Author: MarkSanderson

Our 9.30 service is now live on the website: https://rawchurch.org.uk/digital-services. This service has been recorded by folks at Walford Church and St Mary’s choir.

Take a look at the Holy Week and Easter page of our website for details of services later today and throughout the coming week. https://rawchurch.org.uk/holy-week-and-easter-2020/

Here is this week’s pastoral message from our Rector, Sean Semple. Together with a download on the subject of prayer.

The main points in this video:

• Create a routine
• Make a space for prayer
• New resources coming for “Growing- Faith at Home“
• Coming services for Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter
• Our website is our main communication channel now: https://rawchurch.org.uk
• Desert Island discs – Sean’s second choice (did you know he’s an expert player of the bagpipes?)

There is much more on the website

The Community Larder continues to operate on a Tuesday morning, we are serving people outside, to minimise personal contact, and offering prepacked bags to make the process quicker and more efficient.  We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of many local restaurants, pubs and shops who have sadly had to temporarily close down, but have given us large quantities of fresh produce.

At present we have not noticed a significant increase in demand for the Larder, although we are of course aware that this may happen as the current situation continues.

We have had a number of kind enquiries about making a financial donation and this can be done on line direct to the Ross Community Larder Bank Account;

Lloyd’s Bank Account Number 57486460 Sort Code 30 80 55

And of course, and most importantly, our sincere thanks for your prayerful support at this challenging time.

Lindsay Cole

The service is now live on the Digital-Services page of our website, https://rawchurch.org.uk/digital-services.

This week we include a choral piece recorded in homes and assembled into a combined performance.

You are invited to join us for virtual coffee after the service at 10.30.

There is a further update on the website. You may like to visit the website where there is now a new group of pages under the heading Digital Church.

There is a further update on the website. Importantly please be aware that the church building is now closed. https://rawchurch.org.uk/coronavirus

Here is a 12 minute service for Mothering Sunday from St Mary’s. Not quite how we usually do it but we’ve tried to keep some of the familiar features:

If you want to pop something in the collection you can do that too (though if you’re a regular we’d really encourage you to look at the Parish Giving Scheme):

And while we can’t easily give you flowers for your mum, here’s a reminder of last year’s:

And so the service – Happy Mothering Sunday:

You will find a pastoral letter from Sean Semple, our Rector, as well as the latest updates on services and events in our churches at https://rawchurch.org.uk/coronavirus

Following national developments today a large number of events have been cancelled. We are constantly reviewing the situation and have created a dedicated page on our website: https://rawchurch.org.uk/coronavirus.

We expect an update from the Church of England later this week after which there will be a further statement on changes to service patterns.

We are following the national guidance from the Church of England on COVID-19 in our churches. This is of course changing all the time but at the moment this means:

• Where the Peace is exchanged it is taking place with no person-to-person physical contact.
• Communion is being received in “one kind” i.e. bread only and with no physical contact.
• For the time being services are going ahead as advertised. Changes to the normal pattern will be advertised on our website.

For more information please see our dedicated page which is being regularly updated and https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-churches

You can read the latest on St Mary’s emerging vision in this update from Caroline Pascoe.

Wednesday 26th February is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

St May’s has a said Communion service at 11.00 am and a Sung Eucharist at 7.30 pm.

Ash, formed from last year’s palm crosses, will form a part of both services.

Join us at St Mary’s, with the Bishop of Ludlow, as we prepare to welcome our new Bishop of Hereford.

Monday, 9th March @ 11.00 am.

Throughout 2020 St Mary’s, Ross-on-Wye is examining the path that we are taking as a church and clarifying our vision. We invite you to be part of this season of praying, thinking, and talking together, listening for what we hear God calling us to be and to do as St Mary’s Church in Ross-on-Wye today…

Visit our website to learn what’s happening.

https://rawchurch.org.uk/vision-2020/

Come and join us for a free family-friendly event in the lovely and welcoming Church of St Mary’s, Ross-on-Wye. Listen to Claud talk about her experiences of rations and what she learned, have some wartime-inspired refreshments, and chat about what we can learn from 1940s thrift in the run-up to Lent and beyond. Copies of the book will be available to buy, or bring your copy if you would like to get it signed. 

About The Rations Challenge

Food is always a hot topic – Food waste, food banks, food miles, local versus imported. As we all need food, we can’t ignore it. But as some families struggle without enough food to live on, others are challenged to consider how much they throw away, or how to make the food they have go further. 

Which is why Claud Fullwood set herself the challenge of living on World War Two rations for Lent. It opened her eyes not only to issues of hunger and waste, but also to the many ways in which we have the power to fix our groaning food system, make our families stronger and our communities whole again. 

The Rations Challenge takes the wisdom of World War Two and looks at how it can help us revolutionise how we live now. By learning the lessons our parents and grandparents lived by in the ’30s and ’40s, we can build a future that works for everyone.

About Claud

Claud Fullwood has worked as an editor and copywriter for longer than she cares to admit. She has worked in both publishing and in the charitable sector, where issues around hunger and food first caught her attention. She hates waste and loves food. Most of all she loves her family, community and looking at how sharing what we have improves everyone’s lives. She lives with her husband, two children and an axolotl.