You are here16th August 2020

16th August 2020

By Alison Hudson - Posted on 14 August 2020

St Michael & St Wulfad Church, Stone

and St Saviour Church, Aston

Sunday 16 August 2020

Sunday Services

8am and 10.45am St Michael & St Wulfad, 9.15am St Saviour

Sunday Afternoon Prayervia Zoom/telephone 4pm and 5pm

Thursday CommunionSt Michael & St Wulfad 10.30am

Church is open for worship

We are delighted that our churches are open for worship. At St Michael’s we enter through the main door and exit through the south door. Seating will be in the central body of the church.

All cushions have been removed, so do bring your own if you would find that more comfortable. Services will be a Said Communion, with just bread being distributed. You will be asked to stand, not kneel, at the altar and follow a one-way system. There will be no singing and no service sheets, but all the words you need will be projected onto the screen.

Please sanitise your hands as you enter church and maintain social distancing at all times. There are no refreshments, but toilet facilities are available.

Face Masks

Current government guidance is that we are now required to wear a face mask in church, unless exempt on medical grounds. The ministry team will wear masks or visors at the door, but not during the service, apart from at the distribution of Bread.

Regular Giving

To minimise the handling of cash, could you consider making regular donations to the church via standing order from your bank? If you are able or would prefer to do this, please contact John Baddeley on 01785 815397, or email johnandpat@allaboutimage.netThank you!

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you need to.

Revd Preb Ian Cardinal 01785 812747 Dennis Abbott 01785 814134

Revd Alison Hudson 07725 467246 Fr John Cotterill 07734 815838

Lin Davis 01889 505094

Stone with Aston Sunday afternoon prayers by telephone

Not all of ushas access to the internet, or will be coming out of lockdown so we will continue to offer a short service of Daily Prayer on a Sunday afternoon that you can join with via a telephone call.

The weekly prayer sheets that we use for Weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4 are generic, so please keep a copy of each and have it to hand for the service. This Sunday is Week 3.

This service takes place on Sundays at 4pm for Stone and

5pm for Aston, but please feel free to phone in at whichever time suits you best. You do not need a computer for this - just a telephone. The instructions are as follows:

Just before 4pm or 5pm on Sunday phone one of these numbers (the cost should be the same as a normal phone call):

0131 460 1196or 0203 481 5237

enter the meeting ID on your telephone keypad-

897 6759 5340
you will be asked for a participant number - just enter #
enter the password which is 928354

We will welcome everyone who has phoned in and we will all be able to hear each other speak. We will then say prayers together. The service will last about 15 minutes.

If you have internet access, you can join the meeting via the following ‘Zoom’ link using the above meeting ID and password

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89767595340?pwd=aWt0VjRQUlpGeHkvMHVLbHdla3dZdz09

Readings for Sunday 16 August

Isaiah 56: 1, 6-8 Romans 11: 1-2a, 29-32 Matthew 15: 10-28

In this day and age it is still surprising and shocking to find that there are still people who do not wash their hands regularly, let alone before eating. It is something my mom and dad and my nans drummed into me when I was growing up. They even taught me a little ditty that I still remember to this day. It goes “John and Mary thought they knew much better than their mummies; they ate their tea with hands unwashed now both have painful tummies”. Nichola and I have been on quite a few cruise holidays and hygiene is a top priority on board ship. There are hand sanitizer stations everywhere, especially on entrances to dining areas, and staff are present to give you a little squirt if you miss the static sanitizer. In these days of pandemic, hand washing, regular and thorough hand washing is vital.

So it doesn’t surprise me that the gospel makes reference to the disciples eating without washing, albeit from the Pharisees who will try any trick to trip Jesus up. But Jesus is ready for them, and counters with how they break traditions for their own purposes. Hypocrites is what Jesus calls them. The blind leading the blind. The quote Matthew uses in his gospel, from Isaiah is as valid today as it was when Isaiah wrote it many many years before Jesus came to be our Saviour. Jesus brings home the truth to us as well as the Pharisees. People put their own interpretations on the Gospel, parts are taken out of context for our own purposes. So be careful what you say and do; before you speak or act, think, “what would Jesus do?” Jesus goes so far as to say that the lack of hand washing is nothing compared to some of the other undesirable stuff that we are capable of, however if we are true to God, He will redeem us.

So, as it is written in Psalm 67: May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us. Dennis Abbott

The Collect for Sunday

Let your merciful ears, O Lord,

be open to the prayers of your humble servants;

and that they may obtain their petitions

make them to ask such things as shall please you;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen

Prayers

In peace, let us pray to Jesus our Lord, who ever lives to make intercession for us.

God of refuge, hear our prayer

as we hold the people of Beirut

in our hearts at this time.

Fill us with compassion and move us to reach out in love.

In your mercy, bring comfort to those who mourn,

healing to those who are injured,

shelter to those who are homeless

sustenance to those who hunger.

Give strength to those who are working

to rebuild shattered lives,

and protect those who are vulnerable

especially in a time of coronavirus.

Lead us in your ways

so that together we may bring

the light of new hope

wherever there is destruction and despair.