The latest news from David and Jo including important information on the opening of churches during the pandemic.
The Beaminster Area Team
From The Hub Covid – 19 Weekly Update Friday 12th June 2020
Dear Friends
I will endeavour to be brief. Thank you to all who have replied with their intention on opening churches for private individual prayer. This is not for congregational gatherings or prayer groups and is not for tourists wishing to look around. This is clearly stated in the Ad Clerum I received at 8.00 pm last night from Bishop Nicholas which is attached with this update. Once I have heard from all churches in the team, I will make a poster stating which churches are open and at what times so that you can put them on the door of the church. I have also made a double – sided poster that you can place on seats identifying which are or are not in use and if they are laminated or placed in a plastic pouch they can be easily wiped over.
As you can sense, I am becoming irritated at the general incompetence of those at higher level who make announcements without prior notice. Especially so with last night’s April Fool joke was that churches can be open from tomorrow. But please do not panic as we will be sticking with our plan of gradually opening across the team as you have shared with me already.
However we all will need to consider how we are going to open all of our churches for funerals, including those who are reluctant to open for private prayer. Funerals can take place from Monday 15th (another late night announcement). Guidelines for this were sent out on Monday with my update and you can read these on the Church Of England Website
I think that we need to consider what kind of a statement we are sending out to our communities should we refuse them this support and pastoral care when they need it most. I will be writing to our local Funeral Directors later today outlining our policy and stating that we would aim for the week beginning Sunday 5th July to offer services but only with the strictest guidelines in place. Having spoken with one of our local Funeral Directors this morning they tell me that they will be bringing all the sanitising and cleaning equipment with them and will assist with cleaning down after the service.
I hope that this covers everything for the moment but please do not hesitate to call me to talk things through that may cause any concern.
May God bless us all as we seek to work in His service.
David
Update from Jo
Worship at home continues on this website, as does our collective worship for schools. https://beaminsterteamchurches.org/worshipathome/
We are doing live Messy Church at 4pm on Saturday 13th June on Facebook live https://www.facebook.com/BeaminsterTeam/
We continue our commitment to pray morning and evening prayer at 9am and 4pm, you can join in via the Daily Prayer App or through the Church of England website. We also pray together at 7pm on a Thursday evening, contact Jo for the Zoom invite. There is a monthly prayer calendar also available on our website and three prayer prompts per day on Facebook. At theological college we were told, “there is plenty of time and opportunity here at college for you to pray. If you don’t pray, then that is because of sin.” Hopefully we are providing enough opportunities and support for use to pray, it is up to us to find the time.
I would love to hear from you with news, stories, photos and comments for our weekly Worship at Home video, do please get in touch.
I was saddened to hear that for some people they think that church stopped for them in March and they haven’t engaged since. If that is you or someone you know then please do get in touch. I am truly sorry that we haven’t managed to meet some of our congregations’ needs and would love to help in any way we can. I know for other people it has been a time of refreshment and renewal, engaging with worship and prayer from many different areas and countries. We are all different, however if there is anything you would like us to provide to support you, please do let us know.
Every blessing,
Jo