Thursday 17 September 2020

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I hope you are enjoying these glorious sunny days and that you are keeping well and in good heart, despite the challenging situation we face.

I look forward to seeing many of you on Sunday. Again the church is full, but you can join in with the service online, which will be available from Saturday evening. Thank you to Hector, Martin and Art for putting this together. There will also be a service in St Ursula's on Wednesday 23rd September at 10.30am. This will be a repeat of this Sunday's service and a time for fellowship together. If you have not been able to get a seat this Sunday, or have been cautious about returning to church on Sundays, please consider coming to this service instead. You don't need to book for the Wednesday service, but please ring or email the office to say you are coming.

Bookings for next Sunday, 27th September open next Monday, through this link. Or you can ring the office. There will also be an evening service on Thursday, 1st October, 6.30pm, at Thun which will be a repeat of the Sunday service. The Chapelle Romande where we hold the service is very near to Thun station. Please consider this as an alternative to the Sunday service.

Bible Study: The first of our twice monthly online Bible study will take place Tuesday 22nd September, 7pm. It will focus on the reading from Jonah from this Sunday. Everyone is welcome.

Various new videos have recently been put on the Diocesan website. You might like to have a look. These include a video of the Diocesan Restoration Service on 7th July (when I preached). I know some people who missed this wanted to be able to see it. You can find the videos here.

Creation Season

Children and Young Families
For those of you who are enjoying the videos of the song All God's Creatures Have a Place in the Choir, (and it's fun for people of all ages!!), here is another great fun version with muppets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIVnE1ANc-w

Creation Crisis and Jubilee for the Earth: Talk by Sarah French
Sarah French from the Christian conservation charity A Rocha gave a talk and led us in a discussion last Monday. The talk is well worth listening to and has been recorded here.

Diocesan Creationtide Service
There will be a special Diocesan service for Creationtide, tomorrow, Friday 18th September, 6pm, via zoom. Only a certain number of people can attend through zoom, but a Youtube link to the service will be put on the front page of the Diocesan website just before the service begins. The Diocesan website can be found here. The preacher at the service will be the Bishop of Salisbury, Rt Reverend Nick Holtam who is the lead Bishop for environmental affairs. Our own Richard King is also taking part in the service.

Let me end with some words of praise to God our Creator, from Psalm 104:

Bless the Lord, O my soul.
O Lord my God, how excellent is your greatness!

You are clothed with majesty and honour,
wrapped in light as in a garment.

The sun knows the time for its setting.
You make darkness that it may be night!

O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
  the earth is full of your creatures.

When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.

May the glory of the Lord endure for ever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works;

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will make music to my God while I have my being.

With my love in Christ,
Helen