CHURCH SERVICES IN APRIL 2021 in the Benefice of the Launditch & Upper Nar

SERVICES SET TO RESUME AT EASTER After some very bleak months with the arrival of Spring and the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine there are good grounds for feeling optimistic. The ministry team has been working hard to prepare for resuming services once again in our churches but cautiously and safely beginning with Easter. The government is discouraging large gatherings over Easter and so our main service will be a joyful online celebration of Easter on Zoom. However, we recognise that taking Holy Communion at Easter is very important to many people and we will therefore be offering a short service of Holy Communion at 9am on Easter day at three of our churches; , Little Dunham and . After the 12th April as the second phase of the release from lockdown begins there will be church services throughout the Benefice. These will be limited in number but will offer a good range of services. This will not be the fixed pattern of worship going forward but is a temporary measure as we slowly emerge from lockdown. Online Services have grown steadily in popularity with a congregation of around 50 each week and so these will continue. Our online services are easy to join, even if you have no experience with technical things. All you need is a computer or iPad/tablet and an email address. Links for joining online worship are given in the weekly Benefice email. If you are unsure, one of us will happily talk you through how to join in. If you do not have a computer, it is possible to listen in by phone. Please ask; we are here to help. Services are recoded and can be watched later from the Upper Nar and Launditch Facebook page. Every blessing, Miriam, Julia and Shawn

MAUNDY THURSDAY, 1st April at 10:00am - Service for Maundy Thursday GOOD FRIDAY, 2nd April at 11am and 7:00pm - Service for Good Friday

SUNDAY 4th APRIL - EASTER DAY (White) Acts 10: 34-43 | Psalm 118: 14-24 | 1 Corinthians 15: 1-11 | John 20: 1-18 9:00am Gressenhall Holy Communion Julia Hemp 9:00am Litcham Holy Communion Kevin Blogg 9:00am Little Dunham Holy Communion Miriam Fife 10:00am Online Celebration for Easter Day** 4:30pm Weasenham Evensong Peter Brown

FRIDAY 9th APRIL at 8:00pm - Online Compline**

SUNDAY 11th APRIL - Easter 2 (White) Acts 4: 32-35 | Psalm 133 | 1 John 1: 1-2.2 | John 20: 19-end 10:00am Online worship**

FRIDAY 16th April - 8:00pm - Online Compline**

SUNDAY 18th APRIL - Easter 3 (White) Acts 3: 12-19 | Psalm 4 | 1 John 3: 1-7 | Luke 24: 36b-48 9:00am East Holy Communion Miriam Fife 9:15am Little Iona Communion Shawn Tomlinson 10:00am Online Worship** 10:15am Litcham Matins Wardens 10:30am Weasenham SP Matins Peter Brown 11:00am Matins Tom Butler-Stoney 11:15am Gressenhall Celtic Morning Prayer Julia Hemp

FRIDAY 23rd APRIL - 8:00pm - Online Compline**

SUNDAY 25th - Easter 4 (White) Acts 4: 5-12 | Psalm 23 | 1 John 3: 16-end |John 10: 11-18 9:00am Little Dunham Holy Communion Julia Hemp 9:15am Rougham Holy Communion CW Kevin Blogg 9:15am Iona Communion Miriam Fife 10:00am Online Worship** 10:15am Litcham Matins Wardens

FRIDAY 30th APRIL 8:00pm - Online Compline (via Zoom)**

SUNDAY May 2nd APRIL - Easter 5 (White) Acts 8: 26-end | Psalm 22: 25-end | 1 John 4: 7-end | John 15: 1-8 10:00am Online Benefice Service**

**Links for joining online worship are sent in the Benefice weekly email, or call clergy team.

For up-to-date details of services please check the Benefice website at: launditch-upper- nar.org.uk/or ask to receive the weekly email

Readings are taken from the Common Worship Lectionary CW = Common Worship Service

Enquiries should be directed to: Revd Miriam Fife (Acting Team Rector) The Rectory, Litcham Rd. Gt Dunham PE32 2LQ Phone: 01328 700765 or email: miriam.fi[email protected] or Revd Julia Hemp (Vicar) The Vicarage, 4 Lodge Farm Meadows, Gressenhall, NR20 4TN Phone 01362 861380 or email: [email protected] or Revd Mother Shawn Marie Tomlinson, (Curate) Email: [email protected] A full list of all the services for the Upper Nar and Launditch group of parishes can be viewed or downloaded from the Litcham website, click on ‘Services’ in the Worship dropdown menu. REVEREND JULIA WRITES… In place of the usual Vicar’s letter below is the notice of my retirement which was announced on 7th March. This has partly been driven by the financial situation but on a personal level the time has come to let go of the stress that the work entails and have more time for other interests , as well as spending time with family and friends who are a casualty of the demands of the job. A popular joke is that being a Vicar is a great career (which it is) because Vicars only work one day a week which is of course very far from the truth! But I do not feel ready to hang up my collar just yet. I still feel a strong connection and calling to ministry here and we are actively looking for a house locally so that we can stay involved. I came to join Heather in 2016 when the Benefice of 17 churches was formed as we shared a passion for rural ministry and wanted to see the churches grow and flourish and be part of their communities, a vision Miriam also shared when she came to join us. The Benefice was very blessed to have had Heather’s inspired leadership and is blessed again to have Miriam as Acting Team Rector, who is doing a fabulous job of continuing to nurture the green shoots of growth we have seen over the last 5 years. Since the announcement of my retirement I have been overwhelmed and touched by the lovely messages I have received, and I would like to thank all of you who have written, emailed and phoned. ……Meanwhile, as we begin slowly to emerge from a long winter and a lockdown that has felt endless there is a feeling of excitement, hope and new beginnings in the air as we welcome the Spring and rejoice in the promise of new life that we celebrate on Easter Day.

RETIREMENT After much thought and a lot of prayer I am retiring from my post as full-time Team Vicar in the Benefice of Launditch and Upper Nar. Our Benefice of 17 parishes currently has the benefit of two full time paid priests but the parishes barely contribute enough to cover the cost of one of us. We have been extremely fortunate to have had a second post subsidised by the Diocese but the Diocese is running a large deficit and with the huge negative impact of the pandemic on income this situation can no longer continue. You may have read that the Diocese needs to lose 10% of clergy posts which it hopes to do without redundancies and our Deanery (group of local Benefices) has been asked to lose a post. Having studied the overall situation and staffing levels in our neighbouring Benefices I have decided that my post is the obvious one to go and retirement will allow me the opportunity for a much needed change in pace and direction. I will therefore be retiring on the 31st May and will move out of The Vicarage in Gressenhall. My last service will be on the 30th May. I will hopefully be licensed to The Benefice at some stage in the not too distant future but in a voluntary and therefore much reduced capacity. For now my main priority, licensed or not, will be to support Reverend Miriam our acting Team Rector who is doing an amazing job running the Benefice whilst we seek to appoint a new Team Rector. I have loved being your Team Vicar and there are a great many things I will miss when I retire but I am very much looking forward to laying down some of the heavy burdens of ministry and exploring a new and exciting chapter in my life. It is my hope and intention that this new chapter will include some form of ministry within these parishes that I have grown to love. Reverend Julia