Relentless love

I wonder who else is feeling worn down by relentless questions.  Is it safe or not?  Is it legal or not?  Should we do it or not?  What will happen next?  What should we plan for September, or October?  Sometimes I feel hopeful, sometimes disappointed.  Sometimes thankful, sometimes frustrated.  Sometimes I feel clear sighted, sometimes deeply uncertain.  Sometimes I can meet these challenges with creative energy, sometimes only with weariness.  And I have come to realise lately that it is entirely possible to feel several of these more or less at once!

Enhancing the immune system

This week’s thought-for-the-week for the Lordsbridge Churches and friends has been written by Revd Paul Garnell, curate and member of the Lordsbridge Churches core clergy team.

In promising news, the Oxford coronavirus vaccine under rushed development has been found to trigger immune responses in human subjects. It is amazing how the antibodies and T-cells are conditioned by the vaccine to defend the body should they be presented with COVID 19.

Adjusting to phase 2

Many church communities are putting their respective toes in the water with regard to small, simple services in church buildings again.  It is good to be able to meet in person to pray in these special places, even if in constrained circumstances.  But not all of us can do so yet.  We are not back to normal, nor will we be, for some time.  If phase one was ‘lockdown to halt rampant spread of the virus’, this is phase two – ‘living alongside the virus’, and phase three – ‘treatment and vaccines mean the virus is no longer a danger’ – is still some way ahead. 

Worship at Home and in church, Kigali Sunday, 12th July

Our main service this Sunday remains the Worship at Home service, in either streamed video or written formats.  Revd David Newton takes the lead, and our ‘guest preacher’ is Bishop Nathan of Kigali, Rwanda. With other churches in Ely Diocese we celebrate Kigali Sunday, and our diocesan and local parish links with churches, schools and choirs there.  As a special extra this week we have prayers themed around 4 images from Rwanda.

Finding truth

This week’s ‘thought for the week’ is provided by Revd David Newton, another member of the core leadership team for the Lordsbridge Churches.

‘We follow the science’. So, the mantra goes. Except the scientists have – on the whole – not much liked this political rhetoric, for it flies in the face of how science actually operates. There is no such thing as ‘the science’. Instead, there is a great and ever evolving scientific conversation that shifts and moves as new evidence appears, methodologies are challenged, and assumptions are overturned.

Worship at Home service for Sunday 5th July

Here are the locally produced resources for Worship at Home for this Sunday, 5 July. Canon Alison Myers created the service sheet and is leading the video service, and Canon Sue Wyatt, Rural Dean and member of the team at Dry Drayton Church, has provided the reflections.

Building well

This week’s Lordsbridge ‘thought for the week’ is a guest-post from another member of the Lordsbridge core team, Revd Charles Fraser.

“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” Psalm 127

There has been much talk about “build, build, build”. Since C-19 first turned our world upside down there has been a lot of reflection on what sort of world might emerge and as importantly, what sort of world should emerge. I wonder what conversations you have had on this.

Worship at Home resources for Sunday 28 June – with video

Here are the locally produced resources for Worship at Home for the feast of St Peter and St Paul this Sunday, 28 June. Segments of the video service come from each of the 3 churches in the Lordsbridge Team dedicated to St Peter or to both the apostles. Canon Alison Myers has created the service sheet and is leading the video service, and Revd Paul Garnell has provided the reflections on the anniversary of his ordination as a deacon.

The courageous questions of starting again

The government’s announcement that we are permitted to hold services in church from 4 July is welcome news. But it comes with a characteristic initial lack of clarity, and the much less welcome complexity of local decision making and necessary work to implement.

Worship at Home resources for Sunday 21 June – with new video version

Here are the locally produced resources for Worship at Home this Sunday, 21 June. This Sunday in addition to the usual pack of written Worship at Home resources we are trialling a new streamed video version (at the bottom of this post) of the same resources.