Weekly Newsletter and Other News
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This page contains a Weekly Newsletter, information about upcoming services and events and groups that we support, links to sources of help both spiritual and practical, requests for prayer and thoughts from church members. Please contact clare@standrewspsalterlane.org.uk or garethjones11@googlemail.com if there is anything you would like to see or to add, or anyone you would particularly like us to pray for.
Weekly Newsletter during the suspension of public worship 9th August 2020 We hope you find the SAPLC streamed services inspiring at this time when we cannot join in worship together in church, and that by praying together and sharing these services and resources, we can all still feel connected to our worshipping community. The purpose of this Newsletter is to keep us all informed and connected, and as always it includes a message from Gareth as well as information about our streamed service on Sunday. There are Notices at the end of the newsletter. All contributions, serious or light-hearted, would be very welcome!
Church of England Prayer for the day, Thursday 6th August 2020Father in heaven,
Message from Gareth
Dear friends, This will be the last contribution from me for a couple of weeks because of holidays. However, I’d like to offer this week two short passages from the writings of St Clare of Assisi. St Francis of Assisi is of course well known to us, but Clare, one of Francis’ first followers and the founder of the Order of Poor Ladies, or the “Poor Clares”, also deserves to be well known. In the piece of writing I included a fortnight ago, Joan Chittister said that “wherever we have fixed our hearts, whatever it is to which we have given them, will determine the way we experience all that is happening to us now.” In the struggles and sufferings of life, our capacity to endure will partly depend on where we have set our heart. “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” said Jesus. We sometimes speak of the Christian life of discipleship as being an “imitation of Christ”, the title of a famous devotional book from the fifteenth century by Thomas à Kempis. However, Clare of Assisi says to us in the passages below that this imitation of Christ isn’t just a matter of doing the things Jesus did, or saying what he said. It’s more an inner reflection of the character of Christ as a response of love; a matter of where “we have fixed our hearts.” Clare writes: “We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing. Imitation is not a literal mimicking of Christ, rather it means becoming the image of the beloved, an image disclosed through transformation. This means we are to become vessels of God's compassionate love for others. Happy the soul to whom it is given to attain this life with Christ, to cleave with all one’s heart to him whose beauty all the heavenly hosts behold forever, whose love inflames our love, the contemplation of whom is our refreshment, whose graciousness is our delight, whose gentleness fills us to overflowing, whose remembrance makes us glow with happiness, whose fragrance revives the dead, the glorious vision of whom will be the happiness of all the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem. For he is the brightness of eternal glory, the splendour of eternal light, the mirror without spot.” Love and peace,
Gareth
Services Sunday 9th August 9th Sunday after Trinity We look forward to our online Sunday2 service at 10.30 am, led by Judith Roberts, and Intercessions led by Caroline Cripps. Music by Simon Dumpleton and members of the choir You are invited to have a candle to light for the prayers of intercession
The link to the service will be sent to you all by email on Saturday evening or Sunday morning, and will also be on the Home Page of the SAPLC website. We hope you will enjoy the service and feel connected to your St Andrew’s Psalter Lane friends as we join in worship on Sunday at 10.30 am.
Junior Church This week's Junior Church activities are available here, here and here. We'd love to see what you do, so please send a photo of your work to Clare at clare@standrewspsalterlane.org.uk - you might see your work on the website!
Wednesday service The Wednesday service has now stopped for the month of August. It will be back in September.
NOTICES
Re-Opening the Church We look forward to welcoming you to private prayer in the church. From 7th August we will be open from 2.00 - 4.00 pm on Mondays and 10.00 am - 12.00 noon on Fridays. We have carried out a thorough risk assessment to make sure we do this safely. A huge amount of work has been done to make this possible – we are extremely grateful to John Cripps and the others involved in doing this. Church will look a bit different but we are doing everything we can to make sure that visitors feel comfortable. Please do not visit if you have any symptoms or are feeling unwell. Visitors are asked to follow these rules. We are now asking for non-vulnerable volunteers to assist with welcoming for 2 x 3 hour sessions on Monday afternoons (say 1:30-4:30 pm) and Friday mornings (say 9:30 am -12:30 pm) including preparation time, plus the Wedding on Saturday 1st August, time to be arranged. Please contact Janet Loughridge if you can help (0114 2584164, j.loughridge@sheffield.ac.uk) Sadly, we do not anticipate being open for public worship in the immediate future. In the meantime, you are welcome to join our online services on Sunday and Wednesday mornings. The church garden is open to the public and you are welcome to use it for prayer and meditation, but please observe social distancing and wash your hands after visiting, as the seats are not sanitised.
Keeping in touch with the church and with each otherAs the church building remains closed and virtual means of communication become 'the new normal', I just wanted to remind people of some of the ways SAPLC is still 'open': You can follow us on Facebook and join the SAPLC Facebook Group We are also on Twitter This website is regularly updated with news about SAPLC and links to helpful resources. And of course, we have our online services on Sunday and Wednesday - if you can't join these 'live', they are available in the 'Streamed Services Archive'.
Online giving First of all, a massive 'Thank you' to everyone who has donated through our online donations page - we have raised over £3000 already! Don't forget that if you normally donate to the vital work of the church by putting money in the plate before a service, you can now do this online using the big red button below! Our income has fallen massively during the last few months and although our outgoings have gone down too, we are facing a huge deficit - please help us to continue our important work.
All We Can Update Sadly the All We Can events have had to be put on hold until it is safe to go ahead. Many thanks to the people who have offered help with the organisation. We know that all of you will have had requests from charities and other calls on your finances but climate change continue and food shortages have worsened. Please can you consider making small gifts to All We Can or thinking of small sponsored events that you can do safely at home. The All We Can website have updates about their work and information on giving. They are also sharing positive and uplifting content each lunchtime at 1.17 pm. Janet has recently received this letter of thanks from All We Can, with some news of their activities and concerns. Many thanks, Janet (Clarke) and Judith (Loveman)
Working Party – message from John Cripps Thank you to everybody who came and helped at the Working Party on Saturday 1st August when we worked outside while maintaining our 2m separations. The next Working Party will be on Saturday 5th September. Everyone is welcome to carry out gardening tasks at other times convenient to them. I will send out an email about the mowing rota. The compound and the tool box have combination padlocks. Please ask me if you want to know the combination and if you open either lock, please take care the combination is set correctly before closing it. The tool box contains the mower, strimmer and some tools and there are additional tools in the cellar. The usual tidying and weeding will be required in the coming weeks, remembering that the beds to the front of Shirley House also need to be kept weeded and tidy. Many thanks, John Cripps (01142 588932, 07914 290016, cripps@uwclub.net).
Foodbank and Baby Basics Firvale Foodbank and Baby Basics are still desperately in need of help, so that they can help the most vulnerable members of society. If you are able to give anything, donations can be dropped off at the following addresses – why not combine donating with your legal daily exercise? Food Bank The mystery busker has now raised a total of £1,000 for the St Cuthbert’s Food Bank, which is absolutely brilliant! Many thanks to him and all those who have supported this excellent cause. Donations can be left at the rear of 16 Edgehill Road, S7 1SP. Fir Vale continue to take referrals and just under 100 people are being supported. Food and cash donations are welcome. Food is especially welcome. The Food Bank particularly need pasta, rice, UHT milk, toiletries and toilet rolls, but are ever grateful for canned goods. If you would like to give cash, you can donate here.
Baby Basics Our Royal visit, August 4, 2020 Baby Basics had such an incredibly privileged and exciting day, hosting The Duchess of Cambridge at our UK headquarters in Sheffield! We are honoured to announce The Duchess of Cambridge is supporting baby banks and vulnerable families across the UK by launching a new initiative with us today. Baby banks aim to support and empower families by ensuring every child has the essential items they need to thrive. In the UK, they are powered primarily by volunteers and typically run on professional referral from services such as health visitors, midwives and social workers. Inspired by the work of these charities, The Duchess of Cambridge has brought together nineteen British Brands to donate items to Baby Banks across the UK. Three baby banks – Baby Basics UK, Little Village and AberNecessities are honoured to have been chosen to be part of this amazing initiative. The Duchess of Cambridge said: “Over recent months, I have heard from families who have been supported by baby banks through the most difficult of times and I have been deeply moved by their stories. Having somewhere to turn to for support is important for all families, and baby banks work every day, up and down the country, to provide immediate, tangible and practical help for parents and carers when they are most in need. Baby banks are driven by incredible volunteers, demonstrating the power of community spirit in supporting families and coming together to raise the next generation. Thanks to the generosity of the companies taking part in this initiative, baby banks across the UK will be able to support even more families through this particularly challenging time.” This engagement followed on from The Duchess’ previous visits to Baby Basics West Norfolk, based in Dersingham, where she packed up Moses baskets with supplies and spoke to families who had received support from the charity. The Duchess of Cambridge helped with the delivery of supplies to Baby Basics UK before talking to families about how baby banks have provided them with invaluable support when they needed it most. Baby Basics are closing their office for 3 weeks in the summer and will not reopen until the week of 17th August but we can still give donations to Pat; if Pat is away she will remove the basket from her front door step and she asks that items aren’t left at her door if the basket is not there. If you have something you can put through the letter box, that would be alright. The Facebook page also has information about donating via their Amazon wishlist. Donations can be left in the box at 51 Barkers Road, S7 1SD; cash donations should be put through the letter box. Pat would be able to collect donations if you cannot get them to her – telephone her on 2014881 if you would like to donate this way. Or donations can also be left at 45 Osberton Place, S11 8XL. You can also now donate online. We are grateful to all the very kind people who are taking these donations to where they are so desperately needed.
A message from the Convener of the Circuit's Justice and Peace Action Group: Business as Usual is not the answer - please back our divestment campaign Do you live in the South Yorkshire area? Or are you a member of the South Yorkshire Pension Fund or know someone who is? South Yorkshire Fossil Free! is asking you to take part in our recently launched letter writing campaign. A small task, which should take no more than 10 minutes of your time but which could have a big impact on future generations? Please use our template letter or draft your own. The South Yorkshire Pension Fund currently has approximately £485 million out of the £9 billion fund invested in fossil fuel companies including fossil fuel giants BP and Shell, despite concerns about their growing climate risk. These investments are in direct conflict with the fact that all four South Yorkshire councils and the Combined Mayoral Authority for South Yorkshire have declared a Climate Emergency, acknowledging the catastrophic consequences of climate change. By writing to your MP, Councillor or the pension authority you will help them to realise how important these issues are to the people of South Yorkshire. Thank you in anticipation - South Yorkshire Fossil Free!
Bread for Sheffield Having trouble finding flour? Why not buy top quality bread flour from St Mary’s and help provide emergency food boxes for families across Sheffield. They will provide top quality bread flour from Hukins in 2.5kg bags at cost price and you make a donation to fund the provision of emergency food. 50% of the donation goes to St Mary’s food delivery scheme, and 50% to support local food banks. Flour can be collected from St Mary's Church Bramall Lane (open 9-5pm Tuesday to Thursday), 11 Greystones Avenue (open 2-4pm Thursday), or Hammer & Pincers, Bents Green (open 2-4pm Thursday). Visit the website to find out more and to order your flour.
And just for fun! How well do you know your Hymn Book? Last week you were asked to match random lines from hymns in Hymns and Psalms, with the first line of the first verse of the hymn.
Here are the answers:-
And a further 10 random lines for this week’s challenge, again from Hymns & Psalms [I must get myself a copy of Hymns Old & New so I can even things up a bit]. So, if, for instance the line was “Above thy deep and dreamless sleep” you will remember that it’s a line from “O little town of Bethlehem” 1 Slow to chide, and swift to bless. 2 Like the first dewfall 3 Our faith shall never yield to fear. 4 Your living likeness still we bear, 5 The voice of prayer is never silent, 6 Where the bruised and lonely dwell, 7 A royal diadem adorns 8 Night’s sparkling host, all seem to say 9 This gospel-message we proclaim 10 It is the sacrament of care
Paul Freemont
Answers in next week’s Newsletter
And remember - You’re not stuck at home - You’re safe at home.
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