On Sunday, 29th March at 4pm (GMT) we will gather on Facebook Live (or on YouTube) with interactive discussions afterwards in Zoom. You can follow along with the running order below and find any links that you need.
We’ll be doing an online worship gathering every Sunday at 4pm we are also meeting for a weekly online prayer gathering Wednesdays at 7:30 via Zoom. If you would like to ALSO connect with one of our mid-week Zoom Community Groups email newchurchbirmingham@gmail.com.
When we gather in person we always have cake and a creative/ mindfulness area with activities. You’ll have to grab your own snack this time, but if you fancy doing something creative as you watch/ listen/ engage with our worship gathering, you can download and print this (it’s a rainbow to colour and put in your window.) Here’s what else to expect:
Welcome (Danielle)
Songs (Ali & Ellie)
My Lighthouse
O Come to the Altar
**A Prayer for Lockdown (by Father Richard Hendrick) (Tom)
Question for Sharing (Danielle): Is there something you have done this week that has been particularly life-giving to you?
Song (Ali & Ellie): Oceans
Story from the NHS (Rachel)
Scripture Reading (Adam) – “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” –Matthew 6:5-8 (from Jesus’ first big speech – The Sermon on the Mount)
Reflection (Julia) – Being Other
Response (AKA a moment to think)
What to expect next week (Julia)
Song (Ali & Ellie): Good Good Father
What’s coming up (Danielle)
Blessing: “May we live fully, love wastefully and have the courage to be all that God has created us to be.”
After our Worship Gathering, at 5:15 we will move over to Zoom to chat about how we’re doing and discuss some of the themes from today. If you are in a regular Inclusive Gathering Community Group, please join your regular group. If you are not, please pop in to any of the groups below by clicking the link. If you enjoy the chat, you are very welcome to meet up with your group again, later in the week. If there isn’t a group near you, that’s okay – join whichever one. You can read more about Community Groups here:
Edgbaston Community Group (Pete & Eunice – also meets Mondays – FULL)
Coventry Community Group (Ali & Ellie – also meets Mondays)
Moseley Community Group (Danielle & Joel – also meets Tuesdays – FULL)
Summerfield/ Winson Green Community Group (David & Nettes – also meets Tuesdays)
West Brum Community Group (Adam & Rachel – also meets Thursdays)
Worcester Community Group (Judith & Ethan – also meets monthly Saturdays)
Here’s the questions the groups will be discussing this evening:
- Where have you seen glimpses of beauty this week?
- If you feel comfortable sharing, what have been the difficult moments this week?
- Have you ever been the other in Christian circles? How has that affected: your thinking, spiritual life, prayer, relationship with God, church?
** A Prayer for Lockdown:
Yes there is fear.
Father Richard Hendrick (Franciscan Order)
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing.
Any questions? Would you like to sign up to our email update list? Email newchurchbirmingham@gmail.com. If you’d benefit from help getting onto Zoom, have questions about our Community Groups or if you are in the West Midlands would like someone to check in on you via phone your during this unsettling season, give us a shout.
