Harvest this year is back to normal (mostly). So come and join us to celebrate the food we have to eat and to pray for our farmers and those involved in providing us with food. Gifts of food (packaged rather than fresh, please) will be taken as usual to the Calne food bank to be shared with those less well off than ourselves.
The services this year are:
Calstone, 26th September at 9.45am Cherhill, 26th September at 10.00am Yatesbury, 10th October at 9.45am Heddington, 10th October at 11.15am
We would love to see you if you can make it. The services are suitable for all ages.
A new school year begins in early September. This can be a nervy time for children, parents and teachers alike, and perhaps even more so this year after the chaos and disruption of the last 2 school years.
So we have decided to make our last service in August a “Back to School service”. It will be a family service, with less formality than usual, as we prepare for the new school year. We’ll be thinking about how to start well, and asking for God’s help for all of us.
It would be great to see you if you can make it. We’ve been through a lot together and separately. Hopefully this service can help mark a new beginning for us all.
As you are all aware, we have reached stage 4 in the government’s roadmap out of lockdown. This means that all social distancing rules have been relaxed, including in places of worship.
However, we do not wish anyone to feel at risk either of catching covid or (via contact tracing) of having your summer plans ruined. We are also aware that some of us will need some time to return to feeling normal around larger groups of people. We have therefore decided to continue to follow the guidelines as much as possible for the foreseeable future. This means:
Please continue to wear a mask if you can – and you must wear it if you wish to join the singing, which will be kept to 2 songs
Please keep your distance from other people unless you know they are happy for you to sit next to them
Make the most of the weather – have your conversations outside in the fresh air
Where there are one-way systems, these will continue
While there is no legal limit on numbers, we have decided to limit capacity to 50%. This means that everyone can be certain that there is a space either side of them if they need it.
While we are sad that life has not yet returned to normal, we feel these voluntary actions on our part will reduce the risk of someone catching coronavirus, or being asked to self-isolate, thereby missing out on something they are looking forward to.
We hope to be in a position to relax these guidelines further in September.
For those who wish to continue to keep away from indoor gatherings, for whatever reason, we will endeavour to provide something online, although that will not always be possible.
Yesterday was a day of sad news for all of us, but especially for Her Majesty the Queen and the royal family. Please hold them in your thoughts and prayers.
At such a time as this, there would usually be many opportunities for individuals to show their respect and gratitude to the Prince, as well as their love and concern for the Queen. However, we are still limited in what we can do, and Her Majesty has made it clear that she does not wish any of the mourning to put anyone at increased risk and that therefore no special exceptions are made to general regulations at this time.
In the light of these restrictions, it seemed that the simplest and legally safest approach was to change our services tomorrow (Sunday 11th April) to give people a chance to pay their respects.
As always, let me encourage you to make your decisions based on your own circumstances. No one should put themselves or others at extra risk. To this end, weather- and technology-permitting, we intend to offer the following options:
1 Services in each parish church, with attendance up to the maximum allowed under Covid regulations. Each service will also be amplified into the church yard. This way if the numbers are above the maximum, or if you simply prefer not to gather inside at this time, it should be possible for you to join with others.
2 The service in St Andrew’s, Heddington will be streamed live via Facebook. The link is https://www.facebook.com/events/272555127835005/ and should work even if you do not have a Facebook account. However, the internet is not always reliable, so please accept my apologies if this doesn’t work, and consider option 3 below.
3 A recording of that service will be made available afterwards on this website to watch when you wish.
The service times are as follows:
St Mary’s, Calstone 9.45am St James’, Cherhill 10am St Andrew’s, Heddington 11.15am St Swithin’s, Compton Bassett 2.30pm All Saints, Yatesbury 4pm
It feels like an age since I last had something to update here. This time, two pieces of good news:
Because the rate of infection is falling, we have decided to restart the Villages magazine. It will be slightly staggered, so that each issue can provide information matching the stages of the Roadmap, so won’t be coming out on the first of each month like usual.
Secondly, we are going to be having more services in our churches again. These will begin with a service of Holy Communion in each church on Easter Sunday. Details of these and the rest of the services for April can be found here, in the Villages magazine, and in the “News” section of the website. This is a reduced rota, partly because it is still challenging to provide services in the current climate, but also because without singing and chat not everyone wants to be back in church. There will be an online service available each week as well, as long as we can manage.
Don’t forget to send me your pictures on the theme of Hope or New Start by next Sunday.
