It is with great regret that after considerable deliberation it has been decided to
suspend Sunday worship and all other activities at the church.
This decision has not been taken lightly but given the advice from the Government
and Church bodies, combined with the demographic of the congregation and other
users of the church it was viewed as the only sensible course of action to protect
everyone.
Our Minister Suzanne has different forms of Worship that we can enjoy during this
time and will remain available to be contacted by everyone in the congregation
during this crisis.
On a practical note if anyone in the church family needs help with shopping,
advice or just a chat over the phone please contact me and as a Church family
we will pull together.
The church will also be working with the other Crosspool churches and Forum to
assist people in the Crosspool Community.
Who knows how long this situation will last BUT please keep safe and don’t
take unnecessary risks
Keep talking, keep smiling and keep praying.
Message from the Minister
Rev Suzanne Nockels invites you to link to her Sunday reflections:
Sunday 29th March
Sunday 22 March - Mothering Sunday
See also her Lentern study for this week on the church blog
Prayer
Lord Jesus,
You are like a mother hen who gathers her chicks,
You care for us and want none of us to come to harm.
We thank you for mothers who have loved us and nurtured us,
We thank you for their patience although we often tested it,
We thank you for their wisdom although we often ignored it,
We thank you for their quirks and sense of fun.
We thank for the times they put themselves last and the times when they took
centre-stage and shone.
Because it gave us permission to do the same.
Lord Jesus,
Relationships are complex and no relationship is perfect.
Some of us have strained relationships with our parents,
Some of us have to stay away from them, not because of a virus, but because
of emotional damage.
Lord Jesus, your love goes deeper than even a parent’s love and certainly deeper
than a parent who was absent or violent or manipulative.
Help us heal.
Lord Jesus,
It is heart-breaking that many of us cannot visit our mothers and loved ones today,
We want to protect the ones who protected us.
Keep them in good spirits and assure them of our gratitude and support.
Be with the mums and dads now coping with their kids 24/7 and the stresses
that may bring on top of concerns about future employment.
We praise you for all the mums working in the NHS, police, supermarkets and
education service right now.
Give them patience when people behave badly and again may they know our
gratitude. Forgive us that it took a virus to appreciate the mum on the till or the
mum who is a care-worker.
Lord Jesus,
May we be Mother church right now, wherever we happen to be.
If we are in a position to provide shopping or a chat on the phone- let us do so,
If we have to be prayerful and patient and stay and home to protect others or
prevent pressure on the NHS-let us do so,
Jesus, we want to look back when all this is over and say that we grew as
Christians even at this time.
We pray in your precious name.
Amen.
