Resuming ‘Normality’ and Christmas Services 2020 Hello everyone I wanted to let you know how our plans for worship are emerging for the next few weeks in the Abbey now that we know what is allowed and possible. Our plan is to resume “live” worship at 10am on Sunday 6th Dec and then have Refresh at 6.30pm with an Advent theme and in wonderful candlelight. During December we will resume our midweek Eucharist at 12noon each th th Tuesday. On Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 there will be Sung Evensong at 7pm and on Sunday 13th there will be a 10 am Eucharist and a candlelit Evensong at 6.30pm. On Wednesday 16th and Thursday 17th there will be no Evensongs because the choir will be rehearsing for the Carol Services. On Sunday 20th December there will be a 10am Eucharist in the Abbey for Advent 4 and then we will begin our Christmas services. Our plan is to have Carol Services at 5pm and 8pm each day from Sunday 20th to Christmas Eve (with cleaning in between!). Although the congregation won’t be able to sing, we will have a small but wonderful choir and the Abbey will be bathed in candlelight. Each service will be by ticket only and I will let you know next week how we are going to make these available. We hope that by doing so many services we can make space for everyone, while also keeping everybody safe. On Christmas Eve there will be a Eucharist at 11pm and on Christmas Day a Eucharist at 8am and 10am. Again, these will need to be by ticket only due to limitations on capacity and we will need to clean between the services. There will be no perfect way of making tickets available and not everyone will get the day of their choice. But this is an unprecedented time, and I am sure everyone will be understanding of the challenges we are working with. Unfortunately, we have decided not to do services for children because of the challenges of Covid. This is so sad but instead we are working with the other churches in organising an outdoor nativity trail. Hexham Abbey Pewsheet Abbey Hexham This Sunday’s service will be via Zoom at 10am. Zoom services will continue during December at 11.45am on Sundays and 6pm on Wednesdays. Our intention is that the Abbey will be open for Prayer, Reflection and as a place of Peace each day from Thursday 3rd December from 11am – 3pm . Volunteers ~ Congregation ~ Staff ~ Congregation Volunteers I hope this all makes sense and I hope we will be able to feel that Advent and Christmas is properly marked and Jesus’s birth is celebrated. And I hope you have a good weekend and I look forward to seeing many of you on Zoom on Sunday. Every blessing David There is a visual calendar on the next page which may help you plan your attendance at services this December. 10am Eucharist 12noon 7pm 7pm 6.30pm Eucharist Evensong Evensong Refresh 10am Eucharist 12noon 6.30pm Eucharist Evensong 10am 12noon 5pm & 8pm Eucharist 5pm & 8pm Eucharist 5pm & 8pm Carol Services 8am & 10am 5pm & 8pm Carol 5pm & 8pm Carol 11pm Eucharist Carol services Services Carol services Services Midnight Mass 10am 12noon Eucharist Eucharist Roof Update We thought you might like to see some pictures of how preparation work for the roof is progressing from inside the Abbey! Lead Verger, Louise has been placed in charge of conservation and she has been working round the clock to make sure every thing within the Abbey is protected in the correct way. This involves specialist conservation wrapping and tissue around all the artefacts and much time in doing so on her behalf. This is some of the progress so far this week! For your prayers We pray for those who are unwell or who have asked for our prayers: Winston Bell, Mary Miller We pray for all those who have died and all those who mourn: Michael Dart, Sylvia Humble, Barbara Huddleston and Mabel Moulding, Freda Blakey Christmas Nativity Trail Churches Together in Hexham in partnership with Hexham Holiday Club are organising a Nativity Trail from 3pm - 6pm on the 22nd and 23rd December. This event is aimed at families in Hexham, to help them connect with the Christmas Story and understand the Good News of the birth of Jesus. It will be a COVID secure event and families will need to book a time slot to help keep everyone safe. Could you help? Maybe you’ve always wanted to be Joseph or an Angel, maybe you are an expert ticket checker, maybe you’d just like to be part of a great opportunity to share the Christmas story in these challenging times? To help the trail be a success, we need a team of volunteers. We need people to check tickets, steward and be characters in the nativity. If you’d like to and are able to help, please email David Goodall ([email protected]) by 1st December. If you have a preference for being a member of the cast or the support team, please let David know when you email. After the 1st, the team will then be in touch with more details. Easy Fundraising At this time of year, and particularly in the environment we are currently living in, online shopping seems to be our go-to for almost everything! The Abbey has signed up to a scheme where we are donated a small percentage of your online spending, at no extra cost to yourself! The percentages vary for each online shop, for example shopping at John Lewis through the affiliate link gives us 3% of your shopping value, and shopping at Amazon will give us 0.5%. All these little things add up and with us all doing our Christmas shopping at the moment, it’s a really easy way for you to donate to the Abbey! You can download the app for free, or go to their website to sign up. Then, when you do your online shop, remember to visit the website via the easyfundraising app or website and the money is automatically donated to us! To summarise... 1. Register for free on the easyfundraising website or app and select Hexham Abbey as your cause. 2. Every time you want to shop online, log onto the easyfundraising app or website and search your retailer. 3. Click on your retailers link through the easyfundraising app or website and your visit is automatically logged (you must do it this way or the spend is not logged). 4. Money arrives with Hexham Abbey as a result of your every day shopping! Easyfundraising have thousands of retailers to choose from, everything from electricals to dog food, clothes to holidays! The link below should take you to where you need to be! https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/invite/ghuzgh The Abbey is suffering huge financial loss as the result of Covid-19 restrictions. Should you wish to make a donation, you are welcome to use the QR code on the front page with your mobile phone. We kindly suggest a donation of £3. Jam Orders! Thank you all for your orders so far. We have been busy putting your orders together, ready for you to collect next weekend. We have had a fresh donation of freshly made jams this week, so attached to the pewsheet email is a brand new stock list! If you would like to order some jam for yourself or a loved one, please email Lucy on [email protected] and she will happily arrange this for you! The deadline for jam orders has been extended to next Friday, so please continue to email in! The dates again, are: Friday 4th at 5pm for last orders. Saturday 5th December 10am till 2pm order collection from the arch by the Parish Centre. They will be bagged and ready to hand to you. The nominal price jar is £3 or £3 for two little ones. If we run out of what you order, please indicate whether or not you are willing to accept a substitute. Because of the pandemic we will only be able to take cash and coins, and will be unable to give change. We would be very grateful if you would pay on the day, and perhaps add a little donation as it's for Abbey funds. We would be enormously grateful. From the Jam Fairies with love. Organ success Organ Scholar, Euan, recently took his grade 5 Organ exam. Squeezed in just before we went into lockdown, Euan took this grading, having skipped grade 4 after it was cancelled due to the first lockdown. With only 7 months to practice in, Euan achieved a score of 136, a distinction! We are all so pleased for him, an amazing achievement and a credit to his teacher! And speaking of the organ… We had the organ professionally wrapped this week to protect it from the dust whilst the roof is being worked on. Coming into the Abbey on Monday to see the final wrapped project made us realise quite how ‘angelic’ it was looking all wrapped in plastic! The organ can still be played underneath the wrapping for short periods and will stay under wraps until the end of March. The award-winning Theatre Space are hosting a whimsical family treat, in a socially distant, outdoor theatrical event that you simply won't want to miss. With a strictly limited number of tickets available for each performance to maintain COVID security, make sure you've got yours before they're all gobbled up.