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Articles by melthamparish@outlook.com

Holy Week – Prayers and Meditation from Rev’d Peter

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Rev’d Peter shares with us a booklet for Holy Week – PRAYER AND MEDITATION. You can download it here:

2020-HOLY-WEEK-MEDITATIONS Download


The best way of praying this week is simply to follow it. There are readings given for each day of Holy week sent as an attachment. All we have to do in our prayer is to be open and receptive, content to follow and to receive what God chooses to give us. In this way our prayer enters into the way Christ lives it. He allows himself to be taken on a journey by the Father “Thy will be done”.

So let Scripture take you on this road. Be attentive to it; notice its details, entrust yourself to it. Don’t fill up your prayer with too many words or thoughts or petitions, for your Heavenly Father knows all that you need. Let each period of prayer begin by simply asking for the Grace of God to be with you this Holy Week, to be close to Christ as He does the will of the Father. May you touch something of the mystery of this life and Love as we prepare ourselves to Celebrate Easter Day.

Heavenly Father, we turn our hearts to you. You are utterly faithful, and you have never failed us. Grant us hope, strength and mercy in our time of need. Enable us to throw our cares onto you, our mighty God.
O Lord, hear our prayer.

We pray for those touched by the coronavirus, those who face sorrow, fear, illness and isolation. May they know your presence with them at this time so that your presence overcomes their fear.
O Lord, hear our prayer.

We pray for wisdom and clarity for all those making key decisions, for scientists, medical experts, politicians and public health officials. We pray for acts of kindness to spread in every community and we thank you for all these that are taking place now.
O Lord, hear our prayer.

In Jesus’ name: Amen

Scripture reading:
“Cast all your anxiety on Him for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

Keep Safe, Keep praying
Peter

Holy Week Reflections from Rev’d John – The Hope of Easter

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In this series of reflections, I am going to invite you to try and get into the mind of key characters within some of the stories leading up to Easter day. Whilst doing this I’m going to ask questions about hope, particularly where these key characters are looking for or finding their hope.

Monday:                Jesus anointed at Bethany

Tuesday:               Jesus predicts his death

Wednesday:           Jesus says that one will betray him

Thursday:             Jesus washes the disciple’s feet

These are designed to be used at any time during the day.

          There will also be

Maundy Thursday: a short on-line Communion service which I encourage you to join in with at 7:30pm (though you can use it at any time)

Good Friday:  An hour at the cross, 2-3pm, and Stainer’s Crucifixion at 7:30pm

A reflection for each day will be issued.

Palm Sunday Parish Communion – On-line

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Apologies for the technical delay! The service is now available online.
Due to this delay, Rev’d John will do the service this evening at 6pm!

You are encourage to play the service starting at 6pm, but you can listen any time if it is not convenient. Please inform anyone you planned to phone up to listen in with you.

It can be found here:

The service booklet can also be found here:

Palm-Sunday Service booklet-5th-April-2020 Download

Online Worship – Sunday 5th April (Palm Sunday) and Holy Week

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There will be a variety of opportunities for you to join us for online worship from the Parish of #Meltham through Holy Week and leading up to Easter day. Again, you are encouraged to contact via telephone others from our congregations that don’t have modern gadgets or computers and let them join in the worship as you listen together (maybe do a trial run first using last weeks service – you may need to put the phone that you are ringing them with on loudspeaker, and placing near your sound source for best results). Many mobile phones allow you to merge a call with several people, which is a useful way to reach out to others (careful not use up all your inclusive minutes though if they are limited). Maybe think about sharing the links with friends and family who wouldn’t normally come to a service?

Please find below current planned upcoming services (note these may be subject to change).

Sunday 5th April (Palm Sunday)
10:30am – HOLY COMMUNION (Online via YouTube / Parish website)
(Link will be released separately beforehand)
11:15am – SERVICE OF THE WORD (Online via Zoom – details below)
4:00pm – Olivet to Calvary (with interactive images) – sung by St Bartholomew’s Choir (Online via YouTube / Parish Website)

Tuesday 7th April
7:00pm – Taize Service (Online via Zoom – details to follow)

Thursday 9th April (Maundy Thursday)
7:00pm – Holy Communion (Online via YouTube / Parish website)

Friday 10th April (Good Friday)
2:00pm – An hour at the Cross – Reflections and music (Online via YouTube / Parish website)
7:30pm – Stainer’s Crucifixion (with interactive images) – sung by St Bartholomew’s Choir (Online via YouTube / Parish website)

Sunday 12th April (Easter Day)
10:30am – SUNG EUCHARIST (Online via YouTube / Parish website)
11:15am – HOLY COMMUNION (Online via Zoom – details to follow)

Links will be sent out before each individual service.

Details for Service of the Word – Sunday 5th April from 11:15am

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/173033495?pwd=YzMvTjRrN0M2SmptTFdoZkd1M0Z1UT09

Meeting ID: 173 033 495
Password: 034024

The meeting will be open for joining from 11:00am before the service commences at 11:15am. Please arrive in time so the service can start promptly on time. Remember, other participants can see you just as you can see them. If you do/don’t want to be seen by the other participants, make sure you set the Video icon to Start or Stop as required. This is a live service. You may be required to register with Zoom beforehand, and enter your personal email address (even though it says work). You will then be given the option to download the Zoom application.

Parish Magazine – April 2020

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The eagerly anticipated April edition of the #Meltham Parish magazine is now available for viewing online here:

April-Magazine-2020Download

Due to the COVID-19 virus situation we are unable to get this edition in hard copy so please feel free to share/forward this around to those who (under the current circumstances) may not receive this. However, if anyone does require this magazine in a hard copy, please send an email with the postal address to melthamparishmagazine@gmail.com and we will try and get a copy to you as soon as we can. Similarly, people can be added to the distribution list by signing up for email alerts from the Parish website or liking the Parish page on facebook to receive notifications.

Stay safe everyone!

Live Zoom Service – God of Hope – Today at 6pm

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Though our church buildings are currently closed, the Parish of #Meltham certainly is not – online services are taking place! Whilst the restrictions are in place, we are experimenting with different methods of worship and learning what works well, and what not so, whilst also being mindful of what platforms we can use to enable a wide audience of people to join in – some who have no on-line tech at all, and those who do have tech limits like for example, limited bandwidth.

Tonight at 6pm, a live ZOOM service will take place led by Jacqueline France and others from the team at St Mary’s Wilshaw. You are invited to join the service using the link here:

Topic: Evening service – God of hope.
Time: Mar 29, 2020 06:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/644597022

Meeting ID: 644 597 022

If you already have ZOOM installed you will go straight to the meeting when you click on the link. If you join before the host you will be asked to wait until the host joins.

If you do not have ZOOM installed (i.e. this is the first time you have done this) you will be prompted to install ZOOM when you click on the link. Once installed you will automatically join the service.

If you haven’t already got ZOOM installed on your device, please try to join a bit earlier to give yourself chance to get the app installed. Instructions can be found here:

Zoom Instructions: Download

We look forward to seeing you all this evening.

Weekly News bulletin for Sunday 29th March

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PARISH OF #MELTHAM, WEEKLY NEWS BULLETIN: SUNDAY 29th MARCH

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” (John 11:1-45)

The natural focus of todays Gospel reading is Lazarus, his death, and Jesus’s ability to bring him back to life. However, our focus should always be on Jesus, on what he is doing and saying, and on trying to sense his nature which is the nature of our God.
Throughout this story Jesus’s focus is on people. His nature is to care for people. Not just for the “big things” but for whatever is important to the individual person. Jesus weeps not for Lazarus but for Mary, he sees her crying and feels her pain deep within his spirit.
Our God sees all the worries of the world and cares for the whole of his creation. It is right that we continue to pray for the problems of the world, but we should never forget that our Father in heaven is passionately interested in every detail of our lives.
You are his dearly loved child and he is deeply interested in anything that is concerning you, big or small.
Reverend John (Vicar)

Following recent guidelines from the Church of England and the government.

All churches will be closed for public worship until further notice.
This now includes private prayer and funerals.
Funerals can still be held at the crematorium and at the grave side with a maximum of ten mourners.
All weddings are postponed until further notice.

Website
Our Parish Communion will be posted on our website www.melthamparish.co.uk this will be pre-recorded but Rev John will be repeating the service at 10:30am so that it may be considered spiritually live. Please join in if your are able, or it will be available for retrospective viewing.

You are also invited to join a live evening service at 6pm through ZOOM led by Jacquline from Wilshaw. Details of this will be published on the website beforehand.

All social events and gatherings have been cancelled.