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This June 7th Newsletter is for Trinity Sunday. Trinity Sunday is where we recognise the one true God as three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We honour Him as Creator, Redeemer and Inspiration.

250th celebration

This weekend should also have been the celebration of 250 years since St John’s Church was consecrated. Bishop David has recorded a special audio message for the occasion which can be accessed below. A written version will be delivered to those congregation members who are not online. Hopefully the celebration service has been postponed rather than cancelled and another service can be arranged later in the year.

The first service was led by the Bishop of Chester on 8th June 1770. To mark that special occasion, the Vicar will be celebrating a service of Holy Communion on Monday 8th June at 7.30pm in St John with St Mark’s. Unfortunately, all public worship continues to be suspended until further notice and no one else can attend. So, this service will be on behalf of all in the Benefice.

If you need to contact the Vicar, Dave Thompson: Phone 0161 797 7652 or e-mail:  dvjt@outlook.com

Prayer for the current pandemic:

Keep us, good Lord, under the shadow of your mercy, in this time of uncertainty and distress. Sustain and support the anxious and fearful, and lift up all who are brought low; that we may rejoice in your comfort, knowing that nothing can separate us from your love in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Prayer

The Vicar says Morning Prayer at 9.30 am and Evening Prayer at 5.00 pm on a daily basis. By also saying prayers at this time we are uniting together.

Please remember in your prayers:

The World – The situation in the USA following the demonstrations this week.

This Country – People still unable to work following the closure of businesses.

This Benefice – Those here who are helping the vulnerable and isolated.

This Parish – To give thanks for 250 years of the Parish of St John, Bury.

The Sick – Dorothy Howarth and Julie Cooper (the niece of Alan Evans).

Notices and updates

The Parish Office: is back open, with the necessary social distancing! Enquiries about future baptisms or weddings, marriage banns or any other matter, should be made at St John with St Mark Church’s Hall, any Wednesday between 6.30 pm – 7.00 pm.

A free national phone-line: to bring worship and prayer into people’s homes during this pandemic, is available courtesy of the Church of England. ‘Daily Hope’ offers music, prayers, and reflections as well as full worship services – all at the end of a telephone. The line is available 24 hours a day on 0800 804 8044. Mothers’ Union Midday Prayers are also available on this line, entering option 4 then option 8.

Giving: Please ensure you continue to contribute to our church funds at this time. Envelopes should be kept safe and given when able to do so. If you would like to consider donating by Standing Order, then our bank is: Barclays; Sort Code: 20-16-08; Account No: 20774774; Account name: St. John with St. Mark PCC. Please contact Ian or June Banks for more information.

250th Anniversary: We still intend putting together a display of memorabilia, even though it will be later than expected when people can see it. Please continue to have a look around for photographs and other items related to St John’s. We can arrange for this to be collected and brought to Church at a later date. David Robinson and Margaret Duckworth are co-ordinating this. In the meantime, please take a look at our history page.

Congratulations: to our friends from The Eagles Wing who this week were awarded the Queen’s Voluntary Service Award. The Eagles Wing are a mutual support group for refugees, asylum seekers and local people.

Other stuff

Re-opening: The Government has announced that churches may open for supervised individual prayer from 15th June. The Bishop of London said: “Advice has already been circulated to all our dioceses to enable local churches to plan ahead for opening up for individual prayer. Our advice recognises that a particular local church may or may not be able to open at the same time as others and collaborative working between local churches is encouraged.” We will update you as this becomes clearer.

For hints, tips and links to resources for prayer and worship at home, please take a look at this post.

The June 2020 magazine is online and a hard copy has been distributed to those in the congregation. Please enjoy the extra information in this June 7th Newsletter.

Until we meet again…

TAKE CARE, STAY SAFE & GOD BLESS YOU

Many thanks to Ekrulila for the cover photo which you can find on Unsplash. For next week’s newsletter, please press here.