OLD HILLS MALVERN HEADLINES Keeping You in touch with Your Churches during the Coronavirus outbreak Summer Special 1 for Sundays 26th July and 2nd August CHURCH STATUS All Churches CLOSED for all Public Worship except Graveside funerals WORSHIP OPPORUNTIES COMING UP Night Prayer - Thursday 23rd July 2020 - 8.30pm. - Request a Zoom Link or check your email Sunday 26th July 2020. Songs of Praise for a Summer Sunday - Video service - the first of a new series of open access video services. View them when you want or join in live at 1030am on the Lord’s Alive Facebook page (see below for link) Sunday 2nd August 2020. A Video Service for Lamas-tide. - with our friends in Teem Valley South Parish (officiant- Rev Julia Curtis - Rural Mission Enabler) Bible readings - readings for Common Worship. The video services might use different readings 27th July 2020. 1 Kings 3:5-12 Psalm 19 Romans 8:26-end. Matthew 13:31-33,44-52 Or you might want to commemorate the Feast of St James Jeremiah 45.1-5 Acts 11.27-12.2 2Corinthians 4.7-15 Matthew 20.20-28 2nd August 2020 Genesis 32.22-31 Romans 9.1-5 Matthew 14.13-21 A Service of Spiritual Communion is available on line - check www.oldhillsmalvern.co.uk – online resources THURSDAY NIGHT PRAYER VIA ZOOM – 8.30pm-9.00pm - The last Night Prayer for two weeks will take place on Thursday 23rd July at 8.30pm. It will resume on the 13th August 2020 Our Prayers this week include prayers for the families of Christopher Roberts (Clevelode) and Madeline Smith (Powick) Praying through our Communities - use the next two weeks to pray for your villages Powick , Callow End, Madresfield, Guarlford and Newland and spaces in between. Pray for those on a staycation or holiday and those that are still affected by furloughing or experiencing work or home issues. Songs of Praise around the Old Hills - join with us as we sing and pray our way around the churches that surround the Old Hills in Malvern, witnessing the true glory of God in creation (Psalm19) in this most beautiful part of the world. A special service for a Summer Sunday that you can access LIVE at 10.30am on the parishes’ Lord's Alive Facebook page or click this link https://www.facebook.com/100006416280925/videos/2608960942661090/ anytime to see and join in with this service at a time most pleasing for you. Enjoy! Rev Gary OLD HILLS MALVERN HEADLINES Keeping You in touch with Your Churches during the Coronavirus outbreak The Vicar is going on holiday….. The Vicarage will be closed from Saturday 25th July and will reopen on Tuesday 11th August Church reopening The churches will reopen from Sunday 6th September with each church being used once a fortnight for worship. There will be an act of worship in each parish each week. See timetable later in this newsletter. St James Church in Callow End will be open each Wednesday from Wednesday 29th July from 2.30pm for 1 ½ hours for private prayer and devotion. Flash Foodbank Collection The last Flash or pop up collection at the Vicarage for the Foodbank collected 53.3kgs of food (3.5 large crates worth). Thank you to those that donated. The next foodbank collection will be in mid/end August. Church Services over the Summer With Rev Gary’s holiday plans, Zoom services will vary over July and August as follows: Date Service Information 26th July Feast of St James Lord’s Alive Songs of Praise A Videoed service via Facebook – see link earlier in this newsletter / website 2nd August NEW!! A YouTube video service from Rev Julia Curtis, my fellow Rural Teme Valley South parishes for Missioner has offered an opportunity Lammastide for our parishes to be part of a Lammas celebration. Check the Home page of the website for joining instructions nearer the time. 9th August Zoom Service 10.30am BCP Holy Communion 16th August Zoom Service 10.30am Living Communion 23rd August Lord’s Alive Songs of Praise A Videoed service via Facebook – more details to follow 30th August Zoom Service 10.30am To be confirmed Sunday Worship from 6th September - provisional rota which may be subject to change or revision subject to the Risk Assessment Process or if Church/Government Advice changes DATE TIME SERVICE VENUE LEADER/Notes 6th September 9.30am H Communion Guarlford Dedication Dedication 11.00am H Communion Powick services to mark services reopening 5.30pm Evening Service Zoom 13th September 9.30am H Communion Callow End Dedication Service 11.00am H Communion Madresfield 5.30pm Evening Service Zoom 20th September 9.30am H Communion B Guarlford 11.00am H Communion B Powick 5.30pm Evening Service Zoom 27th September 9.30am H Communion Callow End These services 11.00am H Communion Madresfield can be Harvest 27th September 5.30pm Evening service Zoom services. To be (cont) supplemented by OLD HILLS MALVERN HEADLINES Keeping You in touch with Your Churches during the Coronavirus 4th October 9.30am H Communion Guarlfordoutbreak FaceBook Lord’s 11.00am H. Communion Powick Alive service 5.30pm Evening service Zoom The rota gives you the idea. A 9.30am/11.00 service supplemented by a Zoom service each Sunday evening for those that cannot get or are unable to attend the morning services. A dedicated Sermon Series on Paul’s Fruits of the Spirit will be the major preaching theme. At present, we are not permitted to sing but we can have music played. Regrettably, there will not be an 8am service for the time being but the 9.30/11.00 service (if marked B on the rota) will be BCP Communion. As to be expected, social distancing, sanitizer and seating capacity restrictions will be the new normal, plus a need to collect attendance information to support NHS Test & Trace (if required). Further guidance is expected soon on the use of face coverings in church. Discussions and decisions will soon be needed as regards Remembrance, Advent and Christmas. Further details will be promoted in the next newsletter and an article describing the changes will appear in the parish magazines and on line. Annual Parochial Church Meetings The Annual meetings of parishioners to elect wardens, vergers and sides persons and to consider the mission and work of the Parish of Powick and the Parish of Guarlford and Madresfield with Newland will take place in October either in a suitably socially distanced venue or via Zoom: Powick PCC - Tuesday 6th October 2020 - 7.30pm Venue to be advised GMN PCC - Thursday 8th October 2020 - 7.30pm Venue to be advised Parish Secretaries will be making the necessary Notices and nomination forms available in due course. There will be Churchwarden vacancies in both parishes (I am assuming Powick and Guarlford) plus we need to elect representatives for the Malvern Deanery Synod. Please consider helping and serving your churches. For further information, please contact the PCC secretaries (Jonathan Slade: Powick or Janet Lomas : GMN )or contact the Vicar. Feast of St James - Porto style. Last year, a link was established with St James’ Church in Porto, Portugal. It was hoped that a party from our parishes would venture to the Passion Play, as Fathers Philip and Robert, from that church, were leading pilgrimages to Oberammergau. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be this year but it is being rescheduled. Both Priests from Porto ended up stranded here in the UK and only recently managed to get back to Portugal. Here’s a message and prayer from them: GREETINGS FROM ST JAMES, PORTO Dear Friends in the Old Hills Malvern Group of Churches, We send you our greetings from the church family of St James' in Porto, Portugal. After being pleasurably locked down in the north-east of England for three months, Father Robert and I were finally able to drive down to London Luton and fly back to Porto with Wizz Air at the beginning of June. It was an eerie journey, with a virtually closed airport and everyone rather subdued and quiet, clearly apprehensive about the journey. All went well and, having passed the temperature checks, we were allowed back into our temporary home in Portugal. Our church has been open for Sunday morning worship since June 7th. It was strange coming back together in the building after three months of being apart and not allowed anywhere near. At first there were 14 of us, but we have steadily grown, probably as others have heard it is safe, to a congregation of 30 recently. We have also seen a small fraction of the usual visitors to Porto that we see in normal circumstances. OLD HILLS MALVERN HEADLINES Keeping You in touch with Your Churches during the Coronavirus We have been observing all the safety rules - social distancing, sanitisationoutbreak gel everywhere and the wearing of masks all the time when indoors. Music is important to us, so our organist has been playing voluntaries before and after the service as well as during the distribution of Communion (in one kind only, namely bread). We have had three hymns from the start, at first meditating on the words or humming behind the masks. Last Sunday we permitted proper singing, but still with masks on to prevent any spray going any further than the owner's mouth! We also meet outside after the service in our lovely courtyard area, where people have been enjoying a good chat while observing the two metre distance. It does feel safe - and there have been no problems so far. Last Saturday, we also held our first wedding since the lockdown, between a Portuguese and British couple, and with their 10 guests.