Dear all,
Whilst we are no longer doing a weekly newsletter, it seems from feedback that a brief newsletter sent every few weeks would be a good way to keep people up to speed with what is going on in the parish.
I am delighted that we have been able to restart worship in all three of our churches, albeit in a reduced manner. Everyone seems to be getting used to the way we have to do things at the moment. Thank you for your understanding and patience. I have confidence that our buildings are as ‘Covid secure’ as we can make them and that worship in our parish is safe. We will continue to review what we are offering on a monthly basis. Looking forward, planning for Christmas is proving to be a particularly impossible challenge!
In some excellent news, the Reverend Bethany Lewis will be licensed as Team Vicar in the parish at 8pm on Thursday 15th October at St Dunstan’s. Although the congregation will be limited, we will stream the service on our YouTube channel, allowing more people to join in as we welcome Beth. Beth will be moving in early October and will be living temporarily in the vicarage at St John, Belmont.
With love and prayers to you all,
The Reverend Dr Nicholas Peacock
Team Rector, Cheam Team Ministry
NOTICES
Booking for Public Worship
Please keep a look out on the website for our most recent pattern of worship. We are continuing to run a booking process for our public worship in all churches on Sunday mornings. Unfortunately, if you do not book a place, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to find you space. The 9.30am service at St Dunstan’s will continue to be live streamed for those who are unable to attend in person.
If you would like attend one of the services at St Dunstan’s, please let our Parish Administrator, Louise, know by either telephoning 07928 833324 or emailing office@cheamparish.org.uk by midday on the Friday before each Sunday service.
If you would like to attend one of the services at St Oswald’s, please let Bryan Hopper, churchwarden, know by either texting 07787 755142 or emailing bryan.hopper@btinternet.com.
If you would like to attend one of the services at St Alban’s, please let John and Carol Adams know by telephoning 07504 442279.
Beth’s Licensing
Beth’s licensing will take place at 8pm on Thursday 15th October at St Dunstan’s. Attendance at the service will be limited to no more than thirty people. This will be arranged between Beth, the Rector, Churchwardens, and the Parish Office. For those who would like to be part of the service but cannot be there in person, it will be streamed on the parish YouTube channel.
Harvest
This year, we will be supporting Sutton Night Watch once again. They do some fantastic work with homeless people across our borough. More information about the charity can be found here.
Due to the pandemic, we will not able to take donations of items of food and clothing etc this year. We would like to encourage people instead to offer a financial donation directly to Sutton Night Watch on behalf of our parish. Information about how to donate can be found here.
Virtual Bingo for Harvest
St Dunstan’s will be hosting another ‘virtual’ Bingo evening on Zoom at 7pm on Saturday 3rd October. Details as follows:
· Cost: £15 per entry, to include 6 cards and entry into the prize raffle.
· To enter, please contact Lucy Brice (lucy.brice@cheamparish.org.uk) including your home address and telephone number.
· Please transfer your entry money (£15 per book) to Barclays Bank, St Dunstan’s Choir Fund, Sort Code: 20-24-64Account number: 83006719. When making your payment, please include your name.
St Dunstan’s 200 Club
It is time to join or renew entries for the St Dunstan’s 200 Club – a great opportunity to raise funds. This year’s 200 club will commence in October for ten months taking us to July 2021. The draw will take place on the second Sunday of each month during the 9.30am service.
We need the completed application form (with payment if applicable) by Friday 26th September latest. Click here to find the form and some more information. If you cannot remember your method of payment from last year, please contact Barrie Kinchington either by phone or email and he will help you.
Annual Parochial Church Meeting
We will be holding the Annual Parochial Church Meeting for Cheam Parish at 8pm on Monday 5th October. At this meeting, we will formally elect Churchwardens from all three churches, members of the Parochial Church Council from St Alban's, and the parish's members of the Deanery Synod. We expected to hold the meeting at St Oswald's church, but due to the latest government restrictions, it will be held virtually on Zoom. Please email the Parish Office for details of how to join the meeting.
The parish's Annual Report can be found by clicking here. Our annual accounts are to follow.
In preparation for the meeting, there will also be a review of the electoral rolls in all three churches. This provides the opportunity for people to join or leave the roll. The closing date for changes is Friday 18th September 2020. The rolls will be available for inspection for fourteen days prior to the APCM. The application form for membership can be found here.
MacMillan Cancer Relief – Cake Sale
For the past few years Pat Rutledge and the Wednesday Coffee Morning Ladies from St Oswald’s have raised funds for MacMillan Cancer Relief. Sadly, things being different this year, they cannot hold a coffee morning in church, but Pat is planning to hold a (socially distanced) cake stall in her front garden from 10am to 1pm on Wednesday 23rd September. Donations of cakes would be very welcome, Pat is thinking that perhaps fairy cakes might be easiest to sell. Please help this very worthwhile cause if you can either by donating cakes, visiting the sale or just praying for a fine day. The sale can be found at 40 Brocks Drive, very close to St Oswald’s.
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 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.