Monday 16 March 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I am sending this message to all those in the communities at St Ursula's and at Thun for whom we can find email addresses.

We are living in strange times. Due to the coronavirus, we are no longer able to meet together to worship, pray and socialise. Following the advice of health workers, and in line with other churches in Switzerland, all our normal church services, both on Sundays and throughout the week, are suspended until further notice. Although this is a great loss, we need to see it as a way of caring for one another, for our neighbours and friends, and protecting the vulnerable. However, even though we cannot physically meet together, we can still seek God in prayer and worship at home, and encourage and support one another through phone calls and emails. This prayer and encouraging support is needed more than ever before.

Yesterday, we held our last Sunday Eucharist in St Ursula's for some time with twenty-one of us present; we also held in our thoughts, prayers, and love all those who were unable to be there. The theme of the service was the gifts of peace, love and eternal life which God gives us. We need to remind ourselves of these wonderful gifts now more than ever. If you would like to listen to the sermon on the website, here is the link.

I also attach the very powerful intercessions which Archana prepared.

If you would like further material for thought, prayer or reflection, you might like to read the meditations on the Psalms which have been part of our Lent course. The material for the first two sessions is here. The Psalms are a wonderful resource for us in times of anxiety, fear, pain and suffering as we pray for ourselves and for others. They can also strengthen our faith and trust in God's grace and mercy. The notes from each talk are followed by some questions to ponder. There will be two more talks and reflections added in due course.

For those of you who might have liked to attend the Quiet Day last Saturday, but were unable to come, you can read the notes of the four talks through the same link.
The theme of the Quiet Day was 'Praying in the Wilderness'. Each talk is again followed by some questions for reflection and prayer.

I intend to send out a weekly email with messages of encouragement, prayers, a sermon or reflection and intercessions. I hope that these will be a resource to prompt us to seek God in prayer for ourselves, for one another, for our friends and neighbours, our country and our world. Meanwhile, David and I will be praying every day in church and remembering you all.

For your information, churches have been encouraged to move their Annual General Meeting to Sunday 26th April in the hope that things will be back to normal by then. Please would you put this date in your diary.

Let us find ways of supporting one another, and encouraging one another during this time, through phone calls and emails. I will be ringing people up, and so will members of the pastoral care team, but this is also something we can all do to support one another. If anyone has a particular pastoral concern or anxiety, please do ring me or send a message.

I pray that this time, hard as it is, will prove to be a time of growth; may we grow in our trust in God's love, our commitment to prayer, our desire to support one another as a community, and our compassion for all those in need.

I leave you with a prayer from Exeter Diocese:

Keep us, Good Lord,
under the shadow of your mercy
in this time of uncertainty and distress.
Sustain and support the anxious and fearful,
and lift up all who are brought low;
that we may rejoice in your comfort,
knowing that nothing can separate us
from your love in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen

With my love and prayers,

Helen