Church Blog
News, Updates, Thoughts

Praying For God to break through in our Nation and around the World.

We are joining in with this in person and online, so why not check out the resources at https://www.thykingdomcome.global/.

We will also be hosting some Covid secure Prayer stations which people are invited to come along and pray at St Barnabas on Friday 21^st and Saturday 22^nd May.  We will also be using special prayers in our regular morning prayers over these 10 days.

This year Christian Aid should be celebrating its 75^th birthday. Created by UK Churches (including ours!) in the aftermath of World War Two, it has gone on to help millions of people in the poorest parts of the globe.

The threats caused by Climate Change & the Covid-19 Pandemic have meant celebrations will be muted but the focus and need continues to be on both issues.

Christian Aid Week (10^th–16^th May) is a main source of income for Christian Aid but the pandemic has meant most local fund raising activities are delayed or cancelled. You can still donate…locally we have a Just Giving page with a somewhat long address :

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/yateley-sandhurst?experiments=b2c_048_show_hide_fitness_data%2Cb2c_054_show_hide_fitness_totaliser&successType=StaticDonateButtonClick

or on the national Christian Aid website:

https://donate.christianaid.org.uk/Donate/Step/1?ApproachCode=A002958

and you can find out much more about Christian Aid Week below, including how the action from the Christian Aid partner, the Anglican Development Services Eastern, in Kenya is helping alleviate drought.

https://www.christianaid.org.uk/appeals/key-appeals/christian-aid-week

For any further information please contact Wilf Hardy……..wjhscot@aol.com 07823 406908

Date for Diary….Sandhurst Churches Together Quiz for Christian Aid ….Sat Oct 2nd

Are you struggling to cope with loss?

St Peter’s are holding a 6-week Bereavement Journey course on Tuesday’s April 27th – June 1st, 7.30 - 9.30 pm online via Zoom.

Topics covered will include: the impact and pain of bereavement, attachment, separation and loss, difficult feelings, rites of passage, coping with others, coping with change, moving forward, and an optional session on Questions of Faith.

To book, please contact 01252 912761 or email office@stpetersyateley.org.uk.

I am exploring whether there is any appetite for a Zoom based Alpha Course to run over the course of the Summer Term.

If you, or someone you know, would be interested in exploring the basics of the Christian Faith then please let me know.

You can submit a message to the Church of England online book of condolence for His Royal Highness Prince Philip.

A single bell at St Mary's will be tolled 99 times at 12 noon Saturday 10th April and before the 10am Outside and online Service on Sunday 11th April.

Easter and Holy Week 2021

With gradual easing of Lockdown from next week we will be beginning to return to the mix mode of services which we were using in autumn last year.  You will therefore be able to attend in person if you would like however numbers will be limited and we will be prioritizing those who cannot join us online.  Services for Easter week are below.  Those attending in person will need to wear a mask indoors and will not be able to join in with the Worship Songs / Hymns at the moment – even outside.

Palm Sunday

10am –          Outside and Online Morning Worship from St Mary’s Church Eversley *

4pm –            Messy Church in a bag – online on YouTube,  sign up on Eventbrite

Maundy Thursday

7pm  –           United Churches Online Communion Service from St Peter’s Chapel. (time tbc)

Good Friday

10am –          Zoom All Age Service with join in at home activities

2pm –            Reflections at the Cross, 1 hr online service with music and meditations

Easter Sunday

8am - BCP Holy Communion at St Mary’s *

10am –          Outside and Online Morning Worship from St Barnabas Darby Green *

* For in person attendance at a service please contact Rev. Lerys to book a place*

Thanks to all who joined in – we had a wonderful time with 11 families joining us on Zoom.

We now have an active prayer chains in St Mary's, shared by email.

If you have any prayer requests for them please contact me. If you are happy for these to be mentioned in our daily online reflections, they can be.

We now have several volunteers to deliver worship materials to those who aren’t able to access our online offerings.

We also have list of people who think might appreciate a service leaflet that they can follow through at home.

If you know other people who at this particularly difficult time might appreciate these, please ask them if they would like a weekly copy, and then let me know their name and address.

We will then ask our “printer-deliverers” to drop off copies each week. 

Following the news this week of the rising infection levels both nationally and locally, we have taken the decision that we will not be holding our advertised in person services this coming Sunday and instead we will be holding an online only service at 10am.

Although we could legally hold in person services in tier 4, with the 53,135 new Covid cases recorded in the UK on Tuesday - the highest single day rise since mass testing began - and the higher transmission risk of this new variant, we feel that we should play it safe rather than bring any unnecessary risk in the short term.

This is especially the case with the hope of vaccination on the horizon and the large number of unwell or vulnerable people in our congregations.

We will let you know about further services in January next week, but at the moment it seems likely that we will move to online only for at least January.

We will be putting together some additional resources for those unable to access online services so if you are aware of any who you think would appreciate those resources please do let us know.

May God bless you over this New Year period and praying for a much better 2021.