Update - October (1)

Hello Friends,

Can you believe its now October? In a zoom meeting last night, someone mentioned how they couldn’t believe that the Christmas decorations were going up in the garden centres already. Just a few updates for you as we head into this new month.

Mark Hackney Licensed at Reader

This Sunday (4th) Mark will be licensed as a Lay Reader in the diocese based at St Michaels. The service will be take place at Chester Cathedral and will be led by Bishop Mark, Bishop of Chester. If you want to watch the service, we have been told it will be on youtube and the link is https://www.youtube.com/c/ChesterCathedralChoirandOrgan/featured. The service will start at 3pm. The following Sunday (11th), Mark (our reader, not the Bishop) will preach at all three services and will also replicate parts of the licensing service, as required by the Diocese. I do hope, you will be able to join us at one of these services, as we welcome Mark into this ministry.

NHS Test and Trace App

You may have heard much about the launch of the NHS app last week. Part of the system requires public places to display a new type of barcode at the entrance to their buildings. People with the app on their phone can scan the code and register that they have arrived at the building. In line with the request from government St Michaels is now displaying the code we have been assigned. If you have the app, and wish to participate, you can scan in on arrival at church, but nobody will be forced to participate in this system. We will maintain our own booking system which is primarily about making sure we have space for people in our services, and secondly is about making sure we have information for Track ad Trace should it be needed.

On the note of Track and Trace, I think it is inevitable that there will be people in our church over the next few weeks who get told to isolate. Where this happens, I want to ask for your continued love, generosity and care towards them. People don’t choose to get Covid, but to be told to self-isolate brings all sorts of feelings of fear and in some cases shame. Lets continue to build one another up in love and prayer.

Another Step to Normality

I am really pleased to tell you that from next Monday (5th October) the Parish Office will be staffed 5 days a week again. Next week, we welcome Janet Blackshaw back to work, which is another sign of us recovering in the right direction. Karen will work Monday to Wednesday and Janet will work Thursday and Friday.

As the office returns to full capacity we are looking to revive some of the rotas that were in place for our services to assist with some of the planning. If you were already on a rota for bible reading, leading intercessions or being a sidesperson, Karen will have already been in touch. If you would like to be included in these rota’s either contact the office, or use the sign up sheet that will be in church on Sunday.

Technology

With the introduction of the screens for worship, up till now, Mark and myself, with a few exceptions have been controlling what’s on screen whilst also leading or preaching. Whilst this has worked so far, we don’t think this is a long term solution so we are asking for help. If you would be able to help control what’s on screen during a service and be part of a rota, we would both be really grateful. Again there will be a sign up sheet in church on Sunday and we will look to sort out some training and a rota within the next 2 weeks.

Christmas

Christmas is coming. The festivities will look very different this year, but we will still celebrate the birth of Jesus and the celebration of God with us. As I look to plan things in a different way, if you would be interested in being involved in some of the planning and delivery of our Christmas celebrations, there will be a sign up sheet in church this weekend, or you can let me know by email. Where its possible to meet in person we will, otherwise it will be over zoom.

Greetings from Newala

This week we received a message from the Diocese of Newala encouraging us in faith and reminding us of their prayers. Its well worth a read and you can find it on our website at: https://www.bramhall.church/news-updates/newala-message-sept-2020

Over the last few weeks the passage of scripture that has been at the forefront of my mind has been:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,  looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Whatever the next few weeks and months hold – the race is a marathon and Jesus is always in sight supporting us, strengthening us, praying for us. Do not be discouraged!

With thanks for your prayers, the assurance of mine,

Calum

September Update

Good Morning,

It’s been 7 weeks since we reopened St Michael’s for public worship and it has been a real joy to see so many of you and worship alongside you in that time. By way of encouragement, we have seen around 75% of the congregation return to church for worship activity, which is a percentage much higher than some of the other churches in the area.

Rule of 6

As we head into the winter months it was inevitable that restrictions would shift and change. Following the announcement last week from the government about the new rule of 6, I said on Sunday I would send out an update later in the week once the Church of England had updated their national guidance relating to this rule. Essentially, in terms of our worship activities, nothing changes.  The Archbishop of Canterbury wrote “Worship is the work of God – not a social gathering – and gives the strength to love and serve.” Providing we continue to observe the social distancing rules, wear face masks (unless you have a medical exemption), and continue to care for one another in the ways we have been, there shouldn’t be too much change to our new way of life. In terms of activities in the Parish Centre, this is slightly more complicated, and the churchwardens and I are working to try and understand which groups can meet and how it is possible.

Memorial Wall

Some 18 months ago, plans were discussed to have a new memorial stone added to the memorial garden to remember babies who are born asleep or don’t make it to full term. Those who go through this difficult experience, normally don’t have a grave to visit, or place to go and remember, so the addition of this stone will provide a place of remembrance for families. The cost has been underwritten by the PCC and I am very grateful to Ben Lloyd Funeralcare who worked with us and provided us a discount on the work. The stone was installed last week and I think it is a fitting addition to the memorial garden.

Whilst the work has been covered by the PCC, if you wish to give a donation to this new memorial, please can you pass cash or cheques to the office in an envelope marked ‘baby memorial’ or include those words in your bank transfer reference. If we receive donations in excess of the cost, these will be donated to Tommy’s, a baby loss charity. If you wish to know more about them and their work, a link can be found here: https://www.tommys.org/

On Sunday 11th October at 3pm, there will be a short service in our memorial garden to dedicate this stone which will be led by Revd Jess Piper, which will be open to all.

Annual Meeting

The annual meeting takes place on Sunday at 2pm, I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at that meeting, and taking time to look back on our life together last year whilst also beginning to think about the future of St Michael’s too.

I hope you are well and keeping safe.

Regards,

Calum

Update 18

Hello one and all!

I hope you are keeping safe and well. We have had three Sundays where St Michaels has been open for worship and I thought it might be helpful to share with you a few updates on parish life.

Sunday Worship.

Over the last three weeks, our Sunday attendance across the three services has been in the seventies which I am really encouraged by with the addition of the ‘livestream’ being watched by around 120 people over the course of the following week. It has been great to have so many of you back in church to worship alongside. Thank you for bearing with me when I’ve got things wrong, and thank you for bearing with all the restrictions imposed on us. For those who don’t feel that it is quite safe yet, I hope you have been able to join us via the ‘livesteam’ – the church hasn’t forgotten about you. Sue Howgego, a member of our 8am service, (and keen gardener) wrote the following to me last week, which I thought might be helpful to share:

‘Thank you to all those people who have been involved in making St Michael's a safe space for worship. The thought that has gone into it all is visible from the moment you walk through the door, with plenty of hand sanitisers, socially distanced chairs and a screen on which  to follow the service ( no more papers to  shuffle). On Sunday I attended the first communion service since lockdown. Again, that had been carefully thought out with a socially distanced single file for those that were taking communion and hand sanitisers placed on the outer aisles for use after replacing our face coverings.  The attention to detail is impressive. Thank you so much for doing all this. It is so nice to attend a service within a church building and to feel safe.’

I have been made aware of a few difficulties with the sound on the livestream – there are a few of us working on this to solve the problem – bear with us.

If you were on a rota for doing one of the bible readings on a Sunday, we have had to suspend that rota for the time being, so if you are one of those organised people and have put it in your diary, you can cross it out for now.

If you come to book on to a service and find it is fully booked, please contact the office and let them know, and Karen will add you to a priority list for the following week.

APCM

The annual church meeting will happen on Sunday 20th September at 2pm in church. I will be sending out a further email this week, with the associated papers and details about the meeting. If you are interested in standing for PCC, please either contact Tricia Munn for a nomination form, or pick one up from on top of the pigeon holes in the Parish Centre.

Director of Music

It was announced on Sunday that Jonnie Gait has decided its time to move on to pastures new. With both Douglas and Heather joining school in September, their family life is going to change a bit and so now seems like the right time to go. I will miss Jonnie greatly, as I know many of you will. Jonnie was one of the first people I had lunch with when I joined St. Michaels and it has been a real joy to work with him over the last 3 years. Jonnie, Hannah and the kids have promised to come back at some point to say goodbye and we want to give them something to say thank you. If you would like to contribute to this gift, please drop off cash or cheques at the office in an envelope marked ‘Music Gift’ or make a bank transfer to the church with ‘Music Gift’ in the reference. The churchwardens have begun a process of drawing up a new role description which we will advertise for a new appointment as soon as seems appropriate in the current conditions.

Head Sidesperson

Over many years, Frank Bennett has faithfully served the church as heads Sidesperson drawing up rotas and keeping order. He has been brilliant in this role both from the perspective as the vicar but also from the perspective of the many churchwardens Frank has served with. Frank has decided now is the time to step down from this role and his role as Sidesperson and I want to put on record my thanks to him for all his hard work. A presentation to him will be made at some point in the near future to say thank you. The churchwardens are going to take on the duty of caring for sidespeople, and are currently on the lookout for new sidespeople to support the effort in keeping the church open with the increased number of services. If you think you could help, please speak to David Walker or Louise Richardson whose contact details are at the bottom of SMT.

Getting Involved

I think its safe to say that the normal programme of services and events for the autumn and winter at St Michaels will have to be different this year. Rather than having services, at which we have been seeing a rising number of people attend in previous years, like the commemoration service, advent and Christmas carols, we are going to need to have a rethink, because of the social distancing restrictions. In the next couple of weeks, I will be setting up a number of groups to look at how we can do these things differently and planning them together. Watch this space!

Thank you for your encouragement and support these last few weeks,

With my prayers,

Calum

Update 17

Afternoon Everyone,

In light of the restrictions announced yesterday evening and explained further this morning, I thought it would be helpful to let you know what’s happening at St. Michael’s.

The PCC Standing Committee have communicated via email this morning and agreed on our way forwards. Our understanding of the restrictions for Greater Manchester, which are echoed by the Diocese too, is that places of Worship can remain open, and this is because of all the work and changes that have been implemented to make our space and what we do ‘Covid Secure’.

The question that the Standing Committee have discussed has been ‘should we open even though we can open?’ We have decided that we will continue with reopening and resuming public worship this Sunday.

In my previous update I outlined the various steps we have taken to ensure our building and activity is as safe as possible which includes encouraging social distancing as much as possible. In my previous email I also mentioned that the Church of England strongly encourages worshippers and ministers to wear facemasks during worship. The Prime Minister in his press conference today has reinforced this view and has said that face masks will be compulsory from the 8th August.

When I finished university, Jess and I went on holiday with some friends to rural France and the book I took with me was Charles Dickens ‘A Tale of Two Cities’. I’m reminded of it now by the words:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

Speaking personally, this seems to sum up quite well a lot of how I am feeling at the moment. I and others have and will continue to make St Michael's Church building as safe as possible for as many of you as possible to come and be present together to worship God. For those who feel its not quite safe, I completely understand, and for those who find the restrictions and requirements for face masks in the coming days difficult, I can understand your position too. I’m fed up of not being able to share community properly, but I am looking forwards to being able to get as close to that community feel as possible, by worshipping alongside many of you this Sunday, albeit from 2 metre distances.

For those that want to stay at home but still join in, I hope that our service will be streamed on our youtube channel at 10am. The link to our channel is: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh8Ve25UiBfXwpdumWDod7Q?view_as=subscriber

Hebrews 6:19 states: ‘We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.’ The hope is Jesus Christ, and the love of God which binds us all together as brother and sisters in Christ. This love cannot be defeated by fear, or evil, or illness, and it is in this hope and love we move forwards together.

I look forwards to seeing some of you on Sunday,

With my prayers,

Calum

Update 16 - Resuming Public Worship

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

Update 15

Good Morning,

I hope you are well, I wanted to share a few things with you – so here is update 15.

Closure of Church Building

I keep saying that it is my intention to make St Michaels as safe as possible for everyone, and because of this, I am needing to temporarily close the church over the next couple of weeks. Since I arrived at St Michaels just over 3 years ago, a reoccurring issue in our monthly Health and Safety reports has been the wooden flooring in church, with loose tiles and some tiles now being uneven. With rearranging a lot of the furniture in church, the hazard has only become worse. Following the PCC meeting last week, work has begun today on renovating the floor which will consist of sticking down loose blocks and then sanding and refinishing the whole floor. For this to happen it does mean that I am having to cancel the opening of church for private prayer on Wednesday 15th and Friday 17th July. The church will however be open for private prayer on Sunday 19th between 3pm and 6pm. If work continues as planned, the church will be completely closed next week for the sanding and refinishing. This does mean that the floor will look superb and even better will be safe for everyone when we resume worship on the 2nd August. If you have taken the opportunity each week to use church for private prayer and are now asking the question, ‘where will I go?’, there is always the labyrinth on the back field or the memorial gardens.

Funeral for Anne Ross

Despite the above, Anne Ross’ funeral will take place on Tuesday 21st July at 12.30pm at St Michaels. Due to the restricted number of people allowed to be present, please only attend if you receive an invitation from the family. I expect the funeral to finish around 1pm, so if you wish to pay your respect to Anne, you are invited to stand along Robins Lane from just before 1pm. The hearse, following the service at St. Michaels, will then make its way up Robins Lane, towards Bramhall Lane South, for a private committal service at Stockport Crematorium.

Searching the Archives

There is a project we need to undertake as church that requires searching through our archived material. I am looking for someone that would be willing to go through our archives, in an efficient but detailed manner on my behalf to complete this project. If you are interested in more information, could you let me know.

Confirmation of Election of the Bishop of Chester

The new Bishop of Chester will have his election as Bishop confirmed tomorrow in a service that will take place completely online. The new Archbishop of York will also be involved. You can watch this service at https://www.chester.anglican.org/confirmation-of-election/confirmation-of-election.php. The service will start on Wednesday 15th July at 11am.

Reopening of the Parish Office.

We will be reopening the Parish Office on Monday 20th July. To start with the office will be open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and will be staffed by Karen. I am absolutely delighted to be welcoming Karen back to work, as it marks another step in the right direction of our journey of recovery. Hopefully in the autumn we will begin to un-furlough other members of staff too. With the office reopening, we are required to ensure that our building and particularly the office meets government guidelines and is COVID secure. So below are some guidelines I would ask all of us to follow:

• Please contact the office by phone or email where needed.

• Please only visit the office if absolutely necessary.

• If you visit the office, please observe all social distancing measures that have been put in place to keep us and the office staff safe.

• Do not go behind the office desk at all. This is our administrators space, even if they are not there, nobody should be entering into the space due to the risk of transmission.

• Be patient. There is a fair  amount of stuff that needs catching up with, as well as beginning to navigate the minefield that is understanding guidance about hiring out our buildings and creating a booking system for our services.

Thank you in advance for your support and help!

Any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I hope to release more details about booking for services next week.

With every blessing,

Calum

Update 14 - Reopening for Worship

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

Update 13

Good Afternoon!

I hope you are well. I promised a further update on Sunday and its now Tuesday and I still haven’t sent it – sorry about that. Here’s a few updates for you.

Prime Minsters Statement

The Prime Minister has announced today that weddings and public worship can resume from the 4th July. As with all the decisions so far, the official Church of England guidance may take a couple of days to filter through. Whilst I am keen to resume public worship in our church building, I wont make any final decisions, and therefore announcements on this, until the PCC have met to discuss this. There is a PCC meeting scheduled for Thursday 9th July, so please be praying for your PCC members, as we will have various decisions to make about how we return to public worship.

Jess’ Licensing as Associate Minister of Stockport and Brinnington

On Monday 29th June, at 7.30pm, Jess will be licensed to her new post as Associate Minister for Stockport & Brinnington. Due to churches still being shut, this will take place virtually, and she would like to invite you to join her as she marks the beginning of this new ministry. The service will be led by the Bishop of Birkenhead and will take place on Zoom, the details of how to access this are as follows:

 Please click the link below to join the webinar:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83371997256

Young People Quiz the Bishop-Elect of Chester

This evening at 7pm the new Bishop of Chester will hold two virtual gatherings with selected young people from the diocese. Young people will have the opportunity to ask the Bishop questions and play a few games with him. I’m delighted that a member of our youth group – Georgia Watson, will be involved. You can watch this session at 7pm by either using the following link and info, or by watching on facebook.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82113668873

Webinar ID: 821 1366 8873

Open Church

The church remains open for private prayer between 9am and 12pm and 3pm and 6pm every day. In my original email I stated the guidance that I had been issued. Since then, the government have relaxed things, so the only guidance I will offer is, if you choose to come down to church, please clean your hands and observe social distancing. The judgment about whether it is safe for you or not, is in your hands.

Pastoral Care Network

As lockdown began we launched, rather quickly, a pastoral care network to keep in touch with people and support those in need. I am very thankful for the members of the church who have helped on this. The wardens and I conducted a review of this yesterday and will be making some changes in the next couple of weeks. In the short term we asked for help from members of the PCC. Going forwards we want this network to be part of how we offer pastoral care at St. Michaels. There will be a need to change some of the groups, and some  of the group leaders may not want to continue. As a result, if you would like to be involved with the Pastoral Care Network, whether you are a PCC member or not, please would you let me know. We reckon we will need around 25-30 group leaders to make the network effective.

Produce Table

Every year, Robert Cryer and others do a sterling job growing vegetables and selling them in aid of our Newala link. Unfortunately we have had to cancel all fundraising activities for the foreseeable future – but we weren’t able to stop the onions growing in the allotment. So from tomorrow there will be a produce table available in the foyer of the parish centre. If you would like some fresh veg, do pop down to see what’s there and make a donation in return for what you take. There will be some gloves available – please put on gloves before handling any veg – and do remember to wash it (both the veg and your hands) when you get home.

Grant from the Diocese

The diocese have recently cashed in an investment dating back to World War 2 and have made a grant to every parish in the diocese of £2000. This is very kind of the diocese and one of the things on the agenda for PCC next month is looking at how we spend this.

Congratulations

Finally, congratulations to Sally and Phil Harwood who celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and Fred and Doreen Donnan who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, both last week. None of them look old enough to have been married that long.

Thanks for taking time to read this email – Jess, Samuel and I hope you are well, and look forward to worshipping with you again, hopefully in the not too distant future.

God Bless,

Calum

Update 12 - Your Parish Church is Open for Private Prayer

Good Morning,

I’m pleased to confirm this morning that St Michaels Parish Church will reopen for private prayer today following government guidance and various changes to our building to make it as safe as possible. Whilst I hope many of you will find this helpful, I am required by the government guidance to encourage those who are considered vulnerable to continue to stay at home. This includes those who have a health condition and those over 70.

The church will be open for private prayer each day during the following times:

9am to 12pm

3pm to 6pm

you do choose to make use of St Michaels, unfortunately there is a list of do’s and don’ts that we have had to put in place.

• If you have a continuous cough, a temperature, or loss of smell or taste please stay at home.

• Please use the hand sanitizer to clean your hands on the way in and the way out.

• Please observe social distancing of 2 metres.

• In church, please only sit with someone from your household.

• If you wish to light a candle in the prayer corner, please light the tealight from the main candle and replace it back into the sand.

• If you wish to use a bible or prayer book, you will need to bring your own, and take it home with you.

The government and the Church of England have also said that small funerals can also now take place within the church. Before this happens though, further risk assessments will need to take place, which I hope will happen this week.

Attached are a number of resources you might find helpful in prayer. There is also the prayer labyrinth outside on the back field.

If you have any questions, concerns, or want to chat, please feel free to call.

Regards,

Calum

Update 11

Dear St Michaels Church Family,

Yes – its time for another update from the vicar…..

Responding to Discrimination

I want to start this week by making comment on the various demonstrations we have seen and the increased dialogue around racism over the last couple of weeks in response to the tragic death of George Floyd. One of our core values as a church is inclusion. The church should be a place where all are welcome and where all are treated equally. Reading many articles on racism over the past few days, it saddens me that there is still so much of it about, and it represents a much wider problem of discrimination within our world and our society. Jesus’ ministry was for all. Throughout the gospels we see Jesus breaking down social divisions and barriers and challenging worldviews that had supported discrimination for generations. The Church, St Michael & All Angels Parish Church, should be a place for all, and a place where all are treated equally. It is my hope and prayer, that it is also a place where conversation between opposed views can happen, with kindness, honesty and love. Open, respectful and honest dialogue will be one of the ways discrimination is overcome.

If you have been the victim of discrimination at St. Michaels, by me or any other members of the church, I want to apologise. We are all human, we all fall short of the glory of God, and where I or the church have fallen short of God’s standard of equality and respect for all, please accept my apology.

The diocese of Chester are wanting to organise a conversation to listen to those people who identify as black and minority ethnic in our congregations and to listen to how the recent events and their own experiences have shaped their faith and trust in God, the church and society in general. If you would like to be involved in this, please can you let me know by next Tuesday (16th June)

There will be much more conversation and action required over the coming days and months – our job as a church, is to be God’s voice of love, of peace and of forgiveness in the wider movement to bring discrimination to an end.

Reopening the Church for Private Prayer

You will no doubt have seen that the government has announced that places of worship can open for private prayer from Monday 15th June. Last Sunday,  I shared a video explaining my position on opening the church and you can view that here https://www.bramhall.church/news-updates/reopening-our-buidling

The PCC Standing Committee have a plan in place and we hope to be able to open next week. The only dilemma in the grand plan is getting hold of all the necessary cleaning equipment, which is proving a slight challenge as every shop, church and other organisation are all after the same stuff at the same time. (It is now all on order). Once all the cleaning stuff is in place the church will be open. Here is a guide to what that will look like and how you might be able to help.

• The church will be open every day from 9am to 12pm and from 3pm to 6pm.

• There are 34 chairs within the church space with some as doubles and with some as singles. In essence what this means, is that we will only be able to have 34 people in the church at any one time from a maximum of 24 different households.

• The space is open for private prayer only. There will be no public services, and those gathering to socialise will be asked to take their conversations outside. I will resume saying Morning and Evening Prayer from within the church rather than at the vicarage.

• There will be a dynamic cleaning routine in place, ensuring chairs are cleaned after each use, and doors are wiped down multiple times a day.

• The Parish Centre, including the toilets will remain closed for Health and Safety reasons.

• If you feel safer wearing a face mask when outside your house, please don’t feel you have to remove it when in church.

• If you wish to read the bible or use prayer resources in church, you will need to bring your own with you.

How you can help.

• We are looking for volunteers to be present in the church space when it is open. We would like to have 1 person per opening session, meaning we will need a rota of 14 people. Their role will be to clean the chairs and wider building whilst also ensuring the safety of the building. These volunteers will have access to a toilet.

• Initially what we are asking is for you to commit to the same session every week which will reduce the administration burden on me in organising a rota. If you are willing to be involved please email me and mark the subject as OPEN CHURCH VOLUNTEER.

• We will also need those folk who hold keys to the church to support the unlocking and locking of the building at 12pm and 3pm.

• If you have  set of keys and would be willing to do this, please could you email me and mark the subject as OPEN CHURCH KEY HOLDER, with a suggestion of which day(s) and time(s) you would be able to help.

• Those folk who have keys don’t feel they can help, may be asked to return their keys temporarily, to enable others to support this role.

Please only offer to help if you feel safe to do so. There is no expectation on anyone to put themselves forwards.

Later this week I will send out a further update to confirm when reopening will take place, and attached to that email will be various prayer resources you might find helpful as we enter this new phase of life responding to the pandemic.

Voluntary Site Manager Appointment

For many years the grounds of St Michaels have been cared for by all sorts of volunteers not least in the shape of the grounds team, and I want to put on record my thanks to all of them for the hard work they have put in, and for many of them, long to continue to put in, as soon as they are allowed to again. Recently the Wardens and I have been advertising for a Voluntary Site Manager who will work with us, to keep on top of the many jobs that need doing around the grounds, to liaise with the mowing team and to begin to develop a wider plan of how we maintain and care for our site over a longer period of time. I am delighted to announce that Peter Glover, who has attended St Michaels for many years, and was married here just over a year ago, has agreed to take on this post. I look forwards to working with him and others in continuing to care for our grounds and develop them for use in the future. Do pray for him, and when he asks for some help, say yes!

Worshipping at St Michaels

A number of folk have asked when will services resume. The House of Bishops have drawn up some guidelines but not committed themselves to dates and have said it will be at the discretion of the each diocesan Bishop. Until such time as the Diocese choose to communicate with their parishes, I can’t offer any further insight. However, I will continue to create a recorded service which will premier at 10am each Sunday morning and then be available to watch in the days and weeks after. You can find these videos (dating back to Easter) in the following places:

Our website: www.bramhall.church. The latest video will be on our home page, with previous worship behind the visible link – Worship Resources

Our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bramhallchurch

Our You Tube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh8Ve25UiBfXwpdumWDod7Q (If we reach 100 subscribers, we will be eligible for our own personalised URL)

Mark Hackney has also launched a Midweek service on Zoom which takes place every Wednesday at 10.30am, the login details of which can be found on SMT. I am currently speaking with colleagues to work out how those without internet can dial into this service via phone for free. I hope to have some news on this in the next couple of days.

I hope the contents of this update is encouraging and helpful, as mentioned before, as soon as I can confirm the opening date, I will be in touch again.

God Bless,

Calum

Parish Update 4

Good Evening Everyone,

Last night the Prime Minister essentially put the country into lockdown, as a result I have been required to shut and lock the church. When I was ordained in 2014 I never thought that during my ministry I would ever have to close a church building. Literally as I write this email I have received further guidance informing me that closing the church includes me – and I am now to lead Daily Prayers from the vicarage not the church.

It has been an immense honour over the last week to lead prayers in church for you and your behalf. The peace of the building has been eery, because whilst our building is a particularly peaceful place – not having you there has made the quietness disturbing – I am praying eagerly for us all to be united together in prayer, worship and fellowship again.

As we continue to journey forwards as a church, albeit a dispersed church, I continue to reflect on how our lives must be more akin to the early church who met in their homes and worshipped together as a family – following Easter the church bible reading plan will take us through the Acts of the Apostles – I will encourage you then to read through it with me and to see where were have shared experiences with them.

To give you another update into resources we have put in place, as encouragement to you to continue to worship God in these uncertain times:

• Daily Prayer readings (And order of service) is on our website. I will upload Morning and Evening Prayer for Passiontide at the weekend.

• I am uploading some resources that you could on Sunday for worship in your home. These include prayers and readings for the specific Sunday. These I upload each week in the news section.

• Mark Hackney and I are working on producing a booklet version of Stations of the Cross. I hope this will be of use to both those that like words and those that like art in your devotions through holy week.

• Some months ago, I met with those who usually lead Morning Prayer at church, and we began to put together a prayer cycle for St. Michaels. My hope is to share this with you soon.

• I will continue to try and post daily on facebook and the website with some reflections and photos.

• The Pastoral Care Network was launched earlier this week, and hopefully most of you have now had someone from the church call you to see how you are. If you haven’t and no-one calls you in the next week please let me know and I will try to work out why. I have received some really positive feedback from this so thank you to all involved – it has been a real encouragement.

• Phil Wadsworth is continuing with SMT – hopefully you received a digital copy of this yesterday.

• Jess and I are beginning to look at how we might celebrate Easter with you. I promised the PCC I would mark Easter – I had hoped some of you may be able to join us, but that isn’t going to be possible. I hate having to break promises. It maybe we live stream a service and invite you to join us that way.

Finally I received an email today from Revd Canon. Jackan Waweru, Newala Diocesan Information Officer, who wrote the following:

Greetings from the Anglican Communion in the Diocese of Newala.

On behalf of Bishop Oscar Stephen Mnunga and the Christians of the Diocese of Newala I want to bring his warm lent greetings of hope during this pandemic season of CORONA VIRUS which have taken away a lot of life's of good and energetic people.

Even when Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick in the gospel of John 11:4  he gave the message of hope to Lazarus daughters.

So we are together in prayers the main thing is just to press on with prayers.

I had the privilege of talking with Bishop Richard Jackson of Hereford Diocese after his enthronement service and he told me he is in the process of visiting the four linked Dioceses that is Newala, Masasi, Tanga, and Dar es salaam next year.

Receive Bishop Oscar Stephen Mnunga and Mama Agnes Mnunga warm and precious Christian greetings.

It was encouraging to be reminded to press on with prayer in hope by Jackan this morning whose timing was perfect. Isaiah 40:31 says: ‘but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.’

Be people of HOPE!

God Bless you!

Calum

Evening Update - 18th March

Message from the Vicar - Coronavirus Update

Dear Friends,

Following on from the Prime Ministers statement I write with a  further update on how this affects us as a church. First, I apologise for not being in touch sooner – I have been waiting for some official guidance from the Church of England which was released moments ago. The Bishops led by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have suspended all acts of public worship. In their words:

‘Churches should be open where possible but with no public worship services taking place. Prayers can be said by clergy and ministers on behalf of everyone and churches should consider ways of sharing this with the wider community.’

You can read the full letter from the archbishops here: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2020-03/17%2003%2020%20Joint%20letter%20from%20the%20Archbishops%20of%20Canterbury%20and%20York%20re%20coronavirus.pdf

What this means for us directly is

• All Sunday services and midweek services are suspended for the foreseeable future

• Mothering Sunday will not be happening – Jess and I have postponed Samuel’s baptism.

• Lent groups and any other church groups will not meet

• The APCM is postponed until further notice.

• All Easter activities are suspended.

The Archbishops are using language such as ‘the church is not closed but will look radically different’. I am not sure personally whether this is helpful language, I feel a sense of loss, maybe even grief, at not being able to meet with you my church family. I am sure we will all look for the positives and for the hope but these next few months will be different and will be a challenge.

The PCC met last night and agreed a number of actions they were happy for me to take, so I want to share them with you.

• I will say Morning Prayer every day at 9am and Evening Prayer every day at 5.30pm. I invite you to join me in saying this at the same time. Attached you will find copies of the Order of Service I will use.

• The Churchwardens and I are in contact to work out how we can open the building for people to come and sit in it quietly and offer private prayer. When we have a plan we will make people aware of this.

• Today I have been working on setting up a Communication Network for the church. The PCC have agreed that maintaining communication amongst our dispersed community is a priority. Every member of the church is to be assigned a responsible person, who will make contact with a group of people at least once a week. We have a duty to care for one another at this difficult time and talking is a key way. I hope to role this system into action within the next 24 hours.

• Over the coming few days I will produce further worship resources which I will print copies of to be made available in the Parish Centre but these will also be uploaded to the church website for you to download.

• Mothering Sunday will not be happening as usual, but the Archbishops are calling the church to pray for the nation. I invite you on their behalf to join in and in particular to place a lit candle in your window at 7pm this Sunday evening as as a sign of solidarity and hope in the light of Christ that can never be extinguished

As guidance changes, I will let you know, and I will endeavour to continue to communicate with you all as often as possible. Jess, Samuel and I are already missing you, please be assured you are very much in our prayers at this time.

Last night at PCC I shared words from Romans 8:31-39

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We have a God of Love, we have a God of power who raised Jesus from the dead. All is not lost, God will overcome. These words may sound trite right this moment – but trust in God, allow your faith to carry you, and when you are struggling, remember your brothers and sisters in Christ, let our faith carry you!

Please don’t hesitate to contact me at the vicarage – we are working of diverting the parish office phone to the vicarage but that may take some time.

With my prayers and the assurance we will gather again to worship our Lord Jesus Christ!

Calum