12 Feb chimp

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ST. MARY'S MATTERS

Life Skills spring posy making

Dear Friends

This week brings you love and pancakes!

As well as a Valentine's-themed wellbeing pack, we've got a great article from Meg and Jon, sharing their experiences of The Marriage Course.

And as we enter the season of Lent, there is one thing for fun (and to help us connect with each other), and two things to help us to connect with God more intentionally during this time...

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

1 John 4:7-9

Sunday Services

Sunday services in church are on pause until further notice.
Each Sunday we'll be posting a Virtual Sunday video on our website and YouTube channel.

Thursday Services

On pause until further notice

Setting a Watch

Continues daily at 6am and 6pm, via Zoom

Building to Serve Prayer Meeting

Continues every Monday at noon, via Zoom

WELLBEING PACKS: LOVE

This week's wellbeing pack has a Valentine's theme and is available from the church porch (just a few left!), or to download on the link below. Enjoy!

Virtual Wellbeing packs

THE MARRIAGE COURSE

Lockdown holds unique pressures, whether you're on your own, looking after children or living with a partner.

The Marriage Course is a series of seven sessions that you can do online, designed to help married couples invest in their relationship and build a strong marriage.

Here Meg and Jon share their experiences of what happened when they signed up.

Read Meg and Jon's Story

Find out more about the Marriage Course

LENT: PANCAKE PARTY

Pancake Party Zoom - Tuesday 16th February, 6pm

Shrove Tuesday (or Pancake Day!) is nearly here... Come and catch up with other people from the church family, find out what’s behind the tradition, and enjoy having some fun over pancakes. Either make some in advance, cook them up while we’re all together (a pancake recipe can be found on this link), or just come along and watch the fun without the mess! There’ll be competitions like ‘highest pancake toss’, ‘best pancake topping' or ‘most flips in 30 seconds’, as well as some clips of things the staff team have prepared earlier! We’d love to see was many of you there as can make it.

Topic: Pancake Palooza
Time: Feb 16, 2021 06:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81518878429?pwd=N1U1WGVQSjd2MTNxV3p2a0tReC9xUT09

Meeting ID: 815 1887 8429
Passcode: 372096

LENT: LECTIO DIVINA

Lectio Divina

We've been thinking about new ways that we might all be fed and built up as the church family during Lent, especially given how frayed so many people’s lives are at the moment. As a result we'd like to offer the opportunity, for anyone who would like to join us online, to pause at midday of every weekday in Lent and engage in 15 minutes of Lectio Divina.

If you’re not familiar with Lectio Divina, it involves no prior skills or training and essentially involves just turning up and pausing for long enough to allow God to speak directly into our lives at any given moment. So that it can be easily accommodated within even the busiest schedule, it won't take up more than 15 minutes, during which we'll listen to a passage of Scripture being read slowly two or three times, taking note of any specific words or phrases that God spotlights to us as being particularly relevant to our lives in that moment. For a bit more insight into Lectio, you might like to listen to Sue Coyne talking about how helpful she’s found it to be (www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF_huV3ztiQ).

Do join us as often as you would like. There’ll always be someone leading a session, Mondays to Fridays from Ash Wednesday (17th February) up to the Easter weekend itself.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/98265036092?pwd=VEZqNEl5K0t2T1NYU1k0OXBkV0NIUT09

Meeting ID: 982 6503 6092
Passcode: SetAWatch

LENT: CHURCHES TOGETHER REFLECTIONS

Churches Together Reflections

For obvious reasons, we can’t join together with the other churches in the town for our usual Lent Suppers, but if you’d still like to be part of a common act of worship and reflection, why not set aside 20 minutes or so on a Tuesday to listen to ’The Poet’s Gospel’ online (https://ctbi.org.uk/lent-study-2021/)?

This has been produced as a Lent Reflection by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, and people from the other churches in the town are also being encouraged to listen on a Tuesday in the spirit of unity as churches as Churches Together in Chipping Norton. (Study Guides can also be bought or downloaded for printing using the same link for those who aren’t able to listen online. Please get in touch if you’d like help to access those).

SETTING A WATCH

We'll be continuing to meet to pray via Zoom at 6am and 6pm daily for our world, nation, community, church and each other.

Topic: 'Setting a Watch' prayer time

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/98265036092?pwd=VEZqNEl5K0t2T1NYU1k0OXBkV0NIUT09

Meeting ID: 982 6503 6092
Passcode: SetAWatch

Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/a1VRI10kA

RESOURCE OF THE WEEK

In his blog, J.John writes about "Heroes of the Faith": recommended by Roger Simpson

Roger says: "I've really enjoyed reading these. They are short, well written, Christ-centred and inspirational and they give us a real grasp of Church history and some of the great Saints who have gone before us. Many of us don’t know who Charles Spurgeon, Elizabeth Fry, John Chrysostum, George Mueller, Amy Carmichael, Billy Bray etc. were and the huge impact they had on so many people."

J.John: Heroes of the Faith

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BCP Holy Communion	Sun 21st Apr	St Mary's Church, Chipping Norton	More info
Sunday Service in Church	Sun 21st Apr	St Mary's Church, Chipping Norton	More info
Welcome Lunch	Sun 21st Apr	The Parish Rooms	More info
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