Grace and Peace from St. Michael’s.
We live in unprecedented times – in response to the coronavirus crisis, tonight my daughter’s GCSE exams have been cancelled, wedding services have been reduced to a handful of people, jobs and businesses are under threat like never before, and we are learning to interact in new ways, and that’s without mentioning panic buying, or the fear and anxiety so many experience. It is hard to take in the extent of the times we are living in – they are unusual and painful times; please be assured of my prayers for you all at this time.
And yesterday the Church of England suspended Sunday and midweek services and activities with immediate effect. But pleased be assured, this doesn’t mean we, the Church of England, or St. Michael’s, have shut up shop. ‘Far from it’ to quote our Archbishop’s! What it means is that over the coming weeks and months, we will learn how to be church in new ways – both in prayer and service.
As a church, we are at the heart of the Felton Community Helpline that we are setting up, so we can serve those in our community. Many of you have already indicated you want to join in too. This is church in action, being Jesus’ hands and feet.
I will share more next week about what prayer and worship will look like for us in the coming weeks, but for now let me address our immediate plans for Sunday (22nd March). There will be no public services, although I will be uplifting you, the church, the parish and the nation over the course of the morning.
For this Sunday only, in line with the Church of England and thousands across the nation, I am calling on us all to pray at 7pm – by placing a lighted candle in your window as a sign of solidarity and hope in the light of Christ that can never be extinguished. To help us in our prayers, I have attached two different sets of prayers you could use at this time. One is focused entirely on the coronavirus crisis, the other is more generic evening prayer. Copies of both these sets of prayers can be picked up from the back of church, or you can print them yourselves. Please do take part as it will be important for us as a church community to get used to praying together at the same time, even if we are in our own homes.
Finally, this is a time for the church to be on its knees, to be a people of prayer. Therefore we will continue with our prayer for coronavirus as planned and I invite us all to come to church to pray on Thursday 19th March, anytime between 2pm – 8pm and pray on your own for the coronavirus season we are all caught up in. There will be simple prayers and prayer stations set out in the church to help you.
I will be back in touch next week, but in the meantime, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Blessings James