Coming up…
- Sunday 29th November, 10:00am – First Sunday of Advent online service – on youtube and Facebook, followed by coffee on zoom.
- Monday 30th November, 10:30am – Our weekly discussion group on Zoom
- Wednesday 2nd December, 10:15-11:15am – Coffee Morning on zoom. Phone in or join us on the internet, all are welcome – you’ll need to make your own coffee.
- Wednesday 2nd December, 6:00pm – 7:30pm – Our weekly discussion group on Zoom
- Sunday 6th December, 9:00am – Second Sunday of Advent in building service
- Sunday 6th December, 10:00am – Second Sunday of Advent online service
Advent and Christmas services update
Given the move back to tiered restrictions to control the spread of Covid-19 within the UK (Hampshire is in tier 2), we’re happy that we can welcome you back in to St Mark’s from the 6th December!
For the foreseeable future, our Sunday service pattern will be a 9am service in St Mark’s Church, which will also be streamed online, followed by a 10am online only service shared with Pennington and Lymington Church. Masks continue to be worn when inside the church, and please ensure you maintain social distancing with anyone outside of your household or bubble.
As we approach Christmas, our intended services are as follows:
- Sunday 6th December
9am – In building and streamed communion service
10am – Online only service - Sunday 13th December
9am – In building and streamed communion service
10am – Online only service - Sunday 20th December
9am – In building and streamed carol service
10am – Online only service - Tuesday 22nd December
6pm – Online Interactive Fun Carols service - Thursday 24th December – Christmas Eve
10-11am – collect a Christingle in a bag kit from St Mark’s Church porch
4pm – Online only Crib and Christingle service
6pm – In building and streamed communion service (replacing what previously would have been the midnight service.) - Friday 25th December – Christmas Day
7am – Advent Calendar day 25
9am – In building and streamed communion service
10am – Online only service - Sunday 27th December
10am – Online only service
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 on Mondays and Wednesdays and Sarah Salisbury on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 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
Vocations Information Sessions
Are you thinking about how God might be calling you to serve him? Do you know someone who is exploring calling in some way?
Winchester Diocese have two sessions coming up for people who want to find out more. Whether it’s the Bishops Commission for Mission, Licensed Lay Ministry, Ordination or your Monday to Saturday work, come and find out about how we can help you discern what God is saying.
- Monday 30th Nov 7.30-9pm with Bishop Debbie,
- Saturday 12th Dec 10–11.30am with Bishop David,
There will be a chance to ask questions and talk about any of these pathways as well as hearing from +Debbie and +David on the subject of God’s call to us, and from Angi Nutt about the Vocations discernment process.
For booking and the Zoom link please email Lynda.mumford@winchester.anglican.org
Quiet Morning Online
On Saturday 12th December, from 10-12:30 we will be having an Advent Quiet Morning online on zoom. Kevin Smith, ordinand in training and Rev Rachel Noel will be leading the morning. Quiet Days are a chance to ‘Come away’ and be still, away from the distractions of everyday life. An opportunity to stop. Rest. Refocus. Re-create.
Do come online at 10am, bring your own cuppa with you, we’ll have welcome and introductions, followed by morning prayer together. We’ll lead you in some short reflections, followed by an extended time of quiet (you can have your video on or off during this, whichever feels most comfortable for you). A quiet time for you to connect with God in whatever way you find helpful. Some like to journal, others to respond to God creatively using art materials, others to be still in nature in a garden or go for a walk. We’ll give you some ideas for reflections too.
- At 12.00 we’ll gather back together to say prayers and to have the opportunity to share anything that has struck us during the time of quiet if we want to.
- At 12:30, you can either stay online with other participants to share lunch together, or you can sign off and continue your quiet on your own.
All are welcome to join us. If you’d like us to send you more information and the text for the prayers in advance, please let us know you’re coming by emailing us at takepart@penningtonchurch.uk
The zoom details are here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84800762384?pwd=MjVGdURzbUlWN3c0dkJhTzJjeDJ5QT09
- Meeting ID: 848 0076 2384
- Passcode: 295455
Taketime Ignatian Meditation
Led by Sarah Salisbury and based on Sunday’s gospel (Mark 13), this is to take place on zoom, Tuesday 1st December at 11am.
Ignatian meditation provides a calm, comfortable space in which to meet God, imagining an encounter with Jesus: no religious knowledge or background is required. The meditation includes a relaxation exercise and lasts around 20 minutes and there will be an opportunity for discussion afterwards, if you would like to stay on.
Any questions please call Sarah on 01590 673847; Sarah has trained as a Taketime Practitioner.
- https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89529902640?pwd=QVQxTGxjODdwV3ROT1gxM2NWUjN0dz09
- Meeting ID: 895 2990 2640
- Passcode: 2020
- Dial in from a landline phone: 0131 460 1196
Pennington Stands Together – Community Advent Calendar 2020
This year, to mark Advent, we are creating a community advent calendar on our hedge. School, pre-school and nursery groups are each decorating a board, and various members of the wider community are reading stories. We will be sharing a video online each day from December 1-24th on YouTube and Facebook. It would be great if you could watch them, press the like button on them and share them with friends, to help us to celebrate the fabulous community of Pennington.
To prepare for Advent at home, you might like to think about making an advent wreath or candle to use at home. We’ve created a video with some ideas to get you started… we’d love to see photos of any that you make at home. Email to takepart@penningtonchurch.uk
The Advent Wreath from Heartedge
HeartEdge are leading an online advent course that all are welcome to attend.
Inspired to Follow: Art and the Bible Story – Sunday 29 November, 14:00 (GMT), Zoom meeting – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inspired-to-follow-advent-course-tickets-126549205079.
‘The Advent Wreath’ exploring the Patriarchs, the Prophets, John the Baptist and Mary. Session 1, The Patriarchs – Genesis 12:1-10.‘The Departure of Abraham’; Workshop or imitator of Jacopo Bassano, about 1570-90, NG2148. ‘Inspired to Follow: Art and the Bible Story’ helps people explore the Christian faith, using paintings and Biblical story as the starting points.
The course uses fine art paintings in the National Gallery’s collection as a spring board for exploring questions of faith.
“Being With” Course
Mondays 10:30-12:00 or Wednesdays 6-7:30
We are piloting the new “Being With” Course. This is an opportunity for those wishing to explore the Christian faith for the first time, those wishing to be baptised or Confirmed this year and those wanting to explore Christianity within the particular inclusive theology that we share. It’s a ten-week course, that will take place on zoom online, continuing on Monday 30th and Wednesday 2nd December. As we join the HeartEdge network, and are one of the few churches across the country that have been invited to pilot this course, we’d love you to join the conversation. Please email vicar@penningtonchurch.uk to book a place.
Making it a Pennington Christmas!
We’re working on plans for a yarnbomb on the hedge again this Christmas. We’ll share more details very soon, but we’re asking for anyone to knit or crochet 12″ squares in festive colours. These can be plain or patterned, the choice is yours. We hope to make a yarn christmas tree to light up Pennington and cheer us all up this coming Christmas season. Do encourage anyone you know to get involved, we will be sharing posters soon around the village, and will have collection bags in many of our usual locations.
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?
With lockdown meaning we can now only present our 10am online specific service – on our YouTube channel here and our Facebook page too – 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.
Hampshire County Council Hub
If you would like to help with the community at large, the new Hampshire County Council Hub to support the community through the crisis has now been established. If you are able to offer support and would like to be involved, please contact them on 0333 370 4000. Your call will then be triaged and you will be passed to whichever organisation or local contact would be most appropriate.