REDLAND PARK UNITED CHURCH
Redland Park, Redland,Bristol BS6 6SA www.redlandparkurc.org Registered Charity No 1131460 Thursday 7 January 2021 Dear Friend, Happy New Year! I hope that this year will be better than last, which shouldn’t be difficult. You will, of course, know that England is now in its third lockdown due to the rapid spread of Covid-19, and its new variant in particular. You may also know that UK government restrictions permit churches to remain open for worship during this lockdown, and it is on this topic that I write to you today. At our meeting last night, the Elders debated whether or not Redland Park URC’s church building should remain open for worship. With some reluctance, we agreed unanimously that it should not, so the church will be closed with immediate effect and until further notice. In making this decision, the Elders considered a number of factors, including: Our primary concern remains the health and welfare of our congregation; our watchword remains “Caution”.
We recognise that this decision may not be welcomed by everyone, but we do feel it is the right decision at this time. If you have any particular concerns, please raise them with your Elder. In the meantime, the Elders will continue to monitor the situation closely with a view to re-opening as soon as we feel it is safe to do so. I can also confirm that lettings have ceased by mutual consent with those hiring our premises. We will continue to worship online, via Zoom, every Sunday at 10:40am. Whilst worshiping online is not ideal, it is valued by a large number of people, not just from Redland Park but also from around Bristol, the UK and even internationally. If you would like to join us, I can provide you with the necessary details. Finally, the responsibility for running our worship online is currently shared amongst a “Top Tech Team” of four, and we’d like to spread the load further if at all possible. It’s not particularly difficult; you only need to be reasonably proficient with a laptop or tablet, and the team will train you up. So, if you feel you could help, please let me know; the more people who help, the lighter the commitment will be! With all best wishes, Andrew Hayden Secretary, Redland Park URC andrewhayden@blueyonder.co.uk 07984 146 318 We are happy to report that the church building is re-open and you can book a place at any or every Sunday service by contacting the Church Secretary. We also continue with hybrid services, so if you would like to join us by zoom, please also contact the Church Secretary for password and ID.
WE ARE SORRY TO REPORT THAT THE CHURCH BUILDING HAS BEEN CLOSED AGAIN DUE TO GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS AND THE IMPOSITION OF A NEW LOCKDOWN. ALL SERVICES ARE NOW ONLINE AGAIN AND WE HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THERE.
LETTER FROM THE CHURCH SECRETARY:
Dear Friend, As you will no doubt know, Redland Park URC has been closed for worship since mid-March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I am, therefore, delighted to be able to write to you on behalf of the minister and Elders with our plans for re-opening the church for worship. They have been put together by a group representing interests across the church and have at their heart our primary ethos: safety. We plan to restart worshiping in church from Sunday 13th September.
This may feel divisive but we hope to increase capacity and capability fairly rapidly; treat first two services as “pilots”. Every Sunday for the forseeable future we will be worshipping together online via the web conferencing app Zoom. We meet online at 10.40am every Sunday.
To join us contact our church secretary Andrew Hayden for details. Also see our new Online Worship page where we will be posting links to the recorded services on Vimeo. We are happy to say we will be having morning worship by Zoom (the web meeting software) tomorrow morning, Sunday 29th March at 10.40am. An invite has gone around to those on the church mailing list. If you would like to join us and haven't received an invite please email Andrew Hayden, the church secretary, in advance. An order of service is shared here. In future we hope to share the links on the website. Watch this space. The website now has a Daily Devotions page. This links in well with our current Walking The Way Holy Habit of Biblical Teaching. The new page links directly to the URC daily devotions page (https://devotions.urc.org.uk/) which provides a hymn, bible passage, reflection and paryer which is updated daily. You will notice that it doesn't currently display quite properly but if you scroll down it is all there.
On the Daily Devotions website itself (https://devotions.urc.org.uk/) there are also recorded versions of the passage and reflection, which may provide a comforting voice in these strange days of social distancing and self-isolation. If you would like the daily devotions to come straight to your email then you can also sign up through this page. If you sign up, from Sunday 22 March at 10am, an additional post will go out, a radio-style / podcast service with hymns, readings, prayers and a sermon. The Sunday Service email will contain an order of service and words for you to sing along with the hymns. There will also be additional services during Holy Week. These are different materials to those that will be provided by Dougie and others at Redland Park for Sunday worship. |
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