News Sheet for Sunday 7 June 2020

Trinity Sunday

Greetings to you all, and I hope you are all staying well and coping in these difficult times. Last Sunday we said goodbye to Carol, our associate Priest, and on Monday some of us were privileged to witness (online) her licensing to her new parish in Easthampstead. So, some of you may be asking, ‘When does Carol’s replacement arrive’? Well, one answer might be that Carol is irreplaceable! Another might be, that now is not the time to replace her. To put it bluntly, when we found out that Carol would be moving on, I asked the PCC this question ‘Can you guarantee that we will be able to afford to pay an associate priest for at least 3 years?’ Sadly, they could not give me that guarantee. It is in no way their fault, but the simple fact is that we have been living beyond our means for some years, and it would be wrong to employ another full time stipendiary priest if we could not be sure that we could pay their stipend. So, we will not be replacing Carol. However, that does not mean that we will be without ministry. For a start you have me, and I will be functioning, as I did before, as Priest for the whole parish, and very excited about it I am too! Also, we have a ministry team, Jane, Mary, the Pastoral Assistants, many others who perform various ministries in the life of our parish. We do plan, however, in due course to augment that ministry team. Firstly, we hope to appoint, as soon as such things are possible, someone to lead our Children and Families work. This will be an employed post, but will not be full time and so will be budgeted for by ‘savings’ we make from not replacing Carol. Secondly, I have applied to the diocese in hope of being invited to train a curate next year. This would someone newly ordained, who would come to us as a deacon to be trained. The diocese is allocated a small number of these each year and the advantage is that the cost of their stipend and housing is covered by the church centrally. There is no guarantee that my bid will be successful, but I believe that our parish, especially at this time in its history, is a great place for someone fresh to ministry to get training and experience – and I have trained a number of curates in the past, so I am hopeful. I could say a lot more about this plan, but the wardens, PCC, and I believe that this is the right and responsible way to ensure the right sort of ministry for our parish for the future without taking on financial commitments we cannot deliver. All this will, at the same time help us to grow together much more as a unified parish who worship, serve and work together as one Christian family, which can only be to the good. How this works out in practice will become clear once we know when and how we are able to resume public worship in churches - but for now we are one congregation worshipping together online and at home - reaching far more people than we ever did, and continuing to do the work of Christ amongst and for the people of Fleet. If you have questions or concerns about this, please ring me and I will be happy to talk to you about them. My number is 01252 219281. Mark

SERVICES ONLINE - Livestreamed via our Facebook page unless otherwise stated:

Sunday 7 June - 10.00am Morning Service, followed by coffee at 11.00am via Zoom Meeting ID: 5089713920, 0131 460 1196

Monday, Wednesday & Friday - 12 noon Midday Reflection via Facebook

Wednesday - 9.30am Communion Service via Zoom Meeting ID: 5089713920, 0131 460 1196

Thursday - 2.00pm Bible Study via Zoom Meeting ID: 5089713920, 0131 460 1196

Next Sunday - 10.00am Morning Service, First Sunday after Trinity

PLEASE REMEMBER IN YOUR PRAYERS THIS WEEK . . .

Those in urgent need of our prayers including… Chris Butterfield, Timothy Rayment, Isaac Smith and John Tillyer.

Members of our extended church family in need of our continuing prayers... Angela, Steph, Gladys Barber, Melanie Brant, Marion Brown, Patricia Bull, Pearl (Frances) Draper, David Dunk, Jonathan Eddy, Alan Harvey, Mollie Hayes, Dexter Heard, Bonnie Lewis, Roger Matcham, Gill Page, Matthew Parkes, John and Barbara Simson, Barry Taylor, Eileen Taylor, Erica Taylor, Malcolm Taylor, Jean Thomas, Tyler Thompson and Molly Wilson.

Those who have died recently… Cathy Gibbs, Maureen Lee and Gilbert Rowland.

Those from our two memorial books whose anniversaries fall at this time… Olive Welford, Ken Peacock, Helena Townsend and Sandra Bolger.

PRAYER DIARY FOR WEEK BEGINNING 8 JUNE 2020

Meditation ‘We are not called by God to do extraordinary things, but to do ordinary things with extraordinary love.’ Jean Vanier.

We give thanks for the protection and comfort of the Holy Spirit.

Please pray….

Mon - (Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath and Wells, Nonjuror, Hymn Writer.) Please pray for all who are working in innovative ways to bring worship, prayer, fellowship and care to people in these difficult times.

Tue - (Columba, Abbot of Iona, Missionary, 597.) Giving thanks for the rich heritage handed to us by the Celtic Christian tradition, we pray for the future of the United Kingdom of four nations, and for our Queen as their Sovereign.

Wed - We pray for race relations in the USA and all around the world, giving thanks for the rich cultural diversity of the human race. Pray also today for the Church in North India.

Thu - (Barnabas the Apostle.) Remembering his renowned ministry of encouragement, we thank God for positive people and pray that we might be able to help and support others in our turn.

Fri - We pray for schools, pre-schools, nurseries, child minders, and for young people facing changes and transitions in the months ahead.

Sat - For those who work in tourism and hospitality and are facing deep uncertainty for the future of their industry.

Sun (Trinity 1) - For the community of Frimley Park hospital, and especially for the Chaplaincy team.

ALL WEEK – For those who live in Meadow Walk, Medonte Close, Medstead Drive, Merivale, Micheldever Drive and Mill Corner.

PRAYERS FOR SUNDAY 7 JUNE - TRINITY SUNDAY TODAY’S COLLECT Almighty and everlasting God, you have given us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity: keep us steadfast in this faith, that we may evermore be defended from all adversities; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION Almighty and eternal God, you have revealed yourself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and live and reign in the perfect unity of love: hold us firm in this faith, that we may know you in all your ways and evermore rejoice in your eternal glory, who are three Persons yet one God, now and for ever.

PARISH NEWS & EVENTS

Please note that items with headlines underlined are new this week.

PUBLIC NOTICE - The public notice has gone up for the faculty application for the work on All Saints Church - you can view the notice on the noticeboard on site or via the parish website here.

PARISH MAGAZINE - The June edition of the Parish Magazine is available online through the parish website. We also have some printed copies - if you normally distribute the magazine and have not yet done so please contact the Parish Office with details of how many you need so that we can arrange for you to have some (or for your round to be covered if you are unable to deliver).

GILBERT ROWLAND - Some of you may remember Gilbert & Maureen Rowland who used to be part of All Saints congregation and moved away a few years ago - sadly, Maureen died about 6 weeks ago and Gilbert died last week.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES - FACCTS have created a collection of resources aimed at infant, junior and secondary school aged children please see http://faccts.org.uk/resources.html.

Roots are currently providing free resources such as prayers and reflections or children’s activities relating to the lectionary readings for the week - you can find this week’s at

www.rootsontheweb.com/adultsathome7june www.rootsontheweb.com/familiesathome7june

DIOCESAN CALENDAR OF PRAYER - If you haven’t already downloaded this you can find it at https://www.cofeguildford.org.uk/life/calendar-of-prayer - this month we will be praying for parishes in Farnham and Godalming.

DAILY HOPE - The Church of England has a free phone line of hymns, reflections and prayers. Just call 0800 804 8044 at any time of the day or night for hope in this time of lockdown.

NOTES ON THE READINGS FOR SUNDAY 7 JUNE

First Reading - Isaiah 40.12-17 & 27-31

The prophet is asking “Who has…?”. The answer is “The Lord ... the creator of the ends of the earth”.

Psalm - Psalm 8

This hymn of praise reminds us that God has placed us humans in charge of His creation; we are therefore trustees of the world about us.

Second Reading - 2 Corinthians 13.11-13

These few words of encouragement and blessing come right at the end of a letter in which Paul has berated the Corinthian church members for their lax and ungodly ways. It would seem that he does not want to end his letter by alienating them altogether.

Gospel Reading - Matthew 28.16-20

These final verses of St. Matthew’s gospel, which was addressed to Jewish readers, look back at Jesus’ teaching and the new commandments that came earlier in the gospel. The gospel writer would not have foreseen today’s problems with differing world religions and multi-ethnic societies.

PARISH CONTACTS

Vicar, Revd Mark Hayton 01252 219281 vicar@parishoffleet.org.uk

Safeguarding Officer, Sheila Buller 01252 629346 s.m.buller@btopenworld.com

Administrators, Chantelle Gardner & Elly Wilson Office hours: Monday - Friday, 9.30am - 1.00pm Parish Office, Parish Community Centre, Church Road, GU51 4NB 01252 812114

office@parishoffleet.org.uk website: www.parishoffleet.org.uk facebook.com/parishoffleet

twitter.com/parishoffleet