What's in this week?
Worship with us:
Our Sunday Service of Holy Communion is online for the majority of people; only those people with specific ministries essential for worship are able to attend in person.
We are open for Morning Prayer on a Wednesday at 9am, staying open for private prayer until midday.
Whilst nowhere can guarantee 100% safety, we have a thorough risk assessment for this and all activity in church.
Join us in worship! Head to our YouTube Channel to join us Live at 10am on Sunday, and access other videos. You can do that by clicking or tapping on this link:
Join us afterwards! We meet up after the service at 11am. After the live service, grab a coffee and click or tap on the link below to join us on Zoom:
New this week
Hall & Church use
Many people have been asking about when the Hall will be back up and running. If you are a regular user of our Church Hall, you can rest assured that we are working through the guidance (a fair amount of which we are still awaiting), and we will be in touch soon! We're looking forward to the Hall and Church being used by everyone before long.
Funeral of Ann Hallatt
Ann Hallatt’s funeral is on Monday 8th March at 10:15am. You can join in by following this link: https://www.stpetersmonkseaton.org.uk/watchlive. Our love and prayers are sent to John and all the family.
Many Thanks
Judith, Robert and Suzanne would like to send heartfelt thanks for all the cards, support and prayers over the past few weeks. They also send a special thanks to all the staff for their care, love and support during this difficult time which brought comfort and strength and was so very much appreciated.
100 Club
The winners for March are: £50 Angela Crossfield, £30 Gwen Branton, £20 Mary Danskin.
Thought for the Week from Nicola
This week (if we weren’t in the midst of a global pandemic and socially distancing), you might expect to see lots of little bears, or gruffalos, or princesses or boys in a dress walking past your windows or out and about in local shops. If you have social media of any kind, you’d see lots of pictures of children similarly dressed, posing for a quick picture before school, or late night updates from parents, anxiously asking if anyone has a spare sword, or tiara, or knows if anywhere within a 100 mile radius has any costumes still in stock. Yes, this week is World Book Day, as I’m sure some of you had guessed from my not so cryptic clues!!
World Book Day was created by UNESCO on 23rd April 1995 as a worldwide celebration of books and reading. It is marked in over 100 countries around the globe. It’s a charity that aims to change lives through a love of books and shared reading and their mission is to promote reading for pleasure, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own. Did you know that reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income? World Book Day wants to see more children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with a life-long habit of reading for pleasure and the improved life chances this brings them. I remember the boys dressing up as firemen, Harry Potter and even a caveman randomly (I suspect they may have been reading Stig of the Dump that year)! Iris hasn’t really got started with World Book Day yet, but I’ve just asked her who she would like to be and her answer was ‘a girl superhero, not a villain….maybe Cinderella or Peppa Pig’!
I then started to imagine and wonder what I would dress up as there was such a thing as a World Bible Book Day. Lockdown obviously leaves me with far too much time on my hands. First of all, you’d have to decide your favourite book in the Bible I suppose, and then pick a character. Who would you choose? Are you a fan of the prophets, Amos or Job perhaps? Or maybe you prefer the books of the New Testament, how about the Syrophoenician woman or the man possessed by demons? The possibilities are endless. As you can see from this picture of Iris, she would like me to pick the Book of Exodus, and Moses. However, as my favourite book is Luke’s Gospel, I’d probably go for Thomas. I do like to see proof you see!
I hope that you are all doing ok, and, as we continue through Lent, why not get out your Bible and re-read your favourite book, whatever that may be. Perhaps when we are allowed back into church all together, we can revisit this and have a St Mary’s Guess the Bible Character party for real. I can’t wait for that day!!
Love and Blessings, Nic xxx
Diary & Reminders
Meetings this week
Sunday 7th March 4pm Lent Course Session 3 Click here to join meeting, or follow the link in your email.
Public Worship resumes at Easter
The PCC met on 24th February to discuss the implications of the recent roadmap for easing lockdown. A wide range of views were expressed by all members of the PCC, and a decision was reached—unanimously—to offer more opportunities for prayer in church throughout Passiontide, and to re-open for public worship on Easter Day. Discussions took into account the balance of transmission risks, with the desire to return to worshipping together confidently, once and for all. Sign up will open next week.
Dave Haddock Plants
This year, Dave is continuing with his plant sales, with a third of the money going towards St Mary’s. Now is the time to be thinking about spring and summer plants. There are many new additions to the catalogue including Lawn Turf as well as Insect hotels, Hedgehog House, Log Stores, Bird Boxes and Bat Nesting Boxes! So do go over and have a look! Don't forget to mention St Mary's when you order!
For your prayers this week
Your Prayers are requested for
Martin Cooper, Olya Bouchard, Don, Alan and Margaret Stears, Jennifer Stephenson, Rose Ketteringham, and Peter Schofield
Rest in Peace
John Cure and Ann Hallatt.
We also remember Doreen Reeks, Bill Teasdale, and Bill Logan whose anniversaries of death fall at this time.
Don’t forget, you can add someone to the prayer list by emailing or phoning as usual, but you need to get their permission before adding them to the sick list. You can also use the form on the website here to submit a prayer request online.
This Sunday's Hymns & Readings
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