On Sunday, 22nd March at 4pm (GMT) we gathered for the first time on Facebook Live with interactive discussions afterwards in Zoom. If you missed this week, you can watch the video here and follow along with the running order below. Skip ahead to 10 minutes in the video to get straight into it!
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. Here’s what else to expect:
Welcome (Tom)
Songs (Ali & Ellie)
Be Thou My Vision
Hallelujah (High and Lifted Up)
**A Prayer for those for whom self-distancing will be especially painful (Full Text at the end) (Joel)
Question for Sharing (Sam): Where have you seen glimpses of beauty and hope this week?
Song (Ali & Ellie): Simplicity
Scripture Reading (Pete) – “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” –Matthew 6:1-4 (from Jesus’ first big speech – The Sermon on the Mount)
Reflection (Danielle) – Breathing hope and love into world
Response (AKA a moment to think)
Caring for our Mental Health (Ellie) – Scroll to the end for links to mental health resources***
Sharing a ‘Love Feast’ together (Tom)
A Special Announcement (Danielle)
Song (Ali & Ellie): Build My Life
What’s coming up (Tom)
Blessing: “May we live fully, love wastefully and have the courage to be all that God has created us to be.”
If you watched live, there was an option to ‘pop in’ to one of our Zoom Community Groups to join a group discussion of these questions. We’ll invite you to do this live if you join us next time:
- Where have you seen glimpses of beauty this week?
- If you feel comfortable sharing, what have been the difficult moments this week?
- The weight of the pain and suffering in the world is overwhelming. Each of our personal circumstances and communities are different. The ways you typically relate to the world are changed. How can you love yourself and love others in this strange season? Do you have any sense of what YOUR part may be in helping to breath hope and love into the world this week? Not what you think you SHOULD do, but perhaps something God is putting it in your power to do, however big or small?
** Prayer Liturgy:
Dear God,
As this new week begins, we pray for those for whom the self distancing asked of us will be especially painful:
Those wanting to care and be with loved ones who are waiting for health diagnoses that could be life changing,
Those who have had to cancel their wedding,
Those who are concerned how they will be paid this month,
Those who run restaurants, businesses and charities, who carry the responsibility of staff as well as themselves,
Those wondering if their livelihoods and businesses will survive these next months,
Those with relatives in care homes that they can’t visit,
Those caring for relatives at home,
Those who are pregnant,
Those already dealing with serious illness and needing regular hospital treatment,
Those who are homeless and have nowhere to go,
Those who can’t afford to fill their cupboards with extra food,
Those for whom food poverty is a reality & now feels more precarious,
Those who have cancelled longed planned for, long saved for holidays & celebrations,
Those with new borns,
Those dealing with grief.
For those who have already been rejected or distanced from family because of their sexuality or gender who now experience the pain of this separation in a new way.
Those whose homes are places of violence, not safety
Those in refugee camps and those in transit, fleeing ongoing violence and poverty in their home countries
Perhaps there are others that come to mind now as we pray. Take a moment to pray for them wherever you are.
We acknowledging before God, the pain and the loss of these strange days. We hold up one other’s arms and ask you God to draw really close.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.
Amen.
This is based on a prayer originally written by Jenny Cornfield of Soul Food Edinburgh.
***Links to Mental Health Support Resources:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mental-health-helplines/
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/sleep-hygiene
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus-and-your-wellbeing/
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.
