Sunday Morning Worship in the Church will resume on Easter Day, 4^th April.  Guidelines

COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic now at the Bradbury Centre.

Craft @ 4 now replaced by 'Zoom' meetings.

VE Day 75th: Wartime pictures from the congregation.

Sunday Morning Worship in the church resumed on Easter Day, 4^th April.  The weekly recorded services are continuing.  Craft @ 4 is also running (via Zoom), but not in April.

Recorded Service and 10.30am Morning Worship

Mrs Doreen Murgatroyd

Church Annual Meeting 4.00pm on Zoom

Please contact the office (nearer the time) for zoom details

From Revd Catherine Bowstead

Dear Friends,

I hope that you had a good Easter weekend.  It was good for those of us who were able to gather for worship in our church building.  We were delighted to be able to welcome our Town Mayor, Cllr Tony Lack and his wife Claire who joined us for worship.  And it was wonderful that the beautiful weather enabled us to sing our final hymn “Thine be the glory” outside in the glorious sunshine.

In this hymn we remind ourselves of the wonderful joys of Easter: “Endless is the victory thou o’er death has won”, “death has lost its sting”, “life is naught without thee”.  I think that it’s impossible to sing this hymn without a smile on your face and a sense of affirmation in your heart.

The risen life that Jesus brings is incredible news for us to share and I hope that, inspired by our Lent Book, you have been giving thought as to how you might share this good news with others.  Think about what Easter means to you or what you’ve missed about church in the last year.  This will help you to realise what is most important to you about your faith and how you might explain this to someone else.

Our service this week is being led by Doreen Murgatroyd.  She is using the Bible readings 1 John 1: 1-2:2 and John 20: 19-31.  You might like to look at these Bible passages before Sunday morning.  Don’t forget to book your place if you want to worship in the church building, but the recorded service will be on our website by Sunday morning.  As lockdown continues to ease, it will be good to see more people returning to worship in the building.  We have got out of the habit of going to our church building to worship together on Sunday mornings, so it might take some effort to re-establish the habit.  Despite the current restrictions of no singing indoors and having to wear face-coverings, it is good to be together to worship so I would encourage you to make plans to return.

As mentioned in our notices last week, our General church meeting is planned for 18^th April at 4pm on Zoom.  People without an internet connection can phone in to a zoom meeting so that they can hear what is going on – and make a contribution if they wish.  At the meeting we will receive our Annual Report and a Financial Report.  We will elect Church Stewards and representatives to the Church Council. And we will also share plans for the future of the Vaccination Centre and our plans for re-opening the church buildings.  Everyone who is a Member of our Church is entitled to attend and vote at the meeting, but non-members are welcome to attend too.  We will send out details about the meeting next week but do let me know if there if anything that you would like to be discussed.

I hope that you have a good week, and I am looking forward to seeing you before too long,

With every blessing,
Catherine

From Revd Catherine Bowstead

Dear Friends,

I’m sure, like me, you’re pleased to see the gradual easing of lockdown, maybe you’ve had the joy of meeting up with some friends or family in your garden.  Peach Place has been very busy this week with people enjoying coffee and chats in the sunshine.  Our shoal of fish are continuing to sparkle in the sunlight and it will good to be able to use our building properly again.

Claire, Jane and I went to deliver some Easter Eggs for the staff and residents of Lovat House earlier in the week.  As ever, they were very appreciative, and I am sure that they will enjoy these Easter treats.  The next project for the sewing team is sew bags to fit on walking frames for the residents, and you can see Fiona measuring up a frame in the photos.

I hope that you have all enjoyed using our Lent books and that you have gained some useful insights about sharing faith that you can put into practice as we start engaging with other people again.  I still have some copies of the study guide for Marks’ Gospel to be used between Easter and Pentecost, so do let me know if you would like one.

We’ve had some excellent daily reflections for Holy week on zoom this week. And I would encourage you to watch the Good Friday presentation ‘No Exceptions’ – A meditation for Good Friday 2021 presented by Churches Together in Wokingham

Created entirely by Wokingham residents for Good Friday, this short film is a meditation on the person of Jesus, his crucifixion and its enduring meaning for our lives today.  With drama and music, the film is striking, moving, yet full of hope.  Watch and share with friends and family: You are loved. No exceptions.

The video will be available at this link to watch from 12 Noon on Good Friday 2^nd April.  https://youtu.be/KcLU4PH5vHw

After all the darkness and difficulties of these last few months it’s good to see some signs of light, life and hope.  Of course, this Easter weekend we celebrate the greatest sign of life and hope – Jesus Christ, crucified and buried raises to new life and offers this everlasting life to everyone.  Whether you are joining our congregation in the church building or worshipping at home, I pray that you may know the life in all its fulness that Jesus offers.

“Do not abandon yourselves to despair.  We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”

– Pope John Paul II

With every blessing,
Catherine

Some previous Pastoral Letters are available here.