Wednesday 3 November 2021

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

David and I are looking forward to a few days away later this week and will not be in church this Sunday, 7th November. I am very grateful to Archana who will lead a Service of the Word and to James who will preach. Junior Church and creche will be happening on Sunday and it will be good to have many of our families in church. Families will have the priority for seats.

If you are unable to be in church with us you can follow the service online at: Service Resources at St Ursula's Church, Berne. We are all very thankful to Hector, Martin and Art for making this possible.

Nacht der Religionen
This year's event is on Saturday 13th November. The theme is 'Hey, Alter!' looking at the relationship between generations. We will be joining in with other churches for a Vesper service in the Lutheran tradition, held at St Peter and St Paul at 8pm. I will be giving a short homily in this service. Details about all the activities of the Nacht der Religionen across Bern can be found here.

Certificate Checks in Services
The council have listened to the concerns of those in favour of certificate checks and thos against and have decided to introduce certificate checks for some services. We will be doing this for the first time on Sunday 14th November when we expect a large congregation and we will also be having refreshments afterwards. Please be aware that we will also continue with our other safety precautions. We ask that everyone continues to wear masks and we will continue to maintain some social distancing. Cases are rising at the moment so we need to continue to be careful. Seats will still need to be booked.

For future services, we are considering having a pattern of some services with certificate checks (numbers can be over 50) and some without (keeping these services to under 50). I will send out more information about how this will work in future messages. It is important that we work together as a community, aware of the different needs amongst us.

Remembrance Sunday, 14th November
On 14th November, we will mark Remembrance Sunday when we honour those who have served their country and died in wars, past and present, and commit ourselves to pray and work for peace in our world in the future.
Please remember everyone over 16 will need to bring a certificate and ID to this service. If you are not vaccinated this will mean getting a recent negative COVID test.

Christmas Bazaar: Friday 26th and Saturday 27th November
We still need volunteers to help with setting up and running various stalls. If you are able to help, please be in touch with Maria in the office. We hope to move chairs and tables after church on Sunday 21st ready for the Bazaar and would be grateful for help then. Thank you.

COP26 Climate Change Conference
The 26th UN conference on climate change is taking place, 31st October - 12th November, in Glasgow. This is a crucial meeting of world leaders and other representatives to make decisions and implement plans to reduce carbon emissions and avert climate change catastrophe. This has been described as 'the world's last best chance to get runaway climate change under control.'

If you have not heard it, you might like to listen to Sir David Attenborough's speech at COP26.
Also, if you did not hear it, you may want to listen to David's sermon on this theme last Sunday.

Let us commit ourselves to pray for all those participating in this conference and all those most affected by the effects of climate change.

Prayers

Loving God,
we pray for all those participating in the COP26 conference:
grant them wisdom, humility and courage
to make decisions which respect the earth
and all that live in it.
We pray that governments will take action
to protect the most vulnerable in our world
and not just those in their own country.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for the world:
we give thanks for the beauty of the earth and for the interdependence of all living things;
we acknowledge that the earth has been plundered and misused
for generations by human activity;
may we all, through our actions, help repair the harm we have caused.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for the peoples of the world already facing droughts, floods and storms:
that God may grant them strength and hope for the future
as they work to adapt to the changing climate.
We pray for a just sharing of the earth's resources.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for our own church and local community:
that through the grace of God we may examine our environmental impact
and make choices for the common good.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We ask all these prayers through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
by whom and for whom all things were made.
Amen

With love in Christ,
Helen