“For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” (Mark 8:35) (NIV)
We are picking up our look at Mark's gospel again this week, and thinking about the promise of God's kingdom. As we look at the passage together, we'll see that we need to commit ourselves to following Jesus with everything we have, but that the promise of God's kingdom is more glorious that we can possibly imagine. I hope that you'll be able to join us online, at 8:30, or at 10:30 (details below), as we look at this together.
8:30am Service
Our 8:30am Sunday services of Holy Communion continue in St Thomas, Northaw. More details are available on our website.
10:30am Service
The 10:30am Sunday service will be taking place simultaneously online and at St Andrew. The first few weeks are somewhat fluid, as we move from recorded services to a fully live, and live-streamed, service. This week, the service at St Andrew will be followed by a short service of Holy Communion.
Please use this form, or contact me directly (chris@norcuff.com, 07446 516945), to let me know that you are planning to attend.
Details of how to join the online services are on the website and are advertised on our Facebook page.
Audio Recordings
By about 11:30 on Sunday, the audio from the 10:30 service should be available to listen to by calling 01707 927907. As well as the ‘dial-in’ service, audio recordings of all services are also available through SoundCloud.
Church Family Fellowship
After the Sunday service, we’ll have coffee together via Zoom (details on the website); if you’d like to be part of the meeting, please email me.
Ken Stroud's Funeral
Ken's funeral is at 3:15pm on Monday 21st September in the new churchyard at St Thomas, Northaw. On street parking is available, and both the Two Brewers and Judges have said that we are able to use their car parks.
I have assessed the churchyard and, assuming no regulations or guidance changes, I'm content that we are able to have more than 30 people present (but limited to a maximum of 24 'bubbles'), with social distancing and other measures in place. Appropriate spaces will marked on the ground. Please ensure that you wear face coverings at all times, that you keep within your household and support 'bubble', with no more than 6 people in each group (unless part of a single household, or support bubble), and that each group is separated by 2m/6ft. Please do not mix or mingle with other groups. When entering or leaving the churchyard, please do so maintaining a 2m distance with those around you.
The Vicar's Beard
As part of raising funds for the equipment needed for live-streaming (more details), I'll be removing my lockdown beard, once we have raised £300 towards the cost. The current total raised is £125, please be in touch with me (chris@norcuff.com, 07446 516945), if you would like to donate.
Bike 'n Hike
Christine Muskett cycled 57 miles, visited 50 churches, and raised just over £700, of which around £300 is for St Thomas. Contributions are still in person, or via JustGiving.
Praying at Noon
Please can I encourage you, when possible, to stop at noon and spend a few minutes praying - we may be physically separate, but we can still pray together; we'll email out possible areas for prayer each week. If you would like to make any suggestions, please email prayers@norcuff.com.
Opening the church buildings
The PCC have agreed that we can open our buildings up further during the week. Our aim is to open to open St Thomas on Tuesdays-Thursdays, and St Andrew on Wednesdays and Thursdays. As we begin to do that, the website will be kept up to date with the current arrangements.
At the moment, we will continue to aim to have the buildings open as before:
- St Andrew's is open from 4pm to 6pm on Mondays.
- St Thomas' is open from 10am to 12pm on Thursdays.
How to join us live
The website has the information on how to join our live services and virtual coffee. Do feel free to share the links to our services with friends and relatives; everyone is very welcome to join us, no matter where they are in the world.