Weekly Email w/b 8th November 2021
Those of us who were at the Mid-Morning Congregation this week will have heard Charles issuing us with an invitation to spend an hour with the Almighty and to enter into the presence of the God who longs to spend time with us, simply for the pleasure of our company. What an awesome and life changing invitation!
This invitation isn’t limited to a particular time or place, but Charles was specifically inviting us to join with our church family in a week of 24-7 prayer which begins on Sunday 21st November. In Psalm 23 King David writes, ‘Lord, you restore my soul.’ God loves to bring us back to our true selves and make us what he made us to be. We long for this for ourselves, for those we love, for our nation and for our world. And so that week, ‘Restore my soul’ will be our theme as we pray together.
More details can be found below, but whether you join this week of prayer in the church building, at home or at work, our longing is that this would be significant moment in our lives as individuals and in our church family.
Revd Fi Iddon, Associate Vicar
“You restore my soul” says Psalm 23. And how we need it at the end of this year.
We are hosting a week of continuous prayer from midday on 21st November through to the following Sunday 28th November. During the day, between 9am and 7pm, Holy Trinity Church will be open and the tower vestry set up as an interactive prayer room. Outside of those times – unless by prior arrangement – we’re inviting people to pray from home or wherever else that time of day finds you.
This will be a week to pray for God’s restoring, for the sake of the communities we serve, the church we belong to, and for our own families and lives. There will be hour-long slots through the day and night, and we’re inviting people to sign up to pray. There will also be ‘hosted’ times in the prayer room at 9am and 6pm each day, as well as resources for people of all ages to join in.
Don’t be daunted at spending an hour alone in prayer. The amazing thing is that most people who do an hour say that “two would be better”, especially during the quiet hours of the night. Prayer turns out to be …. a lifeline!
Find out more and sign up to pray for an hour
This coming Sunday, 14th November, is Remembrance Sunday. We’ll be marking this in our usual ways, with a service at 9am and then the mid-morning gathering starting at the EARLIER TIME of 10.45am so that we can observe two minutes silence around 11am.
There will be the usual online presence in the usual way via Facebook Live. For those attending services which are livestreamed, if you have concerns about you or your family being ‘on camera’ then please follow the written signs about which parts of church might be visible, and where the ‘safe seating areas’ are. And if you have any questions please speak to one of the team.
We are hosting a quiz in the Trinity Centre on Saturday 20th November at 7:30pm. There will be quiz questions to suit a variety of ages and knowledge bases, and there’s a little something for everyone! Do please invite your friends and family, organise a team of up to six people. We are asking people to bring your own drinks and snacks, and sharpen your pencils for an evening of fun.
We’ll also be supporting God’s work across the world, asking people to make a donation to Tearfund. Tearfund is a Christian charity determined to see an end to extreme poverty and injustice. They mobilise communities and churches worldwide to help ensure that everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their God-given potential.
We’d love to invite you to come and roll up your sleeves and help this churchyard here continue to be a beautiful place for the local community. We’re looking for people to help clear leaves, and will be getting together on Saturday 20 November 2021 from 09:30. If possible, please bring your own tools, such as rake, broom, wheelbarrow, etc. The more people there are, the less time it will take! For further information ask Richard Boak, or speak to the Church Office.
A reminder of the recent change to our COVID guidelines at the 11am gathering at Meole Brace. The front four rows of the church – across all pews – will be for those who would like a more distanced seating area. The remaining rows of pews, and the chairs at the back, may have people sitting in each row, with less distance possible between those seated there. We’re still asking people to wear face coverings, especially during singing, as well as ensuring good ventilation, hand hygiene, and each of our personal responsibility of not coming to church if you are unwell.
If distanced seating is particularly important to you we do advise you to arrive early so as to be able to take your seats whilst church is quieter, and to remain in your seats at the end for a couple of minutes whilst people at the back are leaving. We remain online at the 11am, as well as for those feeling particularly vulnerable offering a greater distancing at the 9am, 6.30pm and midweek services at Holy Trinity, and at Christ the King.
Refreshments continue in the Bradbury Hall after each of our services at HT, and whilst we recognise a degree of inconsistency between face coverings in church and optional during refreshments we want to prioritise attendance in church for as many people as we can. We’ll continue to review these arrangements on a regular basis. If you have any questions or concerns then do please talk to one of the ministry team, or the wardens.
ADVENT FOR OTHERS and SHREWSBURY FOOD HUB
The fundraising team at Lingen Davies Cancer Fund have this year lead a large scale collaboration project, ‘Advent for Others‘, a physical calendar, featuring the work of 24 Shropshire-based charities. One of these is the Shrewsbury Food Hub, which Trinity Churches supports, and for which a number of church members volunteer. Another is Shrewsbury Ark.
It takes the core idea of the advent calendar and puts a charitable twist on it. Instead of getting chocolate behind each door there’s a local charity that will receive a cut of the money raised from calendar sales. So, by purchasing this advent calendar you will be supporting 24 charities and will find out a bit about one of the charities each day on the lead up to Christmas. Cost is £24.99 and details can be found at https://adventforothers.squarespace.com/ or by contacting Mike Haddaway.
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