Longcot Village

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

Please find attached the Benefice Newsletter for Sunday and associated documents from Lucy. 

Details of the Benefice online services this Sunday can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/shrivenhamandashbury/.  

And just for information at this time: during the past week our architect, Christian Randall, and a local building firm have carried out an inspection of St Mary’s tower with a view to quoting for work to repair the tower roof.  It is hoped that the work will be carried out during the summer.

Best Wishes,

Dennis

Church Warden St Mary The Virgin, Longcot

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

Please find attached the Benefice Newsletter for Sunday and associated documents from Lucy.  After a Longcot Sunset was included in the Newsletter last week, please find another Longcot Sunset and the St Mary porch in this week’s version.   (Shirley D-M might recognise the floral arrangements around the porch!)

For those of you who are interested in the news from the Oxford Diocese, please find a link here: https://mailchi.mp/oxford.anglican.org/enews-5-february?e=51b79113fa

Details of the Benefice online services this Sunday can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/shrivenhamandashbury/.  

Best Wishes,

Dennis

Church Warden St Mary The Virgin, Longcot

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

Please find attached the Benefice Newsletter for Sunday and associated documents from Lucy.

In addition I have attached a copy of the local villages newsletter for February.

Details of the Benefice online services this Sunday can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/shrivenhamandashbury/.

Best Wishes,

Dennis

Church Warden St Mary The Virgin, Longcot

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

Please find attached the Benefice Newsletter for Sunday and associated documents from Lucy.

I have been asked when the new Bishop of Dorchester will take up his post, as it is now public knowledge that Bishop Gavin’s consecration at the end of this month has been postponed.  As it happens the Bishop of Oxford sent out an e-mail earlier today about the situation.  See below:

“By agreement with the Archbishop of Canterbury, I plan to license Gavin as Episcopal Vicar for the Dorchester Area on 28 January, the originally planned day of his consecration. This will be a reasonably low key licensing by Zoom. Area Deans and Lay Chairs from the Area will be invited, together with the Area Team and members of the Bishop’s Staff.  

Gavin and Christina will move to Arran House in early February and have some time to settle into their new home.  There will then be a Service of Welcome for Gavin as our Bishop-designate, as originally planned, on Sunday 28 February. If conditions allow, this will be streamed from Dorchester Abbey. Gavin will be working to a full diary from that date, meeting people virtually, leading and supporting the Area team and engaging with the wider community and Diocese.

We will, of course, keep you posted as to when Gavin’s consecration as bishop can be arranged.” 

Details of the Benefice online services this Sunday can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/shrivenhamandashbury/.   And if you fancy a change of scenery, then details of the Oxford Diocese livestreaming services can be found at: https://www.oxford.anglican.org/coronavirus-covid-19-2/livestream/

Best Wishes,

Dennis

Church Warden St Mary The Virgin, Longcot

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

Please find attached the Benefice Newsletter for Sunday and associated documents from Lucy. In particular I would draw your attention to a message of support in the Newsletter from the Lord-Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, Tim Stevenson.

By now you will be aware that all the churches in the Benefice have closed their doors to both public and private worship.  This was a difficult decision to take but, given the path and pace of the pandemic, it was the only prudent thing to do.  As soon as circumstances change, I will let you know by e-mail.

In the meantime the Benefice has moved completely to the online provision of services. Please find a link to the Benefice Facebook page where you can find these services: https://www.facebook.com/shrivenhamandashbury/.

Best Wishes,

Dennis

Church Warden St Mary The Virgin, Longcot

I am sorry that it has been necessary to close our church buildings again: we did not want to, but feel we have no choice in the current circumstances. The risks are too great. Malcolm Guite’s poem, Behind each number, one beloved face puts it better than I can:

At close of day I hear the gentle rain
Whilst experts on the radio explain
Mind-numbing numbers, rising by the day,
Cyphers of unimaginable pain

Each evening they announce the deadly toll
And patient voices calmly call the roll
I hear the numbers, cannot know the names
Behind each number, mind and heart and soul

Behind each number, one belovèd face
A light in life whom no-one can replace,
Leaves on this world a signature, a trace,
A gleaning and a memory of grace

All loved and loving, carried to the grave
The ones whom every effort could not save
Amongst them all those carers whose strong love
Bought life for others with the lives they gave.

The sun sets and I find myself in prayer
Lifting aloft the sorrow that we share
Feeling for words of hope amidst despair
I voice my vespers through the quiet air:

O Christ who suffers with us, hold us close,
Deep in the secret garden of the rose,
Raise over us the banner of your love
And raise us up beyond our last repose.

We will continue to offer our online services on Sundays and midweek. Please do contact me or Paul with any concerns or requests for prayer. Norma

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

Please find attached the Benefice Newsletter for Sunday and associated documents from Lucy.

As I explained in my e-mail last week, I produced a draft risk assessment for St Mary Longcot as a result of the Vale of White Horse moving into Tier 4.  Since then the Government has imposed a national lockdown.  The Diocesan advice regarding communal worship (dated 31 December) is still as follows:

“Whilst it remains permissible for churches to continue to be open for their usual worship provision, we are encouraging parishes/benefices in the Diocese of Oxford to take a very cautious approach in the weeks ahead. (….) It is entirely acceptable (and may be preferable in some cases, following a careful risk assessment by clergy and church officers) to move to online provision only at this time.”

Both this advice and the subsequent Government guidance on Tier 5 were considered by the Parochial Church Council (PCC) and a revised risk assessment was agreed today.  The arguments both for continuing and for suspending communal worship were finally balanced.  The bottom line, however, is that we have agreed to a temporary but immediate suspension of communal worship and private prayer in St Mary. The decision on private prayer may well be revisited once we have received further clarification on the Diocesan guidance from the Archdeacon.  I will send out an e-mail once I have that clarification.  These decisions will then be reviewed every month by the PCC once the path and transmission of the pandemic become clearer. 

Some churches in the Benefice have taken a different decision and, for now, are remaining opening for public worship.  This is a decision for them to make taking into account the individual characteristics of both their churches and their congregations, and the views of their congregations.   Ultimately, the views of our congregation and the PCC were that we wanted to ensure that nobody was exposed to any unnecessary risk of infection by the virus, be they congregation or clergy.

We are therefore moving completely to the online provision of services. Please find a link to the Benefice Facebook page where you can find these services: https://www.facebook.com/shrivenhamandashbury/.

As and when the Government, CofE, and Diocesan guidance on worship changes, then I will let you know by e-mail.

Best Wishes,

Dennis

Church Warden St Mary The Virgin, Longcot

Dear Congregation and Friends of St Mary,

Please find attached the Benefice Newsletter for Sunday and associated documents from Lucy.

Hopefully you will also have seen my earlier e-mail that contained the latest COVOD-19 update from the Diocese.  In line with the guidance that it contained, I have conducted a first draft risk assessment for St Mary Longcot.  As a result, and in agreement with both Norma and Canon Paul, we have decided to cancel the service of morning prayer that was due to take place in St Mary on Sunday 3^rd January.  This change in plan has been reflected in the latest Benefice Newsletter.

In the coming week we will be consulting with the members of the Parochial Church Council and will be refining the risk assessment.  Should anyone else wish to contribute to the assessment, then please e-mail me before the end of day Wednesday 6^th January and we will take your comments into account.

In the meantime, please find a link to the Benefice Facebook page where you can find our online services: https://www.facebook.com/shrivenhamandashbury/

Best Wishes,

Dennis

Church Warden St Mary The Virgin, Longcot

BCC:

Benefice Clergy

Longcot with Fernham PCC