This Week and Beyond at St Michael's

The Parish Church building is still officially closed so that we may continue to save lives and support our NHS. We are sorry we will not be opening our doors from 15th June as we lack the resources to keep visitors to the building safe. Instead we are turning ourselves 'inside out'. Materials are on display outside the church building and on the porch notice board which are regularly refreshed so make St Michael's a point of interest on daily walks...and we continue to develop our online activities.

We remain a living and connected Christian community in many ways: some of our online events are listed on this page and please explore the Blog section using the tab above. If you would like to be included in what's going on email us using the Contact tab at the top of this page. 

Inclusive Church: we are now formally affiliated to the Inclusive Church Network - if you scroll to the bottom of this page you will find the logo - click on this and it will take you to a new website providing more details about this.

We are proud to support the measures to save lives and support our NHS.  Here on our website we are posting up some appropriate reflections and resources. We send out a daily Email to keep in touch with one another - if you wish to be included contact us.

 

JUNE 2020

• We have a resource for praying for the Departed if you wish to use it. It can be downloaded by clicking here.
• We now have a section on how to donate to St Michael's. Use the Info tab above and you will find the entry on Stewardship and a big thank you to all those who support what we do. This has enabled us to carry on developing new ways of supporting and serving one another and our wider community during the lockdown.

 

Sunday 28th Third Sunday after Trinity

• 10 am Zoom Live Eucharist for the Trinity Season request an order of service via email if you would like one and are not already on our pastoral network.

 

Prayer for this week:

God our Saviour, look on this wounded world in pity and in power; hold us fast to your promises of peace won for us by your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Daily prayer at 12 noon: 

• Daily Prayer is giving us a sense of solidarity as a praying community even though we are physically apart from one another

Prayers for Departed

• Fridays @ 3pm: Prayer for the Departed: click on the link above to find prayer resources  - the second form of service is recommended for this.

 

Saints and Festivals for this Week:

• Monday 29th Peter, Apostle Peter is a significant presence in all four Gospels, his story dominates the first half of the Acts of the Apostles and there are 2 Epistles in the New Testament bearing his name as well. He is impulsive and makes mistakes which gives all disciples hope. Peter was a fisherman who left his nets to follow Jesus. He was part of a small close knit inner circle with James and John who together witnessed key events such as the Transfiguration. They were with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane just before his arrest. Peter had declared he would die with Jesus but instead fled like the others then denied he knew his best friend three times. Despite this he is forgiven and emerges as leader among the apostles, preaching in Jerusalem, Antioch, Corinth and Rome. He was martyred in Rome and buried beside the Circus of Nero located on the Vatican Hill. By the second century there was a conglomeration of Christian burials there and by the fourth century Constantine had built a large basilica on the spot. St Peter's is central to all Catholics and also many other Christians because of its historic significance and the spiritual leadership it tries to continue in the modern world. Pope Francis is officially the 266th in line from St Peter. Pray today for the Pope, the Vatican and its current work to prioritise the poor and work to protect the environment.
• Wednesday 1st July:  Henry Venn and family, founders of the Clapham Sect. Henry was a vicar's son born in 1725. Educated in Cambridge at St John's and Jesus Colleges in the 1740's. He also played cricket for All England. He was ordained in 1747 and elected Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge. In 1750 he held two posts: Vicar of St Matthew, Friday Street in the City of London and also of West Horsley in Surrey. He developed ideas of teaching Scripture in his home and was inspired by William Law's spiritual classic A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. In 1754 Henry Venn was appointed Vicar of Clapham where he became a leading exponent of evangelical ideas in the Church of England. He moved on in 1759 to Huddersfield and then in 1771 to Yelling in Huntingdonshire. He influenced many who would go on to become influential evangelicals including Richard Conyers, William Faris, Joseph Jowett and Charles Simeon. His family also made their mark: son John and grandson Henry led the Church Missionary Society and granddaughter Charlotte Elliott became a hymn writer including the still popular 'Just as I am'. But most famous of all was the ongoing work of the Clapham Sect - a group of like minded wealthy Anglicans who were inspired by the Venns in their time as Vicars of Holy Trinity, Clapham who promoted social reforms, most notably abolition of slavery. We pray today for the modern anti-slavery movement.

• Friday 3rd July: St Thomas, Apostle appears in John's Gospel as the one who refused to believe that Jesus really was risen until he could see the marks of the crucifixion for himself. He is then said to have preached in India where he is greatly venerated. He isis revered on the Mount in Chennai where he is said to have died. The 4th century Syriac writer, Ephraim celebrates Thomas in his writings as the apostle who went to India and was buried in Edessa. The Christians in Kerala look to Thomas as their founding Apostle and we have given a home to the congregation of SS Peter and Paul who originate from Kerala so we have a direct link via them back to Thomas. We pray for them today and for all who preach in the lesser known parts of our world. We give thanks for our international connections through the Gospel past and present.

 

Next Week 5th July Trinity 4

• Zoom live at 10 am Trinity Season Eucharist 
• The order of service will be sent out to those on our pastoral email network. If you would like to be included please use the tab above to contact us. NB we blind copy recipients in our messages so we protect your privacy.