Wednesday 8 July 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It was lovely to see more people in church last Sunday as we celebrated the Eucharist for the first time in several months. If you are planning to come this Sunday, please remember to book your seat today, before midnight on https://www.trybooking.com/BKHKX Or ring the office before 1pm on 031 352 85 67.

On Sunday there will be two live services again. I will lead the comnunion service in the church and David will lead the communion service in the hall. Last week we experimented and tried to stream the service into the hall, but this was not very successful. This was no reflection on Hans and Jack who spent a lot of time and worked very hard to set it up, but the connection is quite poor so it is unreliable. But thank you to Hans and Jack for their time and effort.

On Sunday, the preacher will be Dr James Morgan, who is lecturer in Biblical Studies at Fribourg University and a member of St Ursula's. I am delighted to welcome James to preach.

On the following two Sundays, 19th and 26th July, our Archdeacon Adèle Kelham will be leading the services. Please give Adèle a very warm welcome. These services will be in the church only as there will be noone to lead a service in the hall. This will mean that the seats will be limited. Those who do not manage to get a seat on 19th will be given preference for 26th.

The Men's Bible Study Group and The Coffee Discussion Group will not be meeting for a while. We will review the situation after a few weeks.

The baking team are offering freshly baked goods over the next couple of Sundays and Sue will send out a message with details of how to order these. The British food shop will also be open after the services for the next couple of weeks. Don't miss the opportunity!

Tomorrow our lectio divina meeting is at 10.30am. This involves listening to a short passage of Scripture several times with periods of silence in between. At the end of the silence there is an opportunity to share our insights together. It is a wonderful opportunity to meditate on some words of Scripture and allow those words to feed our hearts and minds. If you would like to join us, please let me know and I can send you the link.

We are called to share together our joys and our sorrows and to encourage one another along the way of faith. Please continue to pray for the families of Jean Charlton White, Shareene Potter and Kathy Hoag who all died recently.

I conclude with a couple of prayers which were part of the Diocesan Restoration Service last night:

Jesus, Lord of time,
hold us in your eternity.

Jesus, image of God,
travel with us the life of faith.

Jesus, friend of sinners,
heal the brokenness of our world.

Jesus, Lord of tomorrow,
draw us into your future.
Amen

In darkness and in light,
in trouble and in joy,
help us, heavenly Father,
to trust your love,
to serve your purpose,
and to praise your name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

With my love in Christ,
Helen