On Sunday 1^st November at 11.00am we will be holding a special service in St Mary the Virgin, Shipton under Wychwood, to commemorate All Souls.

These last months have been particularly difficult for those who have lost loved ones with the restrictions placed on the way funerals have been conducted.

During this special service we will be reading out the names of those who have died recently and remembering other departed loved ones we hold dear. There are lists in all the churches for you to add names of your own loved ones or you can contact the office: email [email protected]

During the service there will also be the opportunity to light a candle in their memory.

Everyone is welcome but to help us safely plan the seating, please RSVP by 29 October with the number of seats you wish you reserve to: [email protected] or tel 01993 832514.

A note on safely coming to church services:

• Please wear a mask or covering and use hand sanitizer on entering church
• Sign in or use the App on your phone to register
• We ask you please not to come if you are unwell

Read the Church News here: Church News 25 October and 1 November 2020

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON SERVICES
In order to ensure that we can safely accommodate everyone at some of our busier church services, we will be asking people let us know in advance how many seats they would like. You can let Anne, Geoffrey or Clare in the office know ideally by the Thursday before the service. This will help those who need to go into the churches and make the seating plans to accommodate the desired number of groups/households.

We will need to do this for the following services in November:
Sunday 1 November United Benefice All Souls Service in Shipton at 11am
Sunday 8 November Remembrance Services in Milton (9.30am), Shipton
(10.50am) and Fifield (10.50am).

Email: [email protected]
Tel: 01993 832467

At this time

Dear Lord,

At this time of pandemic,

Let us foster respect and solidarity with others, especially those who are weak or poor.

Let us remain calm and ignore unsubstantiated rumours.

Let us take advantage of living together as a family.

Let us attend to moments of prayer.

Let us cultivate responsibility, patience and hope.

Amen.

Prayer adapted from a radio message from Rodolfo Valenzuela Núñez, Bishop of La Verapaz, Guatemala

Prayer for the end of the virus

SECAM, the Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences in Africa and Madagascar, has suggested the following prayer for all those affected by the coronavirus:

Almighty and merciful Father, who show your love to all your creation.

We come before you asking for a quick control of the Coronavirus currently ravaging our world.

Hear graciously the prayers we make for those affected by the virus in various parts of the world.

Grant healing to the sick, eternal life to the dead and consolation to the bereaved families.

We pray that an effective medicine to combat the sickness be speedily found.

We pray for the relevant governments and health authorities that they take appropriate steps for the good of the people.

Look upon us in your mercy and forgive us our failings. Amen.

NHS TRACK AND TRACE
Our churches are now displaying posters with QR codes. If you are able to, please download the free app onto your phone before you come to church. Details here:
https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/nhs-covid-19/

Please scan the code each time you enter one of our churches. By ‘checking-in’, app users will have a digital diary on their phones of the venues they have been to which can support discussions with contact tracers if they become ill with coronavirus. It also means that important public health messages can be sent to relevant app users’ phones if needed. Venues will not be named in any messages. If you are unable to do this please use the sign in sheets.

Latest Guidelines on attending services:
• People will be greeted and shown to their seats
• Please wear a mask or covering and use hand sanitizer on entering church
• Sign in or use the App on your phone to register
• Pick up an order of service – this may be on your seat in the pew
• For the time being there will be an organist and a small choir at services held in
Shipton. Other churches will use recorded music/singing although there may be
an organist. Congregations are not yet permitted to sing
• We ask you please not to come if you are unwell

The Churches are open daily with signs on the doors explaining how to safely enter the churches for private prayer.

Here is the latest rota of Sunday Services for the next few weeks (see table below or download the following document)

Download here Sep-Nov 2020 100920

Read the latest Church News here:

Church News 11 and 18 October 2020