18.2.22
In PCC this week we again reviewed our Covid-19 protocols, and were grateful for the input of members of our
congregations who work in the medical professions. It was decided that:
- We would actively encourage people to take an LFT in the 24 hours before attending any church event, and to not attend if they test positive
- To stop taking track and trace details (QR codes will remain for those who want to use them)
- If the number of cases locally are continuing to fall at the beginning of March to:
- Remove the requirement to wear face coverings at Ignite
- Make face coverings optional on the gallery for morning services
- For Standing Committee to keep rates of local infection under review, and once they fall below 250 cases per 100,000 population to make face coverings voluntary at Sunday morning services
- Face coverings to remain in place for other Sunday evening services and Wednesday lunchtime services – to be kept under review by Standing Committee
- Face coverings for smaller groups and congregations to be at the discretion of the leaders and members of those groups, informed by local infection rates
27.7.21
New Covid update: Easing restrictions with caution and compassion
From Sunday 1st August, we will be easing some Covid restrictions, but keeping others in order to keep people safe and exercise caution and compassion as society unlocks.
There will now be no need to book, but we do ask that you continue to wear masks please unless medically exempt, and be mindful of others in where you sit. We will now be able to sing, but please keep masks in place while you are singing. We will continue to administer only the bread aspect of communion at present. Keep an eye on this page for further updates.
And don’t forget we will be continuing to stream services online, on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, and these services will also be available here on our website.
20.3.21
Hi folk,
With the gradual reduction in lock down regulations, and the opening up of some venues, we have taken the decision to restart in person worship services at All Saints and at St Catherine’s.
At All Saints, the first services will be:
Maundy Thursday – Communion service, 7:30pm in the building (also live streamed)
Good Friday – All In Service, 10:30am in the church yard
Good Friday – An Hour Before the Cross, 3:00pm in the building (also live streamed)
Easter Sunday – Communion Service, 10:30am in the building (also live streamed)
On Easter Sunday we would like to decorate the churchyard cross with flowers, so if you would like to be part of this, please do bring flowers to the churchyard (whether or not you are attending the service) and take a Covid safe turn in adding them to the cross.
All Saints Sunday morning services will then continue to be in person, at the normal time, and will also be live streamed.
The first in person service at St Catherine’s will be on Easter Sunday morning, at 10am. This service will be recorded on video, and we will make this available on YouTube later in the day. We will then begin a pattern of monthly in person services at St Catherine’s, with streamed services on other Sundays.
We are pleased that we are going to be able to begin meeting in the buildings for worship together, but as previously, there are going to be some restrictions on what we are able to do. We will be asking you to sit in a certain place, either by yourself or with members of your household only, in order to keep social distancing, and you will be dismissed a row at a time at the end of the service. Please be aware that face coverings will be required, unless you are exempt from wearing one for medical reasons, as per government guidelines. If you are clinically extremely vulnerable, please consider carefully whether or not it is safe for you to attend in person services at this point. Sadly, we will not be able to sing together at our services yet.
If you would like to attend any of these services, please ring the office on 01952 248554 between 9am-12pm on Thursday mornings to book your place. Alternatively, you can email bookyourseat@allsaints-wellington.org. There are limited spaces at our in person services, and these will be allocated on a first come first served basis. We will give you a time slot to aim to arrive in, so that we can manage the traffic into the building safely. The All Saints church car park will be open, but it will not be possible to drive up to the church door.
Whether in person, or online, I look forward to being able to share our Easter worship with you in the coming weeks.
Every blessing,
Tim
10.1.2021
New Covid-19 update: Church will be online only through lockdown.
To all at All Saints and St Catherine’s,
As we go into this new period of lockdown, I am writing to let you know that the PCC and Wardens have decided that the church buildings will be closed for Sunday services during this lockdown. Although legally we are allowed to open, and we know that this decision will be painful, we felt that the importance of protecting the NHS, showing solidarity with others in our communities who are not permitted to do the things they want to do, and following the overall guidance of, “stay at home unless you have to go out” took precedence.
Our Sunday services from All Saints and St Catherine’s will continue to be streamed as they have previously, as will Shift Church on a Wednesday evening.
Our small groups are an important part of our practical, spiritual, and emotional support for each other. I encourage small groups to meet virtually if at all possible, and for members to be in regular contact through phone, message, or letter with each other to provide this support.
Our pastoral team will continue to support and be in contact with those in the congregations who are not in small groups. If you are feeling isolated, and would welcome additional emotional, spiritual, or practical support please do get in touch with me and we will aim to provide this.
Further resources that you may find useful in encouraging your faith and discipleship during lockdown are:
Lectio365 – A free app for smartphones that helps you pray the Bible every day.
Daily Hope – A free phoneline of hymns, reflections, and prayers. 0800 804 8044
United Christian Broadcasters Radio – UCB1 and UCB2 are available on DAB radios, online and through a smartphone app.
Every Day with Jesus – Free daily Bible reading notes, available from waverleyabbeyresources.org/free-bible-reading-notes/
Apply – Turning Bible reading in to Bible living for young people. Available from applythebible.co.uk
If you need assistance ordering either of these, then do get in touch with me.
I am writing this letter on the Feast of Epiphany. This is the day when we remember the visit of the Wise Ones to the child, Jesus. They were led there by a star of hope and promise, and when they arrived they saw the light that had come into the world – the light of all people. This is always a physically dark time of year, with early evenings and grey clouds. This year it feels particularly dark, but I believe that the light of Jesus still shines. Let us persevere in looking for that light, following that light, and being that light for others.
Every blessing,
Tim
6.12.2020
new covid-19 update – services are once again back in the building.
If you would like to attend, please ring the office on 01952 248554 between 9am-12pm on the Thursday before the Sunday to book your place. We’re afraid that places are limited to 40, and will allocated on first come first served basis. When you ring, you will be asked whether you require a seat in the area of the church building covered by the hearing aid loop system. We will also give you a time slot to aim to arrive in, so that can manage the traffic in to the building safely. The church car park will be open, but it will not be possible to drive up to the church door.
Services continue to stream online as usual.
Everyone is welcome to join us at our Christmas Events, online or in person – details for booking places here.
8.11.2020
New covid-19 update – church will be online only during lockdown, keep watching for updates. Do remember to ask for help and prayer if you need it – do contact us.
3.8.2020
NEW COVID-19 UPDATE – BUILDING WILL BE OPEN FROM 9.8.20
You may have heard that churches are now able, with restrictions, to reopen for worship. After much prayer and discussion, we have decided to start opening from Sunday 9th August, 10:30, at All Saints, Wellington. We are excited about this possibility, but must mention that things will look a lot different. Initially we will be showing the same service that is going out on the internet, on the screens in church. As time goes on we hope that we will be able to do more live in church, but it is likely that restrictions on singing and sharing communion will be in place for some months. We intend to keep providing the online services. We will be asking you to sit in a certain place, either by yourself or with members of your household only, in order to keep social distancing, and you will be dismissed a row at a time at the end of the service. Please also be aware that face coverings will be required, unless you are exempt from wearing one for medical reasons, as per government guidelines.
If you would like to attend, please ring the office on 01952 248554 between 9am-12pm on the Thursday before the Sunday to book your place. We’re afraid that places are limited to 40, and will allocated on first come first served basis. When you ring, you will be asked whether you require a seat in the area of the church building covered by the hearing aid loop system. We will also give you a time slot to aim to arrive in, so that can manage the traffic in to the building safely. The church car park will be open, but it will not be possible to drive up to the church door.
5.7.20
15.5.20
Zoom now requires passwords as well as room IDs – please note that all the passwords are the same as the room IDs – just don’t leave any spaces.
Please note that St Catherine’s services are now going live at 9.30am, rather than the usual service time of 9am.
Please note there is no Night Prayer on Fridays.
8.5.20
22.4.20
20.4.20
Foodbank:
1- There are donation points (on the attached flyer), of where food can be safely dropped off- UHT milk, tinned meat, and toiletries are in particular need.
2- If you are self isolating, we might be able to come and pick up donations from you – do get in touch.
3- If you’d prefer, you can buy from the foodbank amazon wishlist –
This gets posted straight to David Sims.
14.4.20
You can find all our livestream services for both All Saints and St Catherines over here on our livestreams page. If you’re looking for our testimonies page, head on over to our stories page here.
3.4.20
During the Covid-19 outbreak, we’re encouraging families to have a go at some of these activities during Holy Week – have a look! There are some great discussions, activities and prayers to do together at home.
1.4.20
Want to watch our live streams but not on Facebook, or want to watch later? You can find all of them – plus testimonies and kids activities – over here on our stories page. You can also find them on our YouTube channel.
What’s on over Easter? Have a look here to see what we’re putting on over the next couple of weeks.
26.3.20
We’ve made this graphic to show everything we’re up to in this time – everyone is welcome to join in!
As you may have seen, we are using Zoom for many of our online gatherings at present. For those not familiar with Zoom here are some instructions which should help. If you’re still struggling do give Liz or David a shout and we’ll try and help you further.
How to use Zoom
You can also get into a Zoom room via phone – you just need to dial:
03300 885830
Then dial in the Room ID and #, then # again – you don’t need a participant ID.
24.3.20
Daily Prayer
You can join us online for Morning Prayer at 8:30 am and Night Prayer (Compline) at 9pm each week day. Use this link on your web browser, or download the Zoom app and use the link to join in.
You can just listen in, but if you would like to join in with the prayers, and have the Bible readings, they are available on the Daily Prayer app which can be downloaded on a smartphone.
Facebook Live
As we go further into lockdown, we are streaming more and more through Facebook Live on our Facebook page. Some people are asking how they set this up – here’s a short video about setting up a Facebook account, then once you’re in head over to the All Saints page where the videos will go live. Note that you can watch our facebook livestream without having a facebook account! Just write www.facebook.com/allsaintswellington/ into the address bar to see our page- pop along around 10:25 on Sunday to see our services!
17.3.20
Hi Everybody,
It is with great sadness that I have to let you know that, in line with the latest advice from the Church of England, all services at All Saints will be suspended until the worst of this outbreak is over.
The Archbishops have written to all of us, to encourage us to continue being church in different ways:
Two of our core values are Loving Each Other and Loving Our Neighbours. The next few months we are all going to be given opportunities to put these values into practice in new ways. Even when we can’t meet, let’s stay in touch, look out for each other, and reach out to support the vulnerable in our communities.
We will be live streaming a service of some kind on our Facebook page on Sunday morning at 10:30, that will include worship, prayers, and Bible teaching. We are also planning to recommend a video meeting solution for small groups that want to continue meeting virtually.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Ephesians 4:6
If you have any questions or concerns, please do get in touch.
Every blessing,
Tim
16.3.20
With the outbreak of Covid-19 across the nation and the world, we are praying for all those making decisions and for those who are elderly and vulnerable.
As a church, please be assured that we are following Government and Church of England advice closely.
At the moment, all activities are running, but we will update this page when we have to suspend anything.
Please do remember to wash your hands before coming along to any activities at church or in the parish centre.
We are live streaming morning services – at the moment these will be available to view on Facebook live via the All Saints Facebook Page. Follow us there to get all the latest updates.
If you have any pastoral needs, please do contact Tim Carter, the Vicar.