Notice Board

Following the complete lifting of Covid restrictions by the Government from 19th July, restrictions at church have also been reviewed. Given the prevalence of the Delta variant, and understandable caution amongst church members about returning fully to church attendance, the following will apply from 25th July until further notice.
Social Distancing: the front section of the church will have ‘normally’ spaced chairs, and the rear section will have socially-distanced seating available, with chair markers, for those who would prefer it.
Masks/Visors: are no longer officially required, but we are advising and requesting that they be used, particularly if you choose not to be socially distanced;
Hand sanitiser: is also no longer required, but it will be available if you prefer to use it.
Bibles: Bibles will not be handed out, but will be available on the tables in the foyer if you wish to help yourself (please return it to the bookcase at the back of the church after the service);
One-way system: no longer in operation, and there are no restrictions on numbers in the toilet areas either.
Singing: is now allowed (albeit we are asking you to sing behind your masks), so dust off those vocal chords! (Live music leaders will return after the summer break).
Refreshments: these will be available once some-one is in place to co-ordinate the supplies and rota.
Many thanks for your understanding and forbearance as we seek a sensible way forward for all.
God bless you all, Roger.

Several of us recently attended a large meeting of evangelicals in the Diocese (online) in which the request was made that we look seriously at offering our people a way of sensibly looking at the material put out by the Church of England called ‘Living in Love and Faith’.

Living in Love and Faith looks at the issue of human sexuality and the varying viewpoints within the church. It asks that people who do investigate these issues using their material, give feedback to the C of E which will be making major decisions around the whole area in 2022.

I am pleased to announce that we are able to join with St Mark’s Church (New Ferry) for a course using material from Church Society as well as some of the LLF material. At the end of the course those who attended will be able to feed back directly to the C of E their thoughts, and will be able to report to our PCC, after which the PCC can choose whether or not to make a joint response on behalf of the church family. The tentative dates for these studies can be accessed here.

Please let me (Roger Wiles) know if you’d like to attend these studies at St Mark’s and I can let Andy Greenhough know.

There’s a post-service Zoom meeting on Sundays at 12 noon to allow people the opportunity to have a chat and catch up with others in our fellowship. Contact the office if you need the meeting details.

If you or someone you know who lives within our parish boundaries is pursuing higher education, there may be some help available. Applications need to be returned by Friday 17th September 2021 for consideration by the Trustees meeting at the beginning of October. Click one of the following options for further details and an application form

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Volunteers are needed to help deliver our youth and children’s ministry. You don’t need to be skilled! You don’t need to be young! But you do need to love Jesus, love young people and their families, and have time to learn and commit. Anna would love to work alongside you, helping you gain confidence in teaching the Bible, and work towards leading a group. Please get in touch with Anna if you would be willing to work with her on this.

This year our outreach event for families in the summer holidays will be over a weekend on the 20th-22nd August. If you are a family with primary school aged children do be praying about who you can invite to come along with you. Everyone else – we’d love you to be praying for the event, and thinking about whether it is something you can be involved in helping to run. We will need practical help in a variety of ways. We will need people around to help chat to and build relationships with the families that are coming along. So for now – put the date in your diary, be praying, and keep an eye out for more details to follow.

Each month we highlight one of our Mission links. This month we are praying for South America. The prayer points are here.

However, it did raise the need to revive prayer partnerships at HT. We know that many of you do pray through our regular prayer meetings, home groups and in smaller partnerships of 2 or 3. But we recognise that some may not have this vital support and would value such a prayer partnership.

Why not revive partnerships that we may have let slip over the past year ? We would encourage others to do the same. If you would like to join such a partnership or develop a partnership that others could join then let us know. We’d love to help bring people together in such prayer partnerships.

We would also love to hear your stories of how prayer has helped you over the past year. In particular we would love to celebrate prayer partnerships that have continued despite being unable to meet in each other’s homes.

Paul Lewis on behalf of HT Ministry Team