Blog Post

Update from Rev Malc

St Michael's Church • Aug 04, 2020

Malc’s Message to church family, 4th August 2020

Hello lovely Church Family,

I hope this letter finds you in relatively good heart. I pray for you all every day that wherever you are, you will know the presence of God. And that he is strengthening you as you live for Him at this time.

STRANGE TIMES

We find ourselves in very strange times indeed. For months now we have been unable to meet together. We miss greeting one another on Sundays, worshipping the Lord together, welcoming guests, singing, sharing coffee and cake, praying, laughing and crying together. You may have felt this very keenly.

BUT WE’VE BEEN ONLINE

But like so many churches we have been very active online. It’s been a steep learning curve. I went from having done nothing live online, to a few days later streaming from my study and hoping it would all work. I have since delivered 21 Sunday talks on Facebook, and I have had to become tech-savvy with being online with Facebook, hosting various Zoom meetings, including leading the Alpha Course! All this was brand new to me.

STAFF ON FURLOUGH

Our staff, Angie, Fran, Sallie and Melinda, all went on furlough. This meant handling all my own email and admin. So like many Vicars, I became head of technology, admin & broadcasting, and often chaired the “What on earth is happening and what do we do?!” meetings that arose out of many people’s concerns. I’m thankful that Angie has now returned!

YOU WANT MORE?

Some of you will have seen lots of whizzy online Sunday presentations from other churches, and maybe feel we could do more. We did try some extra ideas of having more people online live, but the tech + my often poor wi-fi didn’t make for a good experience. Also, we don’t have someone techy available like other churches do, who can use their skill and time to discuss, format, edit & publish more whizzy stuff. But we do have some ideas to try and slowly develop things.

ONLINE & OFFLINE COMMUNICATION

It has been a real joy to connect with lots of you online, and the many people from our wider community who have joined our Facebook Group. We have gone from around 300 online members to around 550 over this period! We’ve used Zoom for PCC, Life Groups, Prayer meetings, pastoral meetings, Alpha Course, Communication Team, Urban Saints, Sunday coffee and chat. We spent some time sending regular email info to as many people we could who weren’t accessing Facebook etc.

SO HOW ARE YOUR CLERGY?

All the above has meant that life for me personally has been very full on. A while back, on a Zoom meeting with some 100s of clergy, we were polled on a variety of issues. Answers showed that over the period of lockdown the majority of clergy, although having started with lots of energy, were now very tired. Most of us hadn’t had a holiday. I personally didn’t get a full day off for weeks. With my colleague Rev. Richard Reakes we, have at times, been inundated with funerals. At one point I had 6 on the go at the same time… Richard has had similar… a very sad time. The good news is that Richard and I are very well supported in our weekly Church Leadership Team Meetings. We are looking forward to time off in the weeks ahead.

Amidst lots of activity, we do recognise that not everyone will have felt as in touch as they would have liked. And so, I apologise if you have not felt included, or felt you’ve not heard from me. If this is you, please feel free to contact me via 01242 677851 or malc.rector@gmail.com. I am grateful to the many of you who are able to be in touch with others and care for one another. Our Life Groups are proving invaluable in this respect.

SADNESS AT WHAT’S LOST – BUT HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

We are in an in-between time as church. We have left behind much of what we knew so well, including our regular service pattern. Maybe crisis is not too strong a word. A crisis in our own individual lives can help us ask very important questions: What is it I really believe about God? Who I am? Is Jesus Lord? Is God faithful? In this storm, this crisis… on what has my trust in God been based? Is it on the teaching of Jesus (the house built on the rock), or something less (the house on the sand – Matthew 7: 24-27)?

We are praying to God to renew our faith, our love for him, our sense of mission.

And leading us He is. Digital church has opened wider the ‘entrance’ to our faith and life together. And so, we will not be leaving behind our Live Streaming for a while yet. We don’t know what church life will look like in a few more months.

But we are hopeful, and expectant, because God is with us. His presence is everything. God is faithful. He will not leave us.

GOOD NEWS – BACK INTO OUR BUILDING

Sunday worship in our building begins again on 16th August @ 9.30am. We can seat 40 people – whoever turns up first (but bear in mind the story from last Sunday! – Luke 14: 7-11!). So, kindness and grace please! The service will be 30 mins long, without singing and without Holy Communion yet. Face masks will have to be worn as well. We are conscious that not everyone wants to return to worship together just yet for a range of reasons. Our Coronavirus rules and guidelines are frustrating to some, comforting for others.

The three August Sundays will be led by different people including Sallie Mumford and Kathryn Lea (Lay Readers) and Malc.

We also look forward to opening the church building for private prayer soon.

And so, I pray for grace and patience between us over these next few months. Let’s be equipped together in the ‘armour of God’ (Eph. 6: 10-20) with which we will be able to stand our ground against the devil’s schemes.

May God graciously bless us all.

Rev. Malc Allen (Team Rector)

St Michael & All Angels Church

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