In Building Services
Following a successful return to in building services on the 20th September, we look forward to our next in building service at 9am this Sunday, which we will also be streaming on Facebook and Youtube. We want to remind you of the government guidelines on maintaining good social distancing and limiting the numbers of people meeting together. We will continue to share our church services online, and encourage you to make the choice that is right for you, about whether to come to the building or to join us from home.
If you have any symptoms of covid, please do not come to the church building.
There are a few things that will be different when you come to a service at St Mark’s
- Entrance will be through St Mark’s Room, including hand sanitiser station and collecting track and trace contact details (which will be held for three weeks).
- Face coverings are required in a place of worship
- Congregational singing is not allowed
- Distribution of communion will take place outside at the end of the service
- We need to adhere to social distancing. To help with this we have markings on the floor outside the church and inside. You will be directed to your seat as you come in, with those arriving first being seated at the front of church. At the end of the service, we will leave from the back rows first. Given social distancing and seating, there will be a maximum number of people that can attend worship. At St Mark’s Church, this is up to 34 small house holds. If the church is full we will not allow additional people to enter, and you will need to join in the service online.
- We will not be opening the toilet or kitchen (except in an emergency!)
We need to ensure that our church building continues to be a safe space for people to gather, to worship and pray together. To help with this, we are also reducing some of the roles and activities that would usually be part of our worship. Within current guidelines, we won’t be having acolytes, robing choir, flowers, refreshments or hymnbooks within our services, and we need to keep those in the vestry to a minimum – this will be restricted access for clergy, technical, organist and churchwardens only.
Coming up…
- Sunday 11th October, 9:00am – The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity Eucharist service in church.
- Sunday 11th October, 10:00am – The EighteenthSunday after Trinity online service – on youtube and Facebook, followed by coffee on zoom.
- Monday 12th October, 10:30am – Weekly discussion group on Zoom; please see below for full details.
- Wednesday 14th October 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 14th October – 6:00pm – 7:30pm – Weekly evening discussion group on zoom, note the new earlier times, logon for coffee and chat from 6:00pm; please see below for full details.
- Sunday 18th October, 9:00am – The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity communion service in church.
- Sunday 18th October, 10:00am – The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity online service – on youtube and Facebook, followed by coffee on zoom.
Upcoming Dates
- 31st October – we are hoping to hold a community churchyard clear up day (weather permitting!) We’d love to see you there. We’ll all have to bring our own tools, and work together (socially distant!) to make a difference.
- 1st November – All Souls service – we are still working out details regarding this service, and will be in touch with further details soon.
APCM 2020
A reminder of the recent post (link) we shared about our upcoming APCM, coming up on the 12th October. Take a look at this page, where our annual report can be found – as well as nomination forms for PCC (1 vacancy open), Deanery Synod (2 vacancies) and church wardens too: which must be returned to us before the APCM meeting on the 12th.
This will also be streamed via Zoom: click here to connect through your computer; alternative 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.
“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 12th and Wednesday 14th October. 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.
Community Churchyard Day
On Saturday 31st October, from 10am we will be having our annual community churchyard day. We encourage you to bring along your own tools, and of course we will all be socially distanced. It would be great to work together and help tidy up the churchyard ahead of the winter. Please encourage friends and neighbours to get involved too, and make this a real community day.
Monthly Pattern of services
A reminder that our current pattern of services during the month is:
- 1st Sunday of the month – 9am an all age morning prayer service, so there will be no communion in the building on this Sunday. 10am – online communion service
- 3rd Sunday of the month – 9am Traditional language common worship communion service. 10am informal service online.
- 2nd, 4th, 5th Sundays of the month – 9am contemporary language common worship communion service. 10am informal service online.
Sunday Services – are you in our virtual congregation?
Every week our Sunday service is at 9:00am in the building, and 10am for an online specific service and is on our YouTube channel here – and our Facebook page too! We’d love to see your photos of you at home getting ready for the service – and now we’re live from the Lady Chapel, we’re hoping to see more of you in our virtual congregation. 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!)
Facemasks – donations to New Forest Basics Bank
Across the New Forest, a team of stitchers have been creating thousands of scrubs and bags for our local hospitals. As facemasks are now required for public transport, and individuals are choosing to use them elsewhere too, the team are creating a fabulous array of colours and styles of individual face masks for adults and children. There are mask trees set up in Pennington, Lymington and other local towns and villages. You go along to a mask tree, select the mask you would like, and then drop in a donation to the New Forest Basics Bank. If you want to know the location of your local mask tree, please email debs.pope@gmail.com
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.
Heartedge
As our church is a part of HeartEdge, you are invited to get involved in any of the fabulous array of workshops and seminars that they are organising. Here is a link to what’s on in October 2020.
Join the Sunday service via Zoom
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.