The following activities are taking place each week. All are welcome to join us:
Sundays
- 8am – BCM Communion Service
- 10am – Contemporary Service (Communion service on the first and third Sunday of the month, informal morning praise on the second and fourth Sunday of the month)
Mondays
- 9-9:30am Morning Prayer on Zoom with St Thomas and St Mark’s – Parish Prayer zoom link
- From 10am – Zoom Study group on Pennington Church general zoom link
Tuesdays
- 9-9:30am Morning Prayer on Zoom with St Thomas and St Mark’s – Parish Prayer zoom link
- 1.30-4pm – Strictly Come Crafting. 2nd & 4th Tuesday at the Community Hall. Contacts Dorothy Davies 01590 676163 or Shirley Saunders 01590 677628
- 2.30-3.45pm – Friendship Teas 1st Tuesday in month at the Community Hall. Contacts Shirley Saunders 01590 677628 or Pat Wright 01590 678416
Wednesdays
- 9-9:30am Morning Prayer on Zoom with St Thomas and St Mark’s – Parish Prayer zoom link
- 10:15-10:30 – Morning Prayer at St Mark’s Church
- 10:30-11am – Coffee at St Mark’s Church
Thursdays
- 9-9:30am Morning Prayer on Zoom with St Thomas and St Mark’s – Parish Prayer zoom link
- 1-2pm – Fareshare Larder – St Mark’s Community Hall Car Park
Fridays
- 9-9:30am – Morning Prayer on Zoom with St Thomas and St Mark’s – Parish Prayer zoom link
Saturdays
- 9-9:30am Parish prayers at St Thomas Church
Monday study group in May
We are meeting again on the 15th May 2023 when we will be looking at the life and legacy of Corrie Ten Boom. All are welcome to join us on Zoom at the new time of 10am. We have decided to meet earlier from now onwards as that suits the group best.
The following week (22nd May 2023) will be after Ascension day so we are planning to look at the Novena and the prayers between Ascension Day and Pentecost.
APCM and Electoral Roll
The APCM will be held on 14th May at 11:15am after the morning service. Please note the electoral roll (ER) is being revised; do please check to make sure your name is on the ER at the back of church – or if you wish to add your name to the ER please complete a form at the back of church and hand it to Rebecca, our ER officer.
Coming out of COVID – Holy Communion and the common cup
In early 2020, COVID19 hit the UK and changed how we conducted our daily lives. Following lockdowns, we implemented changes to how we conduct in building services, in an aim to keep all in our church buildings safer: one such change was to remove the common cup during Communion – the priest intincting the wafer in wine instead. Restrictions implemented following COVID have now been largely removed and the Church of England’s guidance regarding the common cup has now also been updated. Their guidance encourages for churches who have not returned to Communion with the common cup to consider returning to this practice now.
Our intent therefore is to reintroduce the common cup during Communion services, likely to resume following our upcoming APCM service.
Where communicants for particular personal reasons do not wish to receive Communion in both kinds (the wafer and the wine), the Church’s teaching has always been an inherited theological understanding that to receive the consecrated bread alone is to receive Christ in all his sacramental fullness. Therefore please feel under no obligation to receive Communion in both ways, should you have any concerns in sharing from the common cup – simply receiving the wafer alone is absolutely fine.
During lockdown and the subsequent relaxation of restrictions following there was one upside through respecting social distancing, the need for good hand hygiene and the need to keep away when unwell. You may have heard others reporting – or noticed yourself – that the seasonal coughs and colds in winter 2020 / 21 were not as prevalent as in previous years. Although the requirement to self isolate due to COVID is no longer mandatory, we would ask members of our church family to join the service online from home, if unwell: this can help prevent the spread of infectious illnesses from COVID to the common cold.
Aspire – Max’s Channel Relay Swim
Friend of St Marks, Maxine Winfield is looking for support in an endeavour to raise money for the charity Aspire – a charity who support people with Spinal Cord Injury to help them live full, independent lives. Max writes:
In the summer of 2023 I will be swimming the English Channel from Dover to Calais as part of a relay team of 6 ladies from Moore Barlow Solicitors.
The actual distance is 22 miles although we will swim further as we won’t swim in a straight line due to the tides.
Each swimmer will swim for 1 hour at a time and must be alone in the water. We will each complete 2 – 3 one hour swims depending how long it takes us. Everybody must complete their swims or the whole team is disqualified.
If you want to support Max in her efforts, you can donate via her Just Giving page (https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/maxinewinfield).
There are other ways to give too – and any way that includes tea and cake is surely a winner!
Ecochurch Recycling
We are pleased to say that medical blister pill packs are now being collected again together with foil (please flatten), printer ink cartridges, water filter cartridges, used pens, batteries and milk bottle tops.
Remembrance Poppies?
We’ve had a request for budding knitters and crochet experts – to help the Royal British Legion in Lymington for Remembrance this year! Although an early request for November, the intent is for 10,000+ poppies to help mark this year – if you can help, do please contact Tracy Robertson on 07884 396196 – or email tracyrobertson@uwclub.net.
Collection boxes for the Children’s Society
If you would like to donate to the work of the Children’s Society through the year, collection boxes for you to add your pennies to through the year are now available at St Mark’s! Please speak with Dorothy at our 10am services, or Paul or Eve at the 8am!
Community Hub at Community Hall
Citizens Advice Outreach available for advice. Step Up Safe Space for clothes & toy swap.
Other services will be added based on your feedback of what would help your community.
Parish and Giving Update
The St Mark’s PCC recently met with Debbie, the acting Bishop of Winchester regarding the next steps in interegnum for St Mark’s. Within this meeting, we discussed the challenges that face both ourselves, but also our neighbours St Thomas in Lymington.
Lymington will be appointing their incumbant initially with the intention to appoint for St Mark’s following. The intention here being to ensure complementary skill sets across both parishes. St Mark’s have been in suspension (having a ‘priest in charge’) for over a decade, due to a desire from the diocese to see closer ties between St Mark’s and St Thomas’s – with this roadmap for moving out of intergnum in both parishes potentially helping a closer knit between our churches.
During these early days, our church wardens along with St Thomas church wardens are meeting regularly with the area dean. Combined events with St Thomas’s, including prayer groups, and messy church are already seeing combined success across our churches. Our PCC is also engaging with Christians together, Lymington and Pennington – helping our name be known across the wider Christian community.
St Mark’s PCC would welcome your help as we journey forward, with any volunteers who may be able to help in the aspects of our church life. Such as joining teams for parish visiting, events and refreshments or helping with our study groups; we are also wanting to fill a health and safety role – and would welcome any interested individuals to help in this position.
Financially, we are facing challenges as a church as many of our congregation and community likewise see. We are in the unfortunate position of seeing a large increase in our utility costs. With a rise of over 400%, we will be potentially seeing an increase exceeding £8,000 per year over church and hall. Although we appreciate the financial position of our congregation varies, if you are able to support us further now this would be most welcome. Many of our congregation donate through the Parish Giving Scheme; if you do not currently do so, we ask if you would consider starting – this is a great way for us to manage our finances. Alternatively, our weekly envelope scheme is available as an option too; details for both schemes are available from our treasurer and church warden, Teresa.
You may also want to give through alternative methods too, which won’t cost you to do so. For example, supporting us through services such as Amazon Smile or Easy Fundraising is a great way to use services you may already be using: with a percentage of the price you pay coming back to St Mark’s.
Our PCC would love to hear from you if you have any thoughts for how we may save money, or indeed increase finaces into the church. Do speak to any of your PCC members, or email ‘enquiries@penningtonchurch.uk’ with your thoughts – we’d love to hear from you.
Our thanks to all for your support; our church is not a building, it’s the people within it who meet in a common love of Christ – and it’s together that we can move forward.
Daily 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 members of St Mark’s and St Thomas congregations, this now runs Monday through Friday.
Daily prayer is also taking place in St Thomas church from 9am on Saturdays
Coming together, we offer daily prayer for the situation in Ukraine.
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
St Mark’s Flower Decoration
If you would like to give flowers to commemorate an anniversary or other special day, or remember a relative or friend, please enter your name on the poster at the back of church against the date you would like your flowers to decorate the church and/or contact:- Lin Haley on 01590 677904
YouTube and Facebook
All our services can be found on our YouTube channel here. We also post details about or services and events on our Facebook page too, here.
Online Connection Information
Zoom Details
- Pennington Church General Zoom link:
- From a landline phone: 0203 481 5240 Meeting ID: 944 5816 8956 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