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Another day another blog

3/30/2020

1 Comment

 
Good afternoon. It is now week-two of the lock-down. How are we all coping?
Thank you to all who tried to connect to our live-stream on last Sunday. Let me say sorry for all who were frustrated by the difficulties. We have now found the glitch. In fact, we were streaming but we gave out the wrong connection details. My bad!
Picture of inside church
St Andrew's Church
This Tuesday (tomorrow) we will rebroadcast at 10.00. Then we will be live on Thursday and again next Sunday.
This time, I invite as many of us as possible to connect directly within the Zoom system.
We will also stream live to Youtube for those who cannot connect directly and for any outside our church.  
The new Youtube link is: 
​
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCloG75UYL-M1WKHlvBkqPBA?view_as=subscriber
Let's pray that the technology works better this time. 
Now, on a different subject:
I attached the above photo to remind us all what the inside of our church looks like. It already seems like a very long time. Yet the worst thing that we can do is lose hope. This too will pass...
The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us that everything has a season.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.


Ecclesiastes 3.1-8 

In God's good time, this pandemic will pass. Friends, let's keep trusting in the Lord.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.             Romans 8.28

God Bless 
Picture
1 Comment

Lockdown

3/24/2020

2 Comments

 
Good afternoon. It's Monday 24th March 2020 and our country is in lockdown. All church services are cancelled; including weddings. There is only one obvious exception but I will not mention it here because I want this blog to be positive.

Our preparations for online-church are going well. 
  • Yesterday, Jamie and I had our first Video meeting. We will be holding a ministers meeting tomorrow and a standing committee on Thursday. Both by Video.
  • This morning we held our first morning prayers by video. Unfortunately, the technology defeated two planned attendees. I will post a link to a "zoom" training video on the online church page. 
    Anne Palfrey and I managed to connect in and we had a lovely time of prayer together. Anne is pointing us all towards Psalm 34. A word from God for our times. Please do look it up and pray the psalm slowly and meditatively. And please do consider joining us tomorrow and/or Thursday. See online church page.
  • On Sunday we will go live, God willing, with our first broadcast service. Things are coming together very nicely. The spiritual things are coming together but I am still working with Google support to sort out a Youtube issue. They promise it will be working in 24 hours.
    So please pray for that. God is good!
It's not all bad

One of the things Anne and I discussed today was "footprints". (My word, not hers.) Where can we see God's footprints and fingerprints in this dreadful situation?

It would be very easy to be pessimistic. To think that the Evil One is having it all his own way. But when we look closely, I hope that we can all see glimmers of Hope. Let me highlight one or two:
  1. Just as we are all put in lockdown, we are blessed with the most glorious weather. According to the medical experts, summer weather should slow the progress of the virus. Also, it means that we can go out in our gardens and feel less hemmed-in.
  2. Lynne mentioned to me: how lucky we all are to live on the edge of Dartmoor. We can enjoy the scenery and fresh air and safely practice social distancing; also when she and Graham were there this morning you could hear the birdsong wonderfully clearly.
  3. This enforced isolation is a perfect opportunity for us all to slow down and spend time with the Lord. Shock horror! Well we have all been wanting to get to know our bible's a bit better. And when we stop and listen God answers. I suspect we might find Him saying: 
    "Hello stranger. Long time no see! I am so looking forward to spending time; just you and me."
May God Bless us all.
Stay Safe
​
​Sean

Just to encourage us all to make the best of the lovely weather.... See below.
Woodland path with runner in the distance. Summer weather.
Now that's what I call social distancing.
2 Comments

Worship during the next weeks

3/19/2020

4 Comments

 
Three people in chapel
Thursday Morning Holy Communion
Hello again everyone. 
We are in unprecedented times. Things are moving very quickly. 
Sue, Anne and I are working hard to ensure that we provide pastoral care and worship for our church family. At the same time, we absolutely MUST follow the wise guidance from the Chief Medical Officer and the diocese.
I want to thank James Medland for putting an incredible amount of work into a draft service for broadcast this Sunday.
​
Sadly, I had to pull back from using this because:
  • We were just not ready with a broadcast ready offering. It needed much more people input.
  • I needed us to keep in step with our diocese.
So here is what is currently happening.
We are still getting ready to offer an act of worship on Sunday mornings at 10.00 am. This will be broadcast from the Vicarage. (The wifi in the church is not robust enough.) We hope the the readers and I will share the tasks but we are looking at how to do this remotely. More than one of us are in high risk demographics and are semi-self-isolating. 

​Anyway. Now I need some some input from you, our church family. Which platform should we use?
  1. Facebook live: This seems to be a popular option with other online churches. The disadvantage is that you need a facebook account to join in.
  2. YouTube: This is the medium favoured by the diocese. The benefit is that you just need a computer with internet access.
Please email me on [email protected] and tell me which you prefer? Even if you have no view of this, please still email me. If you do, I can put you on a mailing list to tell you how and when to connect.

​I hope that we can launch next Sunday with a delayed Mothering Sunday service. Please do drop into the church at some point and say a prayer. While you are there, please borrow one of our Worship books so that you can join in from your home.

Meanwhile - please to join us this Sunday in taking part in the Churches Together in England nationwide day of prayer. Do read about it here.

Also, the diocese is supporting us all. Please keep an eye on
the diocesan website. 

And finally for now. The diocese is offering regular online acts of worship via its Youtube channel.  Do try it out now.


Stay safe
God bless us all ​
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4 Comments

Coronavirus Crisis blog - Day 1

3/18/2020

3 Comments

 
Hello,
We find ourselves in unprecedented times. For the first time in living memory, the Church of England has gone into semi-lock down. There will be no public services in CofE churches until further notice. The exception to this is:
  • Weddings: If you are planning one, please contact your minister and discuss the advice. Also, please note, we cannot call banns any more. So unless your banns have already been called, you will need to apply for a "Common License". Again, your minister will be able to guide you.
  • Funerals: If you do need to arrange one, my sincerest condolences. Your undertaker will guide you through all that is needed.
Moving on: the ministers and I will be looking at ways of keeping in touch with all our church family and parishioners. This blog is one of those steps. I will try to post several times per week. So please keep checking back. 
For now, I will leave you with the wise words
​of J. John.
j_john_reflection.pdf
File Size: 36 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

May God bless you and keep you safe.
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3 Comments
    Picture

    Revd Sean Brassil.

    Vicar of Whitchurch

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St Andrew's Cottage, Church Hill, Whitchurch, Tavistock.  PL19 9ED       Email: [email protected]    Phone: 07479 437299

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Diocese of Exeter
Tavistock Area Christians Together
Shekinah Mission
  • Home
  • Church Life
    • Services
    • Prayer
    • Home Groups
    • Donate to St Andrews
    • APCCM 2021
    • APCCM 2020
  • I want to
    • ... arrange a baptism
    • ... arrange a wedding >
      • My Wedding Countdown
    • ... arrange a visit
    • ... arrange a funeral
  • Giving
  • Contact us
  • Safeguarding
  • Privacy Notice