Thanks to Gavin, John, Tom and Ryan, who cycled round various churches in Norfolk last week. They covered a lot of ground between them and raised a few hundred pounds to share between our parish church and Norfolk Churches Trust.
Thanks as well to everyone who helped make our four parish church buildings welcoming places for those doing the rounds.
Great effort all round!
Adrian leads us on a journey alongside Jesus' disciples of old, as they are confronted with what it will really mean to follow Jesus. The costs – as well as the benefits – are integral to Christian faith. This is a "Package Deal".
We also welcome young Violet and her family, as she is baptised at her christening.
A full service order with song words is available here, so you can follow along to YouTube livestream.
This Sunday, we have a christening at Mulbarton Church, at which we welcome the family of Aurora at 10am. With the treat of well resourced live music, Adrian will be leading the service, considering Jesus' teaching about a world without borders.
A service order with all the words to follow along with when watching the youtube stream is here.
This Sunday, we have two christenings at Mulbarton Church, at which we welcome the families of George at 10am and Edith at 12noon. Adrian will be leading both services, considering Jesus' teaching about how what we do comes from what's inside us.
Derrick explores the lectionary passages of Joshua 24 verses 14-18 and John 6 verses 56-69 as a response to the question "Are you confused?"
A full service order with song words is available by clicking here.
To join remotely, simply access the Zoom meeting in the usual way, and you will find links to the YouTube live stream and the service order from there.
Live stream link is here: https://youtu.be/2QxUca3Yap4
Adrian leads a communion service for all ages, as we conclude our exploration of Jesus' teaching about being the bread of life.
A full service order with song words is available by clicking here.
To join remotely, simply access the Zoom meeting in the usual way, and you will find links to the YouTube live stream and the service order from there.
Live stream here: https://youtu.be/R1bWW7PwNZU
The government and the church have issued new guidelines as legal restrictions lift. In summary, it is up to us to judge the risk and to set our own rules. You may be wondering what that means for worship patterns and other things in the Mulbarton Group of Churches. Read on to find out more...
The changes mean we now have more freedoms to join together for corporate worship, including singing together in our churches. We are blessed with technologies that enable us to worship remotely, and we have facilitated this as much as possible over the lockdown months, but we all know it isn't quite the same as the joy of meeting together in person. Worship services are now happening again in our church buildings - although you can still worship with us remotely if you would prefer (see Live Streaming section below for more)
Our old medieval buildings are mercifully well ventilated, spacious and airy which helps mitigate the risks of transmission. When just a few are present to worship, we will be able to continue to keep socially distanced and put our masks in our pockets. When many are gathered to worship, we will still ask you to wear masks for singing.
If you would like to gather with others to worship, but are anxious about being too close to other people, we will endeavour to have areas set aside in the church buildings where social distancing measures are enforced.
If you are planning to come to a worship service or church event, we recommend taking a lateral flow test, freely available from your local pharmacy, in the 24 hours before attending, even if you are not showing symptoms. If you do have symptoms or if the test is positive, please join in remotely instead of attending in person.
For communion services, we will not be offering the common cup yet, but we will offer bread or wafers that have been dipped in the communion wine by the priest, an authorised practice known as "simultaneous administration". The priest will pray over the bread and wine while they are covered by a napkin, and with hands sanitised and mask worn, will dip portions of bread or wafers into the cup and hand to each communicant, before the priest consumes any wine.
We have a limited number of people who are available to provide musical accompaniment in our church buildings and at Hanover. We will do our best to see that we have live music wherever possible, but as things stand we will not be able to make that provision at every service. If you know of musicians who would like to volunteer their time and skills to help with that, please do direct them to me.
For the ever popular monthly "Church at Hanover", which was meeting in the lounge at Hanover Gardens on the 4th Sunday of each month, up until February 2020, we are delighted that we will soon be able to recommence. The smaller Bible study afternoons are meeting again on the second Thursday of every month at 2pm. The Sunday morning service will reconvene with a special Harvest Service at 10:30am on Sunday 26 September 2021. The last DIY service for use at home will be sent in in August 2021, along with a month of Bible readings. Huge thanks are due to Jill Wright for preparing these monthly mailings so faithfully and capably all through lockdown!
The church website will continue to be the authoritative source of information for our Sunday services. Any changes will be reflected there first, so always check the website if you are not sure what's coming next or what is available. From the home page, click on "Worship" in the top menu or on the first image at the top that says "Sunday Worship". Or bookmark this link: https://mulbchurch.org.uk/worship/next
Since March 2020, we have been making Sunday services available to access from home via Zoom, and afterwards on the benefice YouTube channel and website. This has been much appreciated by many, and opened up church to a wider potential audience. Special allowance has been made in these covid emergency times to deal with the streaming licences needed to do that legally - but some of these provisions have now come to an end, and has meant we have needed to re-think this provision over the summer break, and will review what we do in September.. You can still use the regular Zoom link to access a Sunday morning Zoom meeting, but this will no longer include a live feed from the church. Instead, we will share a link from the Zoom meeting to a livestream on the benefice YouTube channel. YouTube has the license agreements in place that Zoom doesn't. The recording will also be available on the website afterwards in the usual way.
We are now allowed to serve coffees and the like after services, but there are quite a few guidelines about how to do this safely and respectfully. We have made the decision not to offer refreshments over the summer break, to keep things simple, and to review in the autumn term. Mingling after services is allowed - please just respect others' boundaries.
We will be pausing the morning prayer meetings for the summer. They have been happening Mondays-Thursdays on Zoom and will pause from Thursday 22nd July through the summer, aiming to reconvene on Monday 6th September. We hope that it will be safe to meet in Harvest House for prayer at that time, but will continue to Zoom the meeting from there, so if you want to join in, you will have the choice of coming to Harvest House or joining remotely.
The "Open the Book" team stopped going into Mulbarton school to conduct weekly acts of worship in March 2020, through dramatising inspiring stories from the Bible, and drawing out a simple relevant point for the gathered children. We would love to return to the school in September, and have been invited to do so. Not all of the original team are going to be able to step back into role, so if you are interested in being involved, please do let me know. The "Open the Book" format is tried and tested, and fully scripted, and it is a fun team to be part of, doing really valuable work.
We trust in God for provision as we seek to follow the vision we believe God has given us: following Jesus and sharing the journey with our neighbours. Where there is vision, there is provision. Nevertheless, churches and charities, like some businesses and individuals, have felt the pinch of the economics of this last 16 months. Norwich diocese received almost £1million less in 2020 than in 2019, with income down to just over £6million. They are cutting central staff significantly and are having to cut clergy posts by 10% over the next two years. In our group of parishes, we fell short on our contribution in 2020 for the first time in years, by about £10,000 across the benefice. Huge thanks to those who generously give of their time, skills, compassion and money. During this season of doing different, please do continue to hold in prayer our needs and how we might adapt our giving practices. If you would like to find out more about ways you can give, please do contact me, a churchwarden or a treasurer, who would be happy to help.
I would love to hear from you about your experience of church and Sunday worship in particular over lockdown. And I would really love to hear from you about your plans over the next few months, as we navigate through this uncharted territory.
Are you planning on attending in person now that we can sing?
Are you going to feel uncomfortable or anxious about returning to worship for the foreseeable future?
Have you appreciated Zoom worship and would you like that to continue in some form?
If you access Sunday church over the summer, let me know what you think about the new way to key into it, the Zoom-YouTube combination.
If you have any thoughts about what you are planning or what you would find helpful over the coming weeks, I am all ears! I can't promise to cater for everything, but would love to get a good feel for where we all are at with things.
Jill Wright leads us in worship, as we learn lessons from the prophet of old.
A service sheet with all the song words, etc., is available here, to complement the live YouTube stream, which will be broadcast live on our YouTube channel here.
A video of the live stream is embedded below:
Adrian leads us in a reflection on Jesus' enigmatic words to the Jews who were seeking a sign, about him being the "bread of life". We welcome Gabriel into the family of the church, as he begins his journey of faith.
A service sheet, including all the words in the service, is available by clicking here.
Our first worship service in Mulbarton Church when we were able to sing together! A cheerful service, celebrating new beginnings along our journey of faith.
If you want to follow along, a full service sheet is available by clicking this link.
After having to postpone from 2020 due to the pandemic, Hethel Church were finally able to hold their weekend event celebrating the beauty of the Earth.
Peter Nicholls, Churchwarden at All Saints Church in Hethel tells us more:
“What a weekend! A capacity crowd (30) got up at 3.45am to see the sunrise. The clouds got in the way, but we enjoyed crystal-clear photos taken last year, and senior Franciscan Brother Sam sang a metrical version of Canticle of the Creatures which, he said, he’d never done at sunrise before. Moving (and slightly bizarre at 4.45am in a Norfolk lane). We then wandered private farm tracks enjoying and naming birdsong.
“Brother Sam delighted: on walks; in a formal talk; preaching; having lunch with a booked group, and serving drinks to pizza-and-beautiful-music-goers on Saturday evening. The message? This is God’s Earth and He loves all of creation. Salvation is not just about us; creation care is for God’s sake. It is for the sake of our neighbours who are overheating or flooding or drying up and it will be for our own benefit, too. Our primary driver should be that God cares as much for Brother Ant and all of life as he cares for us. We were urged to ‘See Differently’ – the title of Br. Sam and others’ book about Franciscans and creation. This was embodied in two prayer walks, appreciating nature through each of the five senses in turn and giving thanks to God.
“On Sunday afternoon Dr Anne Edwards led another capacity crowd through Hethel’s enviro-rich churchyard – at its peak for wildflowers – and beyond, spotting plants, grasses, trees, and insects of interest. Tea and cake, of course, followed, like all the catering both sustainable and beautiful. Br. Sam closed the event with a beautiful “Short Service for a Summer’s Afternoon”.
“Funds were raised for the Society of Saint Francis, A Rocha (overseer of the Eco Church scheme) and Hethel Church. Were people made more aware of the Christian’s responsibility to oppose environmental degradation? We pray so and received positive comments suggesting that the event ‘moved the dial’ a bit.”
We were privileged to welcome Brother Sam to Hethel Church's special weekend, "For the beauty of the Earth". A member and once leader in the Society of St Francis, Brother Sam encouraged us to refocus on what really matters in relation to God and God's world, our home.
On the Sunday morning, he gave a simple message during the morning services, which is well worthwhile revisiting. You can see that message here:
On the Saturday, Brother Sam talked about some of the themes from his book, "Seeing differently". After the talk, there was a Q&A session, and a summing up from Brother Sam, all viewable on our YouTube channel, and embedded below.
Brother Sam main talk: "Seeing Differently":
Brother Sam Q&A:
Brother Sam summing up:
Derrick leads a reflection on journeying with Jesus
Adrian leads a communion service, in which we explore the account of Jesus calming the wind and waves from the boat. Adrian draws our attention to the questions contained in the passage. First the disciples ask whether Jesus cares if they drown. Then, once Jesus has calmed the storm, he asks them what they are scared about and where their faith has gone. Finally, the disciples ask one another "who is this?"
Derrick reflects on the parable of the mustard seed and the kingdom of God, as we worship together.
Adrian leads us in a service of worship, suitable for all ages, that explores friendship with Jesus, through Bible, prayer, games and song, in an relaxed and interactive way.
Adrian leads a service, in which we look at pictures of the trinity, seeking to tease out the theology and worship of the artists, and what the Trinity might mean for us in our Christian lives.
Jill leads us in a reflection on the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit to the church, the people of God, while Adrian presides over Communion.
Adrian leads us in worship, as we reflect on lessons learned from Jesus' great prayer for the church in the world, from John 17.
Adrian preaches on Acts 10:44-48 and John 15:9-17, reflecting on Jesus' invitation into joy and friendship.
And Derrick leads a Zoom service from home on the same theme:
Live video will be starting shortly....
I'm planning to shave my head on 30th April 2021 (before my wedding season gets underway in earnest!), as a way to raise awareness and raise funds to help us continue to develop healthier and safer church communities, and to support survivors of abuse perpetrated by clergy and church leaders.
Shaving the head is a biblical symbol of lament and repentance, and for me also says something about symbolically shaving off the trappings of the toxicity around male privilege, and some of the unhelpful cultural trappings that have been a factor in some recent high profile cases - the likes of Ravi Zacharias, Jean Vanier and several others, from across the spectrum of Christian traditions.
For me, this has great personal meaning, in terms of my own story and background. This is a symbolic representative lament, a personal statement of intent, and a way to do something to raise funds to help on the frontline. I am delighted to be partnering with Thirtyone:eight in this, who have been wonderfully supportive with the endeavour. The work they are doing is making a difference, and the funds raised here will help more churches become healthier places for all.
One of the first people I told about my crazy head shaving idea was a friend whose life has been blighted by the poor behaviour of church leaders. I asked how she would feel if some of those people were to shave their heads as a sign that they were sorry for the ways they had exploited their position and privilege to her detriment. She said it would be a powerful image, after years of feeling invisible. Since they won't, I will. I want to listen, lament, repent AND see churches become ever healthier and safer communities. The way church culture, power, opportunity, celebrity and privilege operate has seen change for the good in recent years, but there is further to go.
More information about Thirtyone:eight: We're an independent Christian charity which helps individuals, organisations, charities, faith and community groups to protect vulnerable people from abuse. To do this, we provide training, consultancy, disclosures and a 24 hour helpline, making sure everyone is equipped and empowered with the tools they need.
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Cathy and Peter lead us through a contemplative occasion, using props, readings, prayers, music and silence to help us engage with the last moments of Jesus' life on Earth.
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