December 2020 - January 2021 News from the churches St Luke’s Church of England & Hest Bank United Reformed Church The Message of Christ for this Covid Christmas www.stlukes-slynewithhest.co.uk www.nlancsurc.org.uk 1 HEST BANK Home & Garden Services Painting and decorating Lawn mowing Hedge trimming Power washing Guttering, etc, etc Local, reliable and friendly service Tim Wilkinson 07989 962 399 01524 822 482 Note from the Editor Thanks to everyone for their contributions. This is the last issue I am producing so for any contributions in the future, at this stage please contact Revd Susan Seed. Steve 2 MESSAGE FROM ST LUKE’S Revd SUSAN CHRISTMAS IS CANCELLED?? Recent postings on Facebook have compared Boris Johnson to Oliver Cromwell saying that they have both effectively abolished Christmas. Before Cromwell came to power, Christmas was one of the most impor- tant dates in the calendar, both as a religious festival and as an important holiday period. During the twelve days of Christmas, churches and other buildings were decorated and church services were widely attended. Gifts were exchanged at New Year, and Christmas boxes were distribut- ed to servants, tradesmen and the poor. Food was consumed in large amounts, and the rich and poor alike indulged in dancing, singing, games and plays. Then in 1644 it was all stopped because Christmas was banned! 3 Christmas then, as now, was a time of both long-cherished rituals and excessive social behaviour. From the mid-1500s, objections to suppos- edly frivolous additions to the religious calendar, like Christmas, were voiced by Puritan leaders. They saw Christmas as a wasteful festival that threatened Christian beliefs and encouraged immoral activities, to the 'great dishonour of God'. The discontent felt within the Puritan commu- nity towards festivals led to the enactment of forceful legislation. In January 1645, Parliament produced a new Directory for Public Worship that made clear that festival days, including Christmas, were not to be celebrated but spent in respectful contemplation. At the time of writing this, we are experiencing a second lockdown and we have little idea of what restrictions will still be in place by Christmas. One thing is certain, Christmas will be very different this year. However, despite everything, Christmas is NOT cancelled! We can still celebrate the birth of the Christ child, God Incarnate, and hear again the message of love, joy and peace that the birth of Jesus brings to us all. Jesus was God incarnate, in that He was God in the flesh and came to live among us. This means that Jesus knew what it means to suffer and experienced all the emotions that we do and understands the struggles that we are all going through at this difficult and challenging time. I have been amazed at the imagination and flexibility that people have shown to find new ways of doing things since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. I am sure that this will also be so for finding innovative and memorable ways of celebrating Christmas this year. Yes there will be sadness that if we can't have large gatherings of family and friends. This year we will probably have to celebrate in more personal and intimate ways, but this doesn't mean that we can't still have fun! It may also be that as we celebrate in new ways we may also think more about what Christmas is really about. 4 5 6 St Luke's - Church Update Christmas Services and events Due to the pandemic many of our usual Christmas services and events will be happening in a different way. At the time of writing we do not know what the government guidelines will be for Worship in the Church building during Advent and Christmas. Please keep a look out on the Church Website and Facebook page for details of events which may include a Virtual Christingle and Carol Service. We also hope to have the Church building open on Christmas Eve afternoon so that children can come and see the crib. The Church is here for you! Every week the Churches pray for different streets in Slyne with Hest. Wherever you live, please get in contact with Revd Susan if you have any pray requests for specific people, places or situations. (Details are kept confidential). Contact Revd Susan Seed. Tel 01524 822128 Email: [email protected] Resources for Children St Luke's Virtual Sunday school St Luke's have produced a weekly Sunday School which is available on YouTube. Go and meet the 'Virtual Vicar' and find out how you can join in with the crafty activities. To find the channel, type 'St Lukes Church Slyne with Hest' into the search bar of YouTube. 7 BiblePodlets: https://www.bdeducation.org.uk/podcasts/bible-podlets/ Bible Podlets is a Bible study and discussion podcast for primary aged children to do with adults. Each episode has fun games/activities, an engaging Bible reading in the form of a news story and deep discussion with places to pause and talk together about the topic. Faith at Home #faithathome resources can be found at: https://www.churchofengland.org/faith-action/faith-home Mother Theresa "It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving." Bing Crosby “Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won’t make it white.” Charles Dickens "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." Bob Hope "My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others." 8 Safety Guidance for your Christmas Crib The coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on the way we conduct our lives, with many new rules and restrictions governing our health and safety. One area of concern is your Christmas Crib. Although there are several weeks to go before Christmas, you will need to start planning now. You will need to begin with a thorough risk assessment to ensure your Crib is COVID-secure. Here is some further guidance: 1. A maximum of 4 shepherds only are permitted in the Crib. 2. Shepherds must wear facemasks (unless exempt) and strictly observe social distancing (2m or 1m+ with mitigations). 3. Jesus, Mary and Joseph form a family bubble and thus may be placed together. 4. The ox and the ass need Declaration of Non-Contamination Certifi- cates, obtainable from the Department of Agriculture. 5. The Three Wise Men, since they come from a non Schengen Area, will be subject to a 14-day quarantine, whether or not they have tested negative for Covid. 6. The straw, moss, palm branches and other decorations must be disin- fected, with hands washed for 20 seconds after handling. 7. Angels flying over the Crib are now forbidden, owing to the aerosol effect produced by the batting of wings. 8. Shepherds are permitted provided they are not more than 70 years old or suffering from underlying medical conditions or in another vulnerable category. 9. The inn, along with other businesses in the hospitality sector, is closed until further notice. 10. For 2020 only, a Pontius Pilate should be added to the Crib to ex- plain to authorised participants the protocols for washing and sanitisation of hands. [Taken from a Diocesan newsletter] 9 Grandad, what did you do during the ….? I suppose it’s a bit of age showing, but the last word used to be “war”, but now it will be “pandemic”. We’ve all had our own way of coping with the forced isolations - telephone calls, either voice or occasionally video, Skype (usually for those far away), or the now obligatory meetings on Zoom or Facebook. But what about the things you do to pass the time in between? How have you spent your time? I took up watercolours some years ago when I retired and recently, although I’m not really very good (I must go back to Jean’s classes again), I’ve been putting paint to paper again. The other week I was sitting musing over what to visually destroy next, and got to thinking about how social distancing was changing things. Cathrine spent a lot of time during the first lockdown making cards and sending them to her contacts, so I thought I should do something similar but use my watercolour skills(?). How would the Nativity have looked under social distancing rules? Only one angel, one shepherd, one sheep, one king, and Mary and Joseph in a bubble, but keeping each other at a distance. A bit like this , perhaps - 10 From here on, of course, it was all downhill. What else would be affected by Social Distancing? The most obvious thing would be Christmas Dinner - which we could share with the family by Zoom My mind started to run riot. Other things sprang to mind - Postmen using paper planes to socially distance deliver Christmas cards, Santa doing socially distanced air-drops to deliver Christmas presents, socially distancing party hats, and other crazy ideas including how Santa’s toy workshop could operate. I knew my sanity had not deserted me when John Lewis sent a link to their Christmas video which included two neighbours doing a socially distanced cracker pull - something I had sketched out two weeks earlier! A Happy (hopefully not too socially distanced) Christmas From Alan, Jocelyn and Cathrine Hipple 12 Secretary: Mrs. Val Gill Tel: 824089 Treasurer: Mr. J. C. Fox Tel: 822779 Serving Elders: Mesdames J. Fox, V.Gill, B. Mills, L. Etherington, H. Byrom, Helen Bennett Freewill Offering Sec: Mr D. Ruddick Tel: 824243 Newsletter Rep: Mrs Lena Etherington Tel: 824287 Flower Rota: Mrs B.