Clerk’s Weekly Briefing
No 2 - 9th April 2020
Dear Friends,
I hope this latest briefing finds you all in fine fettle. I hope also that you are all ready for the pinnacle of our Christian year, Easter Day. This week and next week will see plenty of opportunities to look through the various websites and social media feeds to help you celebrate this most important of festivals. I know it is hard not to be able to do this in body, but the Spirit is still moving among and within us which means we can still share. This has been quite apparent over the past fortnight with the number of churches and groups offering resources increasing daily. It means we can share beyond the four walls of our church buildings on a much wider basis than we have in the past.
This briefing is more of a signpost, pointing you in the direction of useful information and activities elsewhere on the web and in the wide world of social media as we pick our way through this difficult time. Some of these you may have seen in your own searches and we may have pointed you to these sites via the Synod Website, however a reminder is no bad thing.
Church links and Mission Activities
National Day of Prayer and Worship Ashley, our Synod Evangelist has already sent out an e-mail about this initiative which the Synod is backing in response to the coronavirus crisis. Hopefully the full letter is now on the website, but the gist is that on the 15th April, 15th May and 15th June. Yorkshire Synod is being called to pray and fast for the full 24 hours. Ashley is asking that each church or group of churches who take part, covers some of the 24 hour period in half hour or full hour blocks.
Synod’s suggested prayers are based around Psalm 91, The Lord’s Prayer and 2 Chronicles 7:14 with the three main areas to be covered being: to exalt and worship God as Sovereign over these Isles, to resist and rebuke evil, disease and death, and to ask God to Bless the Land with Healing, Transformation and Revival.
Please respond to Ashley directly at ashley@bvurc.org.uk with any offers or if you need to find out more about this national and ecumenical initiative.
Churspacious Alex and Jo, two ministers in Yorkshire, set up Churspacious which is a spacious church where all are welcome. Alex writes that “wherever we are physically, we are still church. We are still together. Community still matters. And our world isn't shrinking - it's growing! Distance need no longer divide. We believe that God is love and that each person's experiences and understandings of that love should be valued and shared. This community is for everyone. Open and inclusive, authentic and risky, Churspacious is a space for you to be the church whoever, however and wherever you are. Please feel very welcome to join our community on Facebook.” These are the links, they are all sharable but Alex mentions the best way in is to link into the Facebook page as that is where the full community is to be found. The videos can be found on YouTubeand the website is content based, designed to feed in to the community Facebook page. https://churspacious.com/, https://www.facebook.com/groups/churspacious,https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4eyp87q2X9CMgJo7xc3ziQ.
Headingley St Columba http://www.headingleystcolumba.org.uk/ including last Sunday’s Palm Sunday Service and will be adding podcasts each week, including an interactive one this Holy Week via “Zoom” forMaundy Thursday from 8.30pm. To dial into this click on https://zoom.us/j/6615009265?pwd=aW1NRGQraGhnNlZueis4L1AybzR5QT09, the Meeting ID: 661 500 9265 and the password is 201063. I am told these details will be on the Headingley St Columba website as well.
Christchurch Stocksbridge https://christchurchonline.org/ have a regularly updated sheet giving information about the arrangements they are putting in place as well as links to their Sunday streamed acts of worship.
The Sheffield Group of Churches have a dedicated website here https://sheffieldurc.org.uk/worship/ where you will find a downloadable order of services of past and upcoming events as well as recordings of the readings for the various service. There is also the facility to join the Sheffield Churches LIVE on Sundays at 10.30am on Zoom. A simple click on the link does the trick.
Bolton Villas Family Church http://www.boltonvillasfamily.church/ is a treasure trove of useful links and resources. Its Facebook feed https://www.facebook.com/boltonvillaschurch/ is constantly being updated with Ashley, the Synod Evangelist, leading prayers and bible studies for all.
Holme URC is putting services and their “Daily Pause” on YouTube, which can be found at https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Holme+URC. John Rider, their Pastor, tells me that they have a prayer time every evening on WhatsApp from 7.30pm to 8pm which is growing as people outside the church are asking to join the group. They will also be hosting a “Zoom” worship time this Easter Day evening and on subsequent Sunday evenings. If you want an invitation to join please contact John by e-mail at jrider@live.co.uk.
Rent Holidays
Alastair, our Trust Secretary has asked me to bring this to your attention regarding rent holidays – and just a quick reminder that there is more financial advice on the main URC website:
“We have been contacted by a number of churches which Lease part of their premises e.g. Retail Units and self-contained rooms to businesses that during the current Covid-19 lockdown have had to close. Quite often these churches have been asked by their Lease holders if they could have a 'rent holiday' whilst their businesses are closed. We have been in contact with the Synod's Solicitors for advice as to how best to handle these requests as the Leases are between the Yorkshire Congregational Union (YCU) and the individual businesses. The advice from our Solicitors is that the YCU can offer the Lease holders a deferment of their rental payments for a defined period. If your church has either Lease and/or License holders who are businesses or charities which have had to close during the lockdown and they have asked for a rent holiday please make contact with myself, Alastair Forsyth, Trust Secretary, by email (trust@urcyorkshire.org.uk). I will then get in contact with you and advise you of what actions can be taken as each situation is different."
Funeral Guidelines
Over the past week or so I have taken calls regarding the provision of funerals within our URC buildings. The position of Yorkshire Synod is that no funerals should be held on URC premises whilst the current movement and distancing regulations are in place. Both the Church of England and the Methodist Church have said no to any kind of funeral service in their buildings, and we will be seriously out of step if we hold funerals in our church buildings. Although the government advice allows for ‘immediate family and household members’, this can still allow for a considerable gathering which in turn puts everyone who may attend at risk. For those who need to arrange funerals the advice is to consult with the family, the funeral directors and the local council who will have guidance around what is possible or permissible in crematoria and cemeteries.Further guidance can be found on the URC website, the Methodist website https://www.methodist.org.uk/about-us/coronavirus/official-guidance/#a1 and the Cof E’s website https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-churches#na. The most recent Government advice is here https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-advice-for-safe-funerals-after-discussions-with-faith-leaders.
Historic Buildings
Historic England survey: impact of COVID-19 We have had and e-mail from the Churches’ Legislation Advisory Service https://www.churcheslegislation.org.uk/ to say that Historic England has just launched a survey aimed at understanding the impact of the Coronavirus on the businesses and skills that underpin the heritage sector. They would be very grateful if we could to maximise the responses from churches (listed or not listed) as it may help open up some funding sources. The survey https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CZKWWJH will close at midnight Monday 13 April and they hope to be able to feedback to CLAS over the summer.
If you know of anything which you may find useful for our churches, please get back to me at clerk@urcyorkshire.org.uk and I’ll circulate it here and on the website. Similarly, if you need any further help, be it to do with IT, finance, property or the like we are here to help.
And finally a reminder of our key sites:
Yorkshire Synod: https://urcyorkshire.org.uk/,
National URC site: https://urc.org.uk/ including the excellent information guides at https://urc.org.uk/information-guides?fbclid=IwAR1NRcxUTu7kQn25ENmowlb9LROLKrNHJL4_BJ6ft6gVjpOUjCqM9CCmrQQ
Yorkshire Synod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/urcyorkshire,
Yorkshire Synod Twitter: https://twitter.com/urcyorkshire,
Yorkshire Young People’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildernessyorkshireurc/.