Wickham Bishops Parish Magazine December 2020 & January 2021
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Wickham Bishops Parish Magazine December 2020 & January 2021 Produced by St Bartholomew’s Church www.churchinwickhambishops.org.uk From December 6th we hope to be able to welcome worshippers to a 10.30am service in St. Bartholomew’s Church Hall adding to our weekly provision of an online service on Face Book Live. Numbers for this service will be limited to 32 taking into account required social distancing. To be assured of a place please text 07910109396 to book a seat or email [email protected] For Christmas services see centre pages, booking is essential Church Services for December 2020 SUNDAY 6 Advent 2 9.00am St. Nicholas’ Patronal Service of Holy Communion (Book of Common Prayer) in St Nicholas’. Phone 07960558587 to book a Pew. (Limited to 18) 10.30 am Service of Holy Communion in St Bartholomew’s Church Hall and on FB Live. 4.00 pm Christingle on FB Live Only – make your Christingle ready in advance for this short child friendly service. MONDAY 7 9.00 am Monthly Parish Prayers in St Bartholomew’s Church Hall SUNDAY 13 Advent 3 10.30 am Service of Holy Communion in St Bartholomew’s Church and on FB Live. SUNDAY 20 Advent 4 9.00 am Service of Holy Communion (Book of Common Prayer) in St Nicholas’. Phone 07960558587 to book a Pew. (Limited to 18) 10.30 am Sunday Praise Service in St Bartholomew’s Church Hall and on FB Live 3.00 pm A Quiet Christmas at St. Bartholomew’s. This Quiet Christmas service offers a space where people can find some calm and care in the midst of it all. Musical accompaniment. Also on FB Live. 24th and 25th Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Please see the details in the centre pages (pages 26 & 27) SUNDAY 27 Christmas 1 – Feast of St John 10.30 am Service of Holy Communion in St Bartholomew’s Church and on FB Live 2 This information is accurate at the time of going to print but may be changed according to government guidelines Sunday orders of service during lockdowns are posted on the parish website. https://www.churchinwickhambishops.org.uk/ St Nicholas’ Church is open daily for private individual prayer. St Bartholomew’s Church will be from 14th December 2020 All our services at St. Bartholomew’s Church are on FB Live or on Zoom Church Services for January 2021 SUNDAY 3 The Epiphany 10.30 am Service of Holy Communion in St Bartholomew’s Church SUNDAY 10 Baptism of Christ 10.30 am Service of Holy Communion in St Bartholomew’s Church SUNDAY 17 Epiphany 2 9.00 am Service of Holy Communion (Book of Common Prayer) in St Nicholas’. Phone 07960558587 to book a Pew. (Limited to 18) 10.30 am Sunday Praise Service in St Bartholomew’s Church Hall SUNDAY 24 Epiphany 3 10.30 am Service of Holy Communion in St Bartholomew’s Church SUNDAY 31 Epiphany 4 10.30 am Service of Holy Communion in St Bartholomew’s Church WEDNESDAYs (December and January) 10.00 am Service of Holy Communion in St Bartholomew’s Church or the Hall and on FB Live. There will be no mid-week services in the week after Christmas (30th) FRIDAYs (December and January) 10.15 am Zoom Prayers (please email [email protected] if you wish to be part of this so we can send you the link). 3 Parish Register Baptisms None Marriages None Funerals Ralph Arthur Buet (88) 16th November at Chelmsford Crematorium Joshua Baldwin (15) 20th November at St Bartholomew’s Parish Contacts Revd Hilary The Rectory, 1 Church Road, 01621 892867 Le Sève Wickham Bishops CM8 3LA Hilary’s day off Priest in Charge [email protected] is Friday. Revd Derek Clark The Leas Farm 01245 380627 Wickham Bishops Road Associate Priest Hatfield Peverel 07860 235778 CM3 2JL Barry Cousins 3 Harvey Road 01621 891355 Great Totham CM9 8QA Churchwarden [email protected] Graham Wingrove 8 Arbour Lane 07398 025442 Wickham Bishops Churchwarden CM8 3NS Peter Bates 10 Church Green 01621 893173 Wickham Bishops Magazine Editor [email protected] Kath Adkins [email protected] 01621 891143 Church Hall Bookings 4 Letter from Reverend Hilary In the middle of our complex world, the message of Christmas is simple, but also subtle. It is about the birth of a child. Around this child gathers a family who will watch as their child lives in creation - respectfully, not by overpowering it, not by forcefully taking over but by sensitive and compassionate living amongst us. “Do not be afraid” the angels say; the most frequent command in the gospels. It makes sense that given the birth of this child, entirely inhabited by God, there might be fear. Yet there is no need of fear here, given the simplicity of what we celebrate. The child expresses and embodies all that is dignified, trusting and respectful in our relationships. The Good News (Gospel) Jesus shares, is about making humankind into a new sort of family. He shows us how to approach God as ‘Abba’ (Daddy) and says that any of us who trust him are brothers and sisters, gifted with relationships which transcend blood-ties but are yet unearned. The good news of this is that the birth we prepare for in Advent and celebrate at Christmas is not about an institution or a rule book; it is about nurturing dignified, trusting and respectful relationships which are personal, local, and particular, relationships which are freely given and accepted. Those things come first. Love is simple, but it is subtle too. At Christmas we celebrate how love happens and especially this Christmas, given all the challenges we have had this past year, we remember a little more of how to be ourselves, our true related selves, unafraid, because we know we are loved. The Gospel is this: nothing you do can make God love you more, and nothing you do can make God love you less. Because the Christ Child is Emmanuel ('God with us'), we are wholly family, with God. 5 6 Womens’ Christian Fellowship … Hello everyone; well here we are in December, and to think our last meeting was in February and the year has nearly come around. How lucky we are to live in this lovely village and I hope, if you were able, you could get out and enjoy the beautiful autumn colours in the trees and gardens, also to take some time while the weather allows, to sit and enjoy your own garden, maybe with a cup of tea or coffee just for ten minutes to lift your spirits. We still do not know when we will be able to meet again safely, and by the time this reaches you Christmas will soon be upon us, so, with that in mind, the committee joins me in wishing you all a happy and peaceful Christmas and to the restoration of more settled times in the New Year. Denise Yelland. 7 8 Parish Church Finances ... As we are all only too well aware, 2020 has been an unusual year due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Fortunately we instigated the Parish Giving Scheme at the start of the year and this together with other regular giving has provided us with an ongoing income stream and we have been able to pay our Parish Share in full. However we have lost some income as it has not been possible to hold any of our Fund Raising events including Open Gardens. The Guardians of the Village Churches had an exciting launch event planned for September but, of course, that too has had to be postponed. This is not a plea for donations but rather seeking your co-operation to pay your giving by more cost effective methods. This is because there have also been wider impacts arising from the pandemic. With the Bank of England slashing interest rates to 0.1% there has been a significant impact on banks covering their costs. Our bankers, Charity Aid Foundation Bank (CAF) have advised us of increased charges from January 2021. The monthly fee is increasing from £5 to £8. There are also to be changes to fees for depositing both cash and cheques. This is likely to result in an additional cost to us. So, is there anything we can do to mitigate these charges? I am pleased to advise that there is. If at all possible I would ask that contributions are paid by electronic means. These are as follows: Join the Parish Giving Scheme. Please contact me for more information about this. Use the SumUp card reader to pay with your debit or credit card. For sums up to £45 this is contactless. If your donation is in excess of £45 then your card needs to be inserted to the base of the device and your PIN input. The device can also be used to pay for Greeting cards and other items. Go to the church website and scan the code to be taken to a donation page. … continued on the next page … continued on the next page 9 Should you be, or wish to be, a member of The Guardians whose current target is to raise funds for the body of St Bartholomew’s to be redecorated, then there is a similar code on their web page to make donations. Thank you for reading this and I look forward to receiving your co- operation in containing our bank fees. Graham Spearman Hon Treasurer email: [email protected] Phone: 07721 505296 St. Bartholomew’s Church building to re-open after the recent redecoration of the Chancel With plans on track, we are hoping to enjoy our re-opened village church from Sunday 13th December.