7th November 2020
Benefice of Farleigh, Candover and Wield
Letter no 33 November 7th 2020
Benefice of Farleigh, Candover and Wield
e-mail: davidchattell172@btinternet.com e-mail:- stevemourant@btinternet.com
01256 389474 01256 381217
Living the life...telling the story....visit us at http://www.farleighcandoverandwield.org.uk
Dear friends,
As promised, online services have been recorded for Remembrance Sunday; David and Ruth Chattell have produced an excellent video which gives the story of Remembrance Sunday and 11 November, which has been produced for schools and other institutions in the benefice, which includes the Act of Remembrance. This is the link:-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reG2Y9aTiUM&t=1s
Stephen has produced a Remembrance Sunday service with hymns, Bible readings, prayers, with various people taking part: this is the link:- https://youtu.be/Pi5HQJq9NJc
At Brown Candover there will be a short Act of Remembrance at 11.00 on Sunday morning in the churchyard – socially distanced for any who wish to attend.
At Dummer we will have a slightly fuller Act of Remembrance, as detailed in letter no 32, which should last around 10 to 12 minutes.
We will continue to do online services until the suspension is ended, and will keep in touch via these letters weekly, by phone and e-mail.
More details about prayer resources will be available after the weekend, when we have had time to prepare them, to be a people of prayer every day, to seek God in His love, and to discover the joy of prayer in His presence.
With every blessing,
In His love,
David and Stephen
5th November 2020
Benefice of Farleigh, Candover and Wield
Letter no 32 November 5th 2020
Benefice of Farleigh, Candover and Wield
e-mail: davidchattell172@btinternet.com e-mail:- stevemourant@btinternet.com
01256 389474 01256 381217
Living the life...telling the story....visit us at http://www.farleighcandoverandwield.org.uk
Dear friends,
Once more we find ourselves in restricted circumstances as the government struggles to find a physical way to combat an unseen virus that is spreading again across the nation.
Fear again stalks our media, streets, homes and minds: faith is the antidote to fear; we know life is fragile, is time-limited for everyone, and it will end one day. As a group of us recorded hymns on Tuesday for the online Remembrance Sunday Service, I was struck by the words of the hymns we sang: O God our help in ages past: Time, like an ever-rolling stream, Bears all its sons away; They fly forgotten, as a dream, Dies at the opening day. The writer of the hymn, Isaac Watts, based it on Psalm 90, reminding us of the brevity of life and the importance of knowing the Lord, so we get our lives into perspective. Live each day as if it were our last, fixing our eyes on Jesus who walks with us, knowing He will take us through whatever tomorrow holds for us. Do not fear, do not be afraid, do not worry, for God is for us. Someone defined fear as “False Expectations Appearing Real” – what we fear most is not what will happen to us, so we can choose to rejoice in Christ, in his presence giving us hope and joy.
To practical things:
1. This weekend, the government gave further guidelines on Tuesday afternoon that Open Air Remembrance Services may still take place, restricted to small numbers (not specified in the advice) socially distanced, but which can include laying of wreaths, singing of hymns and the National Anthem.
Outdoor Services are planned for the Candovers at St. Peter’s Brown Candover, and for Farleigh Parish at All Saints’ Dummer: these services will happen, much reduced, but may include Last Post, Reveille, Two Minutes Silence, a hymn, reading of the names of the fallen, a Bible reading, prayers, possibly a very short address and blessing followed by The National Anthem.
2. Remembrance Sunday at Dummer: Government advice is as follows: “event organisers should take reasonable steps to discourage the public from attending (remembrance) events”. The members of the Dummer Royal British Legion will not be assembling or parading. However we know that many in Dummer traditionally wish to participate in an act of remembrance. Therefore at Dummer two wreath bearers will start from each end of the village (Glebe Close and Tower Hill) at 10.45 a.m. and will walk towards the Church along Up Street and Down Street. We would encourage Dummer villagers to come to their gates and say, ”We will remember them” as the wreath passes and as their act of remembrance instead of coming to the Church.
A shortened Act of Remembrance will take place in the churchyard, which will include Last Post, 2 minutes’ silence, Reveille, a hymn, Bible reading, reading of the list of the fallen, prayer, and National Anthem. This will principally be for the wreath bearers, any members of the armed forces, veterans, representatives of a recognised organisation and those who have to come from the other villages. This will allow us to keep numbers to a minimum as the government guidelines require.
You can join us online where there will be full Remembrance Services for Sunday – two different versions, one for each end of the benefice, and links will be on the benefice website (link above in blue) late on Saturday we hope. We will send out an additional letter at the weekend with the links via the benefice website, and both of us will do our best to serve you as always: contact either of us by phone or email, and we will also try to do more ringing round.
3. At Brown Candover a service will be held in the churchyard or on the cricket ground, again with limited attendance socially distanced – although there is no legal limit to numbers.
4. Some activities will continue – weekly prayer times on Wednesday mornings 9.00am to 9.30am on Zoom and also the evening fellowship group, again on Zoom, 7.30pm - 9.00pm – all are welcome to join in or to start their own prayer groups. [To join either of these please email a request to peter.c.w.raine@btinternet.com and he will send you a link.] The archbishops have asked everyone to make this month a “MONTH OF PRAYER” (See attached) – praying for God’s Holy Spirit to be poured out upon this nation and in our own lives: worshipping the Lord using words and hymns privately but also interceding for those much worse off than ourselves, and asking God to turn back this plague – the 1662 prayer book has prayers for all occasions, including this “for deliverance from the Plague or other common Sickness: O Lord God, who hast wounded us for our sins, and consumed us for our transgressions, by thy late heavy and dreadful visitation; and now, in the midst of judgement remembering mercy, hast redeemed our souls from the jaws of death: We offer unto thy fatherly goodness ourselves, our souls and bodies which thou hast delivered, to be a living sacrifice unto thee, always praising and magnifying thy mercies in the midst of thy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” We will try to get some prayer resources out to you all shortly.
5. The archbishops and faith leaders have written to the government to relent on stopping Sunday worship, published on Wednesday morning: so we don’t know whether the government will respond positively or not, so all we can do is plan for 8th November for the moment.(See attached). They have also written a letter to the nation dated yesterday (also attached).
6. Christmas planning is on hold until things are clearer – we are looking at alternative options which will be published closer the time – so please pray for all involved that we can get some super celebrations in maybe different locations in the open air around Christmas week.
With every blessing,
In His love,
David and Stephen