Clerk’s Weekly Briefing
No 4 - 23rd April 2020
Dear Friends,
I am very tempted to drop the odd Georgian comment in today’s briefing considering the date, but as it is the 404th anniversary of the passing of the Bard there may be hidden the odd Shakespearean quote. But as men of few words are the best men, I’ll keep this briefing as brief as I can.
We are well into the season of Easter and many of us are preparing for the great festival that is Pentecost. So a little reminder that the Yorkshire Website has Praying for a new Pentecost… for God’s Holy Spirit to fill, transform and work through us ready and available to use.
I hope that you are still dipping into the Synod’s website as I know that there are some resources which have been uploaded since last week. The other thing which you may have noticed is that there has been a change in the layout. To make the site a bit more user friendly, especially with all the resources, information and support being made available. So we now have a specific Covid-19 Advice and Support tab at the head of the home page, https://urcyorkshire.org.uk/covid-19-advice-and-support/, whilst in the Children and Young People’s tab you will find all the Pilots and the Wilderness activities. https://urcyorkshire.org.uk/about-us/children-young-people/ and https://urcyorkshire.org.uk/about-us/children-young-people/pilots/.
Church links and Mission Activities
Worshipping Together Apart Although the time is out of joint, I have just received this hot press and within seconds of this week’s deadline, from Rev Janine Atkinson who has kindly offered Worshipping God Together: Apart which is a service designed for Church, Physically Distanced but Spiritually United. Find it in the Resources section of the Synod Website https://urcyorkshire.org.uk/covid19/ in the Worshipping at Home column.
Joint Public Issues Team We received this at Synod towers from Roo Stewart, who as many of you will know is the Programme Support Officer for Church and Society. He is wanting to hear stories of how congregations and individuals are supporting their communities at this time, such as picking up groceries for a neighbour, donating sacrificially or volunteering time to assist food banks while on furlough. If you do hear of anything (even ‘small’ things) or point him towards folks who are doing inspiring things for their communities he’d be very grateful.
URC News Update On a similar note Ann-Marie Abbasah, the URC’s Communications Officer has been in touch. The April News Update was a special edition that highlighted the URC’s advice and guidance about Covid-19. This month, they are focusing on what is going on in local churches, communities or organisations during the lock down. She knows (and I know) there is plenty of good news out there, so please get in touch with her at ann-marie.abbasah@urc.org.uk by 10am on Monday 26 April.
Songs of Praise For those that missed it, this past Sunday on BBC1’s Songs of Praise not only were we treated to a right proper rendition of “To God Be The Glory” but to an extremely sensitive and touching programme on inclusivity enhanced with an interview by Aled Jones of Rev Alex Clare-Young. The whole programme is worth a visit – or a revisit - at www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000hk9n.
National Day of Prayer and Worship Last week I listed those churches who have engaged in the National Day of Prayer and Worship. Yorkshire Synod has really stepped up and most of the 24 hours on the 15th of April were covered. However as we are committing to each 15th of each month through this Covid-19 period there is room enough for more churches to participate in May and June. Please send Ashley details of the time slot you are wanting to cover at ashley@bvurc.org.uk and in the couple of weeks leading up to the 15th May I’ll update you all with a full list. Thank you again for participating: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them, and with God’s help this will make us great people.
Families on Faith Adventures@home is an initiative designed to support families of all generations as they experience, explore and express faith together through the week. It is a ‘pick and mix’ of activities, games, prayers and challenges based around a story from the Bible and draws on materials from our non-uniformed children’s groups Pilots and FOFA. The plan is to keep you all as merry as the day is long. This will be published weekly and available on their website https://urc.org.uk/resources-for-children-and-youth, on https://moodle.urc.org.uk/course/view.php?id=208 and on our own Children and Young Peoples section of the Yorkshire URC website.
'Virtual funerals - liturgies and words for our digital world' is a new resource that has been uploaded to the national website at https://urc.org.uk/images/Communications/docs/Virtual-Funerals-2020.pdf. It has been put together by a task group led by Revd Mary Thomas at the Education & Learning Committee’s request and comprises a 28-page, A4 booklet for use with those who can’t attend funerals because of coronavirus. It also offers a starting place for those dealing with lockdown bereavement, with texts and ideas for ministers.
General Information and Resource Sharing
Interfaith News Rev Jacky Embry, Moderator in Mersey Synod, has brought my attention to an initiative that has come out of Leeds City Council’s Community and Environment Department. She writes:
In case you have folk who’d find this useful. The little interfaith info that I have suggests that the message regarding the Covid-19 Coronavirus strain is still struggling to get through to some sections of the population, partly due to the language barriers.
Shalom, Jacky
She has kindly forwarded an e-mail in which there is a link to three short videos which focus on:
Spot the signs a short film containing information to help people spot the signs of coronavirus and gives advice for households with possible coronavirus infection.
Handwashing advice a short film which contains information about how you can help stop the spread of viruses, like coronavirus, by practising good respiratory and hand hygiene.
Essential advice a short film contains information for households with possible coronavirus infection. Please be aware that this is an evolving situation and public advice may change.
There is one film for each of the following 11 languages; Polish, Romanian, Urdu, Arabic, Czech, Punjabi, Tigrinya, Farsi, Slovak, Kurdish Sorani and Bengali, making 33 films in total – all on one site which is here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLggQFjpTLgpIq0r7-nFO9mT6j8Yk2vKBt
Please circulate as far and as wide as possible so that we can be part of the effort to protect our various and varied communities within Yorkshire Synod, to help them stay safe and well and to help them follow the appropriate guidance.
How to build community while worshipping online My attention has been drawn to this interesting site: The Conversation is an independent source of news and views, sourced from the academic and research community and delivered direct to the public. In the latest issue is a challenging article on how the church is facing up to this current challenge. Have a read: https://theconversation.com/how-to-build-community-while-worshipping-online-134977
IT Resources and Training O this learning, what a thing it is! Dan Morrell, our Media for Ministry Consultant, has been putting together some training resources for those of us who are a little unsure when it comes to IT resources and how we can use them in our churches. In the advice section on the website several booklets have been uploaded and he has also uploaded a training video to YouTube at https://vimeo.com/406553378 and https://youtu.be/2PCaR3NJhXA. If you need his expertise, please get in touch with Dan at dmorrell96@gmail.com, on Facebook at /dmorrell96, via Linkedin at /dsmorrell or more conventionally perhaps by phone on 07773 174909.
Instagram News Read this new guide from the URC about using Instagram for church communications: https://t.co/he9OF1r5Zi https://t.co/gO3lwNbqa2 or on twitter at https://twitter.com/UnitedReformed/status/1251907206129254402?s=03
Update on Funerals The Government website has updated its advice on managing a funeral during the coronavirus pandemic. Although this is national advice there may well be local regulations which are stricter than those set out here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-managing-a-funeral-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/covid-19-guidance-for-managing-a-funeral-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic. Please also remember Synod does not recommend the opening of our churches for funerals at the present time and that any commemorative service be arranged for when lockdown and social distancing recommendations have been lifted.
Update on Buildings Jane, our Property Officer has uploaded onto the website the latest advice we have been able to garner from the URC and elsewhere on how to maintain your buildings during this period of lockdown. Please take time to have a look at https://urcyorkshire.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/URC-churches-guidance-in-closusure-for-Covid-19.pdf and if you need any clarification Jane is happy to help out through property@urcyorkshire.org.uk.
Digital Safety As many of us are meeting in a virtual environment and as the number of e-mails has increased the amount of digital noise, can I please make you aware that there have been a few instances of spam and phishing e-mails being sent from accounts purporting to be Synod officials. Matt Knowles, our Safeguarding advisor tells me it is not just a Yorkshire thing and that it is happening in other Synods. So if you do get an e-mail from a named individual, please check the actual e-mail address. If you are not satisfied that it tallies up please delete it.
Similarly from a Children and Young People’s perspective Megan and Jon would like to draw your attention to the information found online on the URC website at https://urc.org.uk/our-work/children-and-youth.html were there are links to external online safety guides as well as the URC’s own guides at https://urc.org.uk/information-guides. More detailed information can be had of them by contacting them at megancyp@urcyorkshire.org.uk or joncyp@urcyorkshire.org.uk.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
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. My deadline is Lunchtime on a Wednesday so that I can send it out on a Thursday. 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
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/.
Best wishes
Tim Crossley
Synod Clerk
Did you find them?
“Men of few words are the best men” – Boy: Henry V Act 3 scene 2.
“The Times is out of Joint”- Hamlet: Hamlet Act 1 Scene 5.
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them” – Malvolio: Twelfth Night Act 2 scene 5.
“As merry as the day is long” – Beatrice: Much Ado About Nothing Act 2, Scene 1.
“O this learning, what a thing it is!” – Gremio: The Taming of the Shrew Act 1 Scene 2.