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As restrictions ease, Andy looks to the future and asks questions about our vision

At our PCC meeting in March, we were trying to work out the best ways to ‘open up’ our church for worship and other activities in the time before all regulations are off – although as yet we have not been told that we are able to sing again in church after 21 June!

Easter services and after Easter

We agreed to open church for Easter for ‘in person’ services on Wednesday in Holy week, Good Friday evening, and Easter Sunday morning; along with a trail in the church grounds on Good Friday morning.

After Easter we will start back again with a Midweek Holy Communion on Wednesdays at 9.30 am. Also, on Sundays we will bring into being ‘Watch and Worship Together PLUS!’ The ‘plus’ is that the service will be generally led from the front, including ‘in person’ parts where possible. Music will not be ‘live’ as yet, but hopefully those doing readings, prayers, and sermons in the online services – which will continue as usual for the foreseeable future – will also be available where possible to make their contribution ‘in person’ at church. This will make the ‘Watch and Worship Together’ more participative and a communal event, hence the PLUS!

Preparations for 21 June

According to Boris’s roadmap, almost all regulations will be lifted on 21 June, and in PCC we discussed if there are things we should be doing now to prepare for this situation. We would encourage all group leaders to think about the following questions:

• Has anything changed as a result of the pandemic that effects what we should be doing in the future?
• What resources do we need to achieve these new objectives?
• How do we find the resources required to meet the new objectives?

And finally …

As your church leader, who has guided you through the most traumatic events that any church family will have experienced in our lifetime, thank you for your continuing help and support in contributing to our church life in lots of different ways.

Now we need to look to the future, and I will be asking questions for us all. The most important is, ‘What is our vision as a church in the light of all that we have experienced?’ Please be fervent in prayer as we answer this question together in the months ahead.

God bless,

Andy McPherson, vicar

Jez Ferguson’s magnifying glass throws the spotlight on youth

Over the last few months of lockdown, we have been meeting with the young people regularly, primarily at Core, our Sunday evening group. During Core we tend to spend about an hour playing games and then an hour discussing the Bible together. Recently we have discovered several new games which we’ve found work really well over Zoom; we found an online version of group-favourite game Assassins; we have been playing a game called Spyfall where one of you is a spy trying to blend in, while we ask each other questions to work out which of us is the spy; and we have been playing Gartic phone, which is a mash-up of Chinese whispers and Pictionary.

During our Bible discussion, we recently finished a series on ‘Big Questions’, where we discussed difficult and/or controversial questions, such as ‘Why does God allow evil?’ and ‘Does the Bible encourage the death penalty?’. During one of our last Big Questions, we discussed how the world might end, and it raised a lot more questions. As a result of this we started a series on the Book of Revelation and have been working our way through it. We are reading and focusing on the seven letters to the seven churches, as it is perhaps the most directly relevant segment for us.

The Wednesday group has been much harder to manage. Since September we have struggled to maintain regular attendance and have relaunched it several times with different focuses/themes in the hope of attracting young people. However, each time we have found it doesn’t seem to work over Zoom or otherwise doesn’t interest the young people. Instead, for the last couple of months I have been keeping it open as a drop-in session, where young people can pop in (online) if they need anything, be it a question they’re wrestling with or a space to share if they are feeling low.

Our ‘live’ online youth services have been going well. The next on is on Maundy Thursday, 1 April and we are really excited to have Jordan back to preach to us again. Last time we had 19 live viewers and have had 115 views since.

We have several other things we are looking forward to: this weekend we have our weekend a-stay (in place of a weekend away) when we’re collaborating with St Paul’s Throop to explore what discipleship means. After that we have our Easter-themed scavenger hunt, which I am particularly excited about. Details and information about how to join in are in the newsletter special – hope you have a great time!

Jez Ferguson, youth minister

Kelvin encourages us to paddle out to the waves!

There are 11 associate ministers in our benefice. Most of us are retired, though Sandra Tauson is working harder than ever because a hospital chaplain’s ministry during this pandemic is never-ending.

We are privileged to be in a benefice where Andy, our vicar, is supportive in giving us opportunities to contribute to our churches as much or as little as we want. Not all vicars are so generous.

There are around 12,000 retired clergy in the Church of England. Their number has doubled since 1990. In the same period the number of paid clergy in the Church of England below retirement age has decreased, so that retired clergy now easily outnumber them. And this trend will continue.

Most clergy have worries about retiring because it usually means not just the loss of support and companionship enjoyed at work, but also the loss of home, friends, and the familiar surroundings of the places where we have ministered over a period of years. So for us it can feel like Abraham, who in his mid-seventies ‘by faith […] set out, not knowing where he was going’ (Hebrews 11:8 NRSV). Just as the years of active ministry held all sorts or surprises, so too the years of retirement can hold all kinds of surprises for us. God alone knows how many years lie ahead of us; God alone knows how long we shall be blessed with health and strength. But one thing we do know, and that is that God promises to be with us, and so he will continue to be with us in all the twists and turns of the journey.

But maybe it’s a different Old Testament leader we should be inspired by. The eighty-five-year-old Caleb discovered that there are still mountains to climb (Joshua 14:10-13). Caleb asked for a challenge, not a cushion. He wanted more adventures in his ‘retirement’ years. There is a future to look forward to, and not just a past to look back upon. After all, as Paul Tournier wrote in his book Learning to Grow Old: ‘Of God alone can the Bible say that on the evening of the sixth day of creation he had completed his work.’ Which reminded me of the farmworker’s response to the vicar who told him off for working on the Sabbath, the day when God had rested: ‘Twas all right for ‘ee – ee’d finished ‘is work.’

So when will our work for God finish? When will God call time on our ministry? One of my former curates decided to stop when she turned 80. We are all different and who knows how I will feel at 80 – and yes, it is some way off! But I’m reminded that some football games go into extra time, and then there is the penalty shoot-out! Camilla Cavendish, in her book Extra Time: 10 Lessons for an Ageing World, wrote: ‘”Extra time” is the period when there’s everything to play for’ and: ‘We need to see “Extra Time” as a starting point, not as the beginning of the end.’

Your associate ministers are still here with everything to play for and glad to join you in worship and working for God.

Learn to paddle out to the waves; wait for the right one; don’t worry if you miss it as another will be coming; be encouraged by other surfers and learn from them …

Kelvin Randall, assistant minister

It doesn’t matter where or when, just keep praying on the prayer chain!

My name is Jan Randall and I coordinate the prayer chain at St Saviour’s.

The prayer chain is an unseen group of more than 50 people who dedicate themselves to prayer. Andy always says, “We pray, God acts” and we have found this to be reassuringly true.

The ‘prayer warriors’ are a diverse group of all ages. You won’t know who they all are; they don’t know who they all are either. I’m looking forward to arranging a ‘reveal party’ when we can meet each other; it will be a true surprise party!!

It’s my job as coordinator to receive prayer requests and send them out to the members of the prayer chain. This disparate group pray wherever and whenever is best for them. They pray … immediately, with morning coffee, with afternoon tea, before bed, walking, driving, showering, walking the dog, in the night. They pray everywhere, anywhere, at any time.

It is also my joy to send out answers to prayer – restoration to good health, a return from hospital, a peaceful death. Sometimes we have no answers to our prayers, but that’s OK too; we are committed to pray, not because we need to hear an answer. But last year Andy calculated that we heard answers to 76% of the prayer requests – how wonderfully encouraging!
My job has been tiring in this pandemic year: more people ill, more with emotional or mental problems, more are lonely, more have died. But as the burden has grown so has the honour to serve, knowing that I stand with so many others in prayer – just as so many stood with us when we needed prayer, standing for two days a week for eight months next to the cot of a very sick little grandbaby in Great Ormond Street Hospital. Miraculously, the medics, only this week, have said that they can see no sign at all of the condition that was destined to take her life before she reached school age – praise God!!

I hope that if you need prayer that you will contact me, or Clare in the office, or Andy, and you can know that over 50 people hear your call and will stand with you, lifting you to our loving Father.

And if you want to join the prayer chain, we will be so glad to have you join us … remember … “We pray, God acts!”

Jan Randall, prayer chain coordinator

Steve Evans encourages us to buy Fairtrade, but not just for Easter

In spite of all the upheaval with the pandemic, Traidcraft has managed to make a profit in the last year, and things are thankfully now looking much more stable than they were two years ago, when the company nearly collapsed. Nevertheless, here we are at the end of Fairtrade Fortnight and I have not been able to hold a stall due to the lockdown.

In early February I joined an online presentation about the next steps for Traidcraft, including increased organic products and recyclable packaging. It was really encouraging to hear about their plans and how hard they are working through the pandemic to continue supporting producers.

There was also a presentation by Traidcraft Exchange, the charity linked with Traidcraft, and I have pledged my trading profits for this year to their Regenerators appeal, which is working with farmers in the Rufiji area of Tanzania. The UK government will double this money.

The Traidcraft Spring catalogue is just out and as usual at this time of year they have a variety of Easter eggs, cards and decorations available. If you are considering ordering any of these items, I would be happy to take orders and deliver to your house (no post and packing to pay). I am also happy to do this for the ordinary tea, coffee, biscuits, etc., that I usually have on my stall, if anyone is missing being able to buy these. Here is how it works:

1. Take a look at what is available on traidcraftshop.co.uk.
2. Text or email me to tell me what you would like ordered.
3. I will add this to my next Traidcraft order and let you know as soon as I can whether the items were available, and an expected delivery date.
4. Once the order arrives, I will contact you again to confirm the price to pay and when I can drop the items to your door.
5. You can pay me by bank transfer, or by leaving a cheque or cash on the doorstep.
6. Any concerns or queries, please text me on 07789926512 or email me at steveevanstraidcraft@yahoo.co.uk. Also let me know if you would like to have a copy of the Spring catalogue.

I hope that you all stay safe and look forward to hearing from you.

Steve Evans, Traidcraft

(Photo by Traidcraft)

Andy’s update on how God is at work through our pastoral care

At St Saviour’s we are known as a church that is very caring during ‘normal’ times. Naturally, since the pandemic, the need for practical and spiritual support, and pastoral care, has increased substantially. I am very thankful to members of the church, as well as the Pastoral Care Team, for all they have been able to do under difficult circumstances.

During the first lockdown, we were able to provide practical support by operating teams of people who delivered food parcels, collected shopping and medicines, and even provided general house maintenance and gardening on occasions. During the latest lockdown some of our most needy individuals have received grants from a health charity that I chair, and this has shown ‘love in action’ at a very practical level.

Many of you will have heard Sue Jones share the benefits of the newly formed Phone Team on a recent online service, and the importance of staying connected cannot be overemphasized. Our home group structure has also come into its own during lockdown, enabling practical and prayer support to flourish. If you are not in one of our small groups and would like to be, please contact Laura Simpkins by emailing her at discipleship@stsaviours.net for further information.

There are currently 50 members of the church who perform an unstinting task on a very regular basis by ‘praying’ for people with physical and mental health concerns and other life issues. The extent to which members of the church, their friends, family members, neighbours, and the wider community are helped by this ministry is difficult to measure, but we are aware that ‘God can do immeasurably more than we ask or even imagine’ (Ephesians 3: 20) and the positive messages that we regularly receive encourage the Prayer Chain team on. If you would like to put in a request for prayer, please contact Jan Randall on 07989 211594.

Many of our senior members appreciated Christmas cards, homemade mince pies, and especially the hand-knitted blankets that were given out at the end of last year. As we continue into 2021 with widespread restrictions on our usual ways of functioning as a parish church, our pastoral care needs to be increasingly imaginative in its expression and inclusive in its reach. My thanks go to our Pastoral Care Team and many other members of St Saviour’s who enable this care to carry on in difficult circumstances.

Andy McPherson, vicar