Announcement

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Easter Sunday Update - 10am - Front Field

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Dear Friends,

Today marks Maundy Thursday and the beginning of our Easter Services with Holy Communion this evening at 7.30pm. It also happens to be the day I said I would make a decision about what to do over Easter Sunday. The current weather forecast on the Met Office (Which breaks the day down into hours unlike some phone Apps) says the weather will be dry and sunny but slightly cold. So today I have found myself struggling to come to a decision based solely on practical reasoning and have had to lean on prayer and tradition a bit too.

One of the traditions of Maundy Thursday in England is the presentation of Maundy money by the Sovereign to people who have served the church faithfully for many years. If you take time to listen to some of the stories of those who have been nominated, the acts of service have usually been incredibly selfless, not always glamourous, and regularly involved some sense of sacrifice, but all done in the name of Jesus. When we come to worship it is all about and for Jesus.

When we choose to follow Jesus we choose the way of the cross, a way that is not always comfortable, but a way that offers life and joy. The celebration of Easter is a chance to proclaim afresh the goodness of God with all our might. Following the darkness that has been this year we have an opportunity to witness to each other and the wider community, the wonder of the resurrection. It would be easy to say lets call the outside thing off, reduce our Sunday worship capacity to 80 and hide the celebrations inside the building. As I have contemplated that easy decision, I have found my heart troubled.

Now more than ever, I believe we need community. Now more than ever, we need to remain faithful. Now more than ever, we need to be witnesses to the hope of the resurrection. The idea of one service outside on Easter Sunday was not something that would logically be my first thought – the planning and logistics involved requires much more work, and then it all being weather dependent leaves everything far too last minute for me, but it’s something that continually kept coming up in prayer. My first job as vicar is to try to be as faithful as possible to the God who loves me, and then to serve you his people as wisely as possible.

With this in mind, I’ve taken the decision to go ahead with our Easter celebration at 10am on Easter Sunday outside. It might be slightly cold, but with the company of one another, blankets, warm coats (and yes even hot water bottles and flasks of tea) I believe our celebration of Easter will be a moment of great joy and witness.

I hope you will forgive my lengthy email explaining my reasoning, I hope to worship alongside many of you over the coming days and even on Easter Sunday, whatever decision you choose may you know the joy and love of our Lord Jesus Christ throughout these days of Easter.

Calum

 

(Should the weather forecast change dramatically between now and then, I will be in touch once more.)

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Update 16 - Resuming Public Worship

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Good Evening!

I hope you are well and keeping safe. I promised to write again when I had more details about the resuming of public worship.

As I mentioned in my last email, from Sunday 2nd August 2020, public worship will resume within St. Michael’s Parish Church. Our pattern of services has been adjusted to allow for our reduced capacity. Services will take place at:

Sunday, 8am – Quiet Reflective Service (BCP on the 3rd Sunday of the Month)

Sunday, 10am – Traditional Service with recorded music

Sunday, 6.30pm – Contemporary Service with recorded music

Wednesday, 10.30am – Mixed Traditions with recorded music

To begin with, our capacity is at 36 people from 24 different households or bubbles. We are asking people to book to attend a service so that people don’t have to be turned away at the door. You can now book for services happening in the first 2 weeks of August. You will notice the number of tickets available is less than our capacity and this is to allow space for those not on the internet to be able to book in for a service. You can find the booking system on our website at https://www.bramhall.church/worship-1#

Following the first 2 Sundays, we will open the booking system for the following Sunday on the preceding Monday. So booking for Sunday 16th August will open on Monday 10th August. If you find all the tickets for the service you wish to attend have been taken by the time you get there, please email the office on office@bramhall.church or phone on 0161 439 3989 and your name will be added to a priority list to fill gaps and for the following week. You will be required to book each week, rather than making a block booking.

If you know of someone in our parish who is not on the internet, please can you forwards their name to Karen in the Parish Office, so that they can be contacted to see if they would like to attend a service.

To give you some reassurance about the safety of attending worship at St. Michaels the following things have been implemented or are being encouraged:

  • Hand Sanitizers have been installed near all doors and in the toilets and we are requesting people clean their hands on arrival and as they leave

  • Chairs have been spaced at the required social distance from each other

  • As part of the booking system we are asking for people’s contact details so that we adhere to the government Track and Trace Programme

  • The Church of England national guidance has been changed in the last couple of days to say face coverings are strongly encouraged for those attending worship.

  • Where possible the doors of the church will be left open throughout worship to help with air circulation

  • Large TV screens have been installed to project the liturgy so that prayer books are not having to be given out.

Holy Communion will be celebrated once on a Sunday and this will rotate around the different services, and it will be celebrated on alternate weeks at the midweek service. There will be a new system in place for the distribution of communion which will be explained during the relevant services. There will not be a communion service on Sunday 2nd August, because for many of you, there will be enough new things to process.

If you have any problems with booking to worship, or concerns about joining us for worship, please be patient, but also do get in touch. I do intend that some of our services will be streamed live to the internet, so that those who cannot attend in person, can still participate in some way. I’m still working out the technology on this one, so will tell you where you can watch this when I know myself.

Next week I intend to share daily reflections on why I think worshipping together as a church is important, and I am very much looking forward to worshipping alongside you again very soon.

With anticipation and excitement!

Calum

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Update 14 - Reopening for Worship

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Dear Friends,

I am pleased to announce today that on Sunday 2nd August 2020 public worship will resume at St. Michael and All Angels Parish Church. I have put together a video which explains how this will work, you can watch this video on our website, youtube channel and facebook. The youtube link is https://youtu.be/0VOxGIAc2yc.

From the 2nd August we will hold 4 services a week, each with a maximum capacity of 36 people from 24 different households. The complication in number is because in church, we have socially distanced the chairs, and some chairs are in doubles and some are in singles. Our service pattern will be as follows:

  • 8am – Largely unchanged from before lockdown. A quiet service using the liturgy of the BCP on the 3rd Sunday of the month

  • 10am – This will follow the same format as our online services and remain largely traditional.

  • 6.30pm – A slightly more contemporary service.

  • Wednesday 10.30am – Largely unchanged from before lockdown.

Regarding the celebration of Holy Communion, the PCC have agreed that Holy Communion will be celebrated once a week and that will rotate around the different service times. Holy Communion will only be offered in one kind and if you choose not to receive, that is completely acceptable.

Currently we are not allowed to sing, due to the potential dangers in the spread of infection through singing. We will play recorded music at most of our services for people to listen to. Public Health England are currently undertaking studies to see how dangerous singing is, and the Church of England have produced guidance on how we will reintroduce singing when it is appropriate.

 We will be asking everyone to continue to observe social distancing, and will be putting up more hand sanitisers around our building to aid with the cleaning of hands. Currently the government guidance is not insisting on the wearing of face masks (although this may change in the next few days), but if you wish to wear a face mask in church, that’s fine. We will also be installing 2 digital screens at the front of church, for the prayers and readings to appear on during the service, which will mean we don’t need to hand out bits of paper as you arrive.

Due to the limited number of people we can safely fit in our building, people will be required to book in to attend services, and there will be an online booking system on our website, which will be launched in the next couple of weeks. We will also prioritise space for those not on the internet, who wish to worship with us. Karen will be coming back to work on the 20th July to facilitate this system. If you know of people who aren’t on the internet, but would like to join our worship, please can your forward their name and phone number to office@bramhall.church.

There are still a few details and practicalities to work through in the coming weeks, but I am really excited and looking forwards to worshipping alongside many of you in the near future. I have felt a real sense of grief at not being able to worship in person as part of a community – and part of that is because it is an important part of what it means to be a Christian and the Church. I, the Churchwardens and the PCC are committed to ensuring St. Michael’s is as safe a place as possible, so that as many of you as possible can join us in worship once more. I look forwards to welcoming you back soon.

If you have any concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me,

Regards,

Calum

Revd Jess Piper, New Appointment

The Rector and PCC of the Parish of Stockport & Brinnington are delighted to announce the appointment of the Revd Jessica Piper to the role of Associate Minister for St Mary’s, St Thomas’ and St Luke’s, (subject to all legal formalities being completed). 

Jess will begin ministry in Stockport sometime over the summer and will take a lead on ministry amongst children, families’ and in schools’ across the parish.”

Calum commented “I am proud and excited and for Jess with her new role in Stockport and I am really looking forwards to seeing the church grow and develop throughout the town centre. It’s poignant that Jess joins the new parish in Stockport and Brinnington which contains the church from which St. Michael’s was originally planted. I look forward to seeing how St Michaels can now support St Thomas’ and the wider parish of Stockport and Brinnington in the months and years ahead.

Parish Response to Coronavirus

For the past week St. Michael’s have been following the advice given by the National Church of England and adapted procedures where necessary on a daily basis.

Yesterday (10/3/2020) the Archbishops of Canterbury and York issued further advice relating particularly to services of Holy Communion. From today the following applies

  • Parishioners with coughs and sneezes should think about whether coming to church is sensible whilst ill.

  • At the advice of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York the following practise will now be implemented

    • Shaking hands during the peace should be avoid and sharing the peace should be done verbally instead.

    • The use of the ‘common cup’ is suspended and all parishioners will receive communion in one kind via a wafer.

    • Clergy will still greet people at the door but will refrain from shaking hands.

  • Priests and Servers should wash their hands using alcohol-based hand-sanitiser during the offertory before Holy Communion.

  • We encourage the washing of hands each hour or after each meeting.

  • Door handles will be cleaned daily.

  • Sunday service resources will be uploaded to the website on Saturday evenings to enable those at home to follow the service. Sermons will follow as soon as possible after the service.

  • The Vicar and Churchwardens will review our response daily and will take advice from local Public Health officials.

This guidance will be updated as further changes are required. Last updated Tuesday 11th March, 08:05am

Funeral of Charlie Everton - Friday 11th October 2019

The funeral of Charlie Everton will take place at St. Michael and All Angels Parish Church in Bramhall on Friday 11th October at 2pm.

For those attending the service, the church will be open from 12pm.

Car parking around the church is limited to our 2 car parks and on street parking. Please share lifts where possible and consider parking in other parts of the village and walking to the church.

The surrounding area will be busy between 1.30pm and 3.30pm due to the number of people expected to attend this service.

Doors to church will open at 12.30pm