An update for Palm Sunday

St Mark’s in-building services are coming back!

From Easter Sunday, the 4th April, we’re opening our church once more for in building services. We are hosting from 8am a BCM communion service at St Mark’s church, followed by a 9am contemporary Easter communion service – both of which will also be shared online. And from 10am, we will hosting our online specific service too.

We do need to remind you that social distancing guidance is still strongly in place, so masks need to be worn in buildings, seating is further apart, there won’t be singing, we’re not allowed to socialize and the doors will be open for ventilation. So, do bring a coat: it may be chilly!

You are welcome to join us in whatever way is possible for you. We hope that particularly, the buildings being open again will make it more possible for those where technology excludes, to feel part of our worshipping community again.

Please pray for everyone involved in reopening our buildings, and for all of us, as we work out what is possible, and what will enable us to worship, to bring glory to God.

Our services for April 2021

Easter Sunday – 4^th April

• 8am – BCP Communion service (in St Mark’s Church and streamed online)
• 9am – Contemporary communion service (in St Mark’s Church and streamed online)
• 10am – Online service, shared Lymington and Pennington Church

Sunday 11^th April

• 9am – Contemporary communion service (in St Mark’s Church and streamed online)
• 10am – Online service, shared Lymington and Pennington Church

Sunday 18^th April

• 8am – BCP Communion service (in St Mark’s Church and streamed online)
• 9am – Morning Praise service (in St Mark’s Church and streamed online)
• 10am – Online service, shared Lymington and Pennington Church

Sunday 25^th April – St Mark’s Patronal Festival

• 9am – Contemporary communion service (in St Mark’s Church and streamed online)
• 10am – Online service, shared Lymington and Pennington Church

Regular activities

During current restrictions, the following activities are taking place each week. All are welcome to join us:

Sundays

Current Sunday services as per previous page

• ~10:45am – Zoom Coffee on Pennington Church general zoom link

Mondays

• 9-9:20am Morning Prayer on Zoom with Sarah and Jane – Parish Prayer zoom link
• 10:30am-12 – Zoom Study group on Pennington Church general zoom link

Tuesdays

• 9-9:20am Morning Prayer on Zoom with Sarah and Jane – Parish Prayer zoom link
• 11am-12 – TakeTime Meditation Group on Zoom – Parish Prayer zoom link

Wednesdays

• 9-9:20am Morning Prayer on Zoom with Sarah and Jane – Parish Prayer zoom link
• 10:15-11am – Zoom Coffee on Pennington Church general zoom link

Thursdays

• 9-9:20am Morning Prayer on Zoom with Sarah and Jane – Parish Prayer zoom link
• 1-2:30pm – Fareshare Larder – St Mark’s Community Hall Car Park

Fridays

• 9-9:20am – Morning Prayer on Zoom with Sarah and Jane – Parish Prayer zoom link

Saturdays

• 9-10 Parish prayers on zoom, followed by coffee – Parish Prayer zoom link

Online Connection Information

Zoom Details

• Pennington Church General Zoom link:
• From a landline phone: 0203 481 5240 Meeting ID: 971 631 0618 Passcode: 1839
• Parish Prayer Zoom Link:
• From a landline phone: 0203 481 5240 Meeting ID: 895 2990 2640 Passcode: 2020

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PenningtonChurch
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StMarksChurchPennington

Electoral Roll for 2021

Click here to download the notice of the 2021 electoral roll notice.

Lent 2021

We’re well into the 40 days of Lent – and we have a web page with some resources you may find helpful during this season: Lent 2021 Resources from St Mark’s.

Throughout Lent, we encourage you to set aside time to reflect, to encounter God afresh this season. To support this, attached is a booklet of ideas and prayers that you may want to use at home throughout Lent. Within our services each Sunday, in each church, we will be using a cross and the items mentioned in the booklet. You may want to join in at home, using the simple items suggested.

Holy Week and Easter

Rwanda Lent Appeal

Rwanda, like nearly every country, has been affected by the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. The government in Rwanda is responding by implementing strict lockdown restrictions across the country. Without being able to earn a daily wage, many Rwandans face hardship and hunger. Churches have been closed along with schools and public transport. There has also been very heavy rainfall with parts of the country suffering flooding and landslides. Crops and lives have been lost. Many Lyndhurst Deanery parishes launched emergency appeals to support their link parishes in Rwanda and were able to provide direct support at a time of great need.

Rwandan churches set up foodbanks to support their local communities and these have been a lifeline to many of the poorest families. The practical help that the church is providing is a powerful witness with new families knowing the hope of God.

However the pastors themselves have been under great pressure. Seen as a focal point for those facing starvation, they have been providing support where they can. But without the income from regular church services, pastors themselves are facing severe hardship.

Many schools have built additional classrooms so that children can return. This has happened in stages and some normality has returned but the threat of further outbreaks and lockdowns is always present. To support our Rwandan partners, this year we have asked how best we can support each link diocese. In many cases, ongoing support for pastors in training is still the main priority as the parish situation, on top of ministry training, is creating great difficulty.

Parish visits to Rwanda have been put on hold but the established relationships have kept communication channels open, allowing us to practically support, care for and pray into one another’s real needs as we all face a challenging time of uncertainty.

In such times it is important that we do not overlook the needs of our brothers and sisters elsewhere.

Please gift any donations to our treasurer, Teresa, at teresa@penningtonchurch.uk, with specific reference to the Deanery Lent appeal. These gifts will then be sent on to the Lyndhurst Deanery Rwanda Mission Team.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. Further information can be found in the following resource:Rwanda Lent Appeal

COVID Morning Prayer

With St Thomas in Lymington, we continue to ‘pray for our nation, for its leaders, its health and essential services and all those who suffer’ this week at 9am on Zoom. Led by Jane Nicholson from St Mark’s and Sarah Salisbury from St Thomas, this now runs Monday through Friday. Please do join them either by computer or phone:

• https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
• Meeting ID: 895 2990 2640 Passcode: 2020
• Dial in from a landline phone: 0131 460 1196

Join the Sunday service via Zoom

If there are people you know in our congregation who do not have access to the internet and would like to phone in and listen to our services, please share this information with them to join the Pennington Church zoom during the service and listen to the audio. To phone in, please dial 0203 695 0088.

• You will hear: “Welcome to Zoom, enter your meeting id followed by hash”
• The meeting id you need to enter is: 971 631 0618 #
• You will then hear it say “Enter your participant id followed by hash, otherwise just press hash”
• Please just press the # key. then you will be asked for the passcode, please enter 1839 followed by hash (#).

You will then be part of a conference call, and you will be able to listen to the service, and then talk to others afterwards.

Sunday Services – are you in our virtual congregation?

We’d more than ever love to see your photos of you at home getting ready for the service. Plus, as we stream from the Lady Chapel, we’re hoping to see more of you in our virtual congregation as well so please do share a photo of yourself for us to add to our wall by email to takepart@penningtonchurch.uk, it’s such an encouragement for us.  After the service, you’re welcome to join us in zoom for coffee (you will have to brew your own!)

Rachel’s art for sale!

If you’d like to purchase art that our priest Rachel has created and showed in our our worship recently, please check out our new Red Bubble shop. Profits from sales of these items all go to support the ministry of Pennington Church.

YouTube and Facebook

All our services can be found on our YouTube channel here. We also stream our services on our Facebook page too, here.

Lords Prayer

We invite you to video yourself on your phone or computer reading the Lords’ Prayer. Please then email your recording to takepart@penningtonchurch.uk

We’re now showing the Lord’s Prayer in our services with each line read by a different person and we’d love to include as many of our congregation in this as we can. Please be brave, and join in the fun. (Trust me, it was strange for me to get used to leading the service in front of a camera or a phone too.) Others in the congregation will be so delighted to see you taking part, as we are each encouraged by seeing those that we know and love.