Dear all,
This week is Loneliness Awareness Week, which is run by the Marmalade Trust (click here for their website). The purpose of the week is to encourage us all to talk more openly and freely about loneliness. Loneliness often remains hidden, but it affects people of all ages. It has a particular impact on older people and brings huge implications for our health and wellbeing. Many people have been experiencing extreme loneliness during the current pandemic as they are isolated from family and friends. The Marmalade Trust has some good suggestions of what we might do during this week to raise awareness of loneliness and to learn more about it. These can be found on their website by clicking here. I would also encourage everyone to think of someone you know who might be especially lonely at the moment and get in touch with them. Give them a call, drop them an email, or send them a text message. Let them know that you are there. It will make a difference.
In my letter last week, I said that we were going to make some decisions about opening up our churches for private prayer. The PCC met on Monday evening and we all agreed that whatever we do, we should proceed with the utmost caution and concern for the safety and wellbeing of everyone who uses our buildings. Our proposal is as follows:
St Oswald’s
Weekly opening on Sundays late morning (time tbc) from Sunday 28th June.
St Dunstan’s
Opening from Sunday 5th July at the following times:
Sundays between 12pm and 1pm;
Wednesdays between 11am and 12pm.
St Alban’s
A risk assessment is still to be completed and there are no immediate plans to open.
Any opening will be supervised by a minimum of two volunteers and will subject to strict hygiene precautions, including handwashing and limited seating.
We are interested in hearing back from you on the following (please email the office):
· If you have any feedback at all on our plans for opening.
· If you would be willing to offer any help in supervising our churches during these opening times.
This will be learning process for all of us, so please bear with us!
A Prayer as we look towards re-opening our buildings
Almighty God, we praise you for the many blessings you have given to those who worship you in our houses of prayer: and we pray that all who seek you in these places may find you,
and, being filled with the Holy Spirit, may become a living temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
With love and prayers to you all,
The Reverend Dr Nicholas Peacock
Team Rector, Cheam Team Ministry
NOTICES
Worship Coming Up in June
The following services will be live-streamed on YouTube:
Wednesday 17th June 11.00am Eucharist (BCP)
Sunday 21st June 9.30am Festival Eucharist for St Alban
Followed by Zoom Coffee at 10.30am
Wednesday 24th June 11.00am Eucharist (BCP)
Sunday 28th June 9.30am Parish Eucharist for Trinity 4
Followed by Zoom Coffee at 10.30am
Zoom Coffee
Details for accessing Zoom coffee are below. Please contact the Office for the password.
Meeting ID: 884 0628 5452
Issues Of Race
Questions of race and racism are at the front of our minds with the current protests, which began in the USA and have spread across the world. The Rector addressed some of these issues in his sermon on Sunday 14th June, which can be found on the website.
We will be holding a one-off discussion group on Zoom at 8.00pm on Tuesday 30th June. If you would like to take part, please contact the Rector (cheamrector@cheamparish.org.uk).
If you are interested in finding out more, you might find the following books to be of interest:
Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele, When They Call You A Terrorist (Edinburgh, Canongate, 2018)
Reni Eddo-Lodge, Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race (London, Bloomsbury, 2018)
Ben Lindsay, We Need To Talk About Race: Understanding the Black Experience in White Majority Churches (London, SPCK, 2019)
Prayers
If you would like us to pray for someone or something, please email the office (office@cheamparish.org.uk) and Louise will compile a weekly prayer list to be used at all our services.
For reasons of privacy, we will use first names only and the person for whom you are asking us to pray should be happy for you to do this.
Distributing this Newsletter
We are very aware that some people do not have access to electronic communication. If you know someone who would like a paper copy of the weekly newsletter, please do print a copy and deliver it to them. Without access to the Parish Office, we are not in a position to do a mass mail. Equally, deliveries around Cheam are very sporadic at the moment.
Telephone Conversations
If anyone would like to be contacted, please call or email the Parish Office. We are happy to offer practical advice (where possible) or simply have a friendly chat. PLEASE DO NOT FEEL ALONE.
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