I hope you have had a good week and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine.
Please find below some of the things that have happened this week or that you might want to be involved in over the next 7 days:-
Please join us again this Sunday at 10am (or at a time convenient for you) in our Emmanuel Family Facebook page for our “local” service and a time together in worship. This will be like the last few weeks, post after post in real time to follow a full service that takes around an hour. You can join us live or enjoy it later in the day – the choice is yours. We’ll be singing, praying, reflecting and listen to the message from Cameron. There’ll be activities too! Why not join us? Any problems finding the group please email us and we will be happy to help.
Straight after the service we will be going live via zoom to have a virtual coffee after the service! We’ll be attempting to share in the fellowship that we would normally have together after the 10.45am service. Sharing coffee. Saying hello. Sharing fellowship. Sharing bread as a symbol of Jesus there for us. 11.15am to 12pm. It’ll be easy to join us. Just click the link at the end of the service or from the post advertised before Sunday on here. Follow the simple instructions. And you’ll be there! We’ll share an easy guide. And help in any way we can if you’d like to join us. Hope to see you there!
Sunday - Apr 26, 2020 11:15 AM – just click on the link below
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85306570297?pwd=dGpDUlE3M0ZaaVB2Q3lveGpuNG1kQT09 and when prompted enter the Meeting ID: 853 0657 0297 and then Password: 000984
For those that have not used Zoom before it is a way for people to chat online – you can use it on your phone, laptop or iPad. You don’t need to download anything, and we’re on hand to help if you struggle with getting on. Just get in touch and we’ll walk through it with you.
For those who have children this resource based on an app which you can download from Scripture Union might be helpful in these difficult times.
Just follow this link: https://content.scriptureunion.org.uk/resource/guardians-ancora-during-covid-19-times
We are really grateful for Tesco Express in Wilthorpe for hosting a trolley for Barnsley Foodbank in their store for any donations.
If it is not there when you have bought your shopping and want to add items, please ask the staff. We feel though that this trolley collection should only be used for items bought from that Tesco store.
If you have bought items for the Foodbank from other stores can we suggest that you drop those items not at Tescos, but at Church.
We shall leave a large storage box at the back of church (where the vestry door opens up onto the back garden – by the traffic cones!). Please put any items there and those checking our premises will then put them inside the building so that they can then be safe until they are taken on to the Foodbank. Thanks for your co-operation.
If people would rather donate on line go to https://barnsley.foodbank.org.uk/ click on Donate in the top right hand corner. This will then send your money via Virgin, who are not making a profit out of this, but it will cost 75p for the transaction, so you are asked for the 75p to cover this. If you follow the process through, there are 5 steps, one of the steps is to Gift Aid your money. Donating this way not only allows you to Gift Aid your donation, but also allows the Food Bank to go and buy any items they are short of - usually things like fish, pasta, and long life milk. They could actually be able to buy cheaper than we can!
There have been some great good news stories!
So the FoodBank trolley at Tescos has been emptied at least twice this week!
Some people who have had a birthday this week have received greetings from Emmanuel Church!
Our keeping in touch with others is working well. Here is one e-mail testimony that was received this week:
“I got a call from my contact person today as part of Emmanuel staying in touch. As always we had a terrific conversation. Please pass my thanks to her and let her know how enjoyable it is and much it is appreciated.”
15 young people are regularly meeting up on Zoom twice a week for fun (games) and some discussion.
Our leadership team continues to meet regularly to keep things working and discuss various issues.
A couple of people have made generous offers of help to those in need within our congregation and on Monday Cameron delivered a weekly food hamper to one such family.
The Prayer chain ministry is receiving lots of calls for people to pray for individuals and situations and we are expanding the number of people sharing in praying as part of that ministry (see later in the newsletter of ways you can join this growing group).
Various people are shopping, sewing, baking, writing, delivering paper copies to those not online, keeping us amused, making other crafts and trying to bless neighbours and the church family in these difficult days.
The number of people engaging with our online services and becoming part of the Facebook Emmanuel Family group is growing.
A testimony of one person that was shared this week:
“One Sunday recently I met up with someone else at Church ‘out of the blue!” We were both on our daily walk – and happened to pass Church at the same time. We greeted each other – and then he said to me, “Why don’t we sing a hymn together?” – which we did. And then he suggested saying a prayer (at social distance of course!) – and as he prayed I felt connected in community through our standing outside church and doing that simple act together. It was a profoundly deep and humbling moment of making a spiritual connection with another.”
Are you on Emmanuel’s Prayer Chain? If not, would you like to? Before deciding you might ask yourself “What is the Prayer Chain?”. At Emmanuel, people ask us to pray for individual situations, family and friends and ask for God’s healing and blessings in certain situations. People on the Prayer Chain are committed to praying for others regularly and confidentially, and form part of a chain through which God’s love flows. If you are not on email, we also offer the Prayer Chain via telephone call. If you feel you would like to join our Prayer Chain either on email or telephone, please let me know on alison@padgettatoz.co.uk (or give me a ring if you are not on email tel: 07930 561210).
We have been asked by the South Yorkshire Chaplaincy and Listening Service for people to volunteer as listeners – see attached the 2 word documents “Flyer Chaplain” and “Recruitment letter to churches Barnsley volunteers”. They are looking for people of faith who would be interested in training and offering this service during the current crisis - if you feel called to this or would like further details please contact Roxy on sylistening@gmail.com or ring 07903 899751 for more details.
Attached is “Vine at Home 26 April 2020” – this is a short order of service for the coming week.
Attached is “Emmanuel Corona Prayers week 6” – prayers for the week ahead.
Do you have a birthday coming up (and previously told us about it)? If yes, please keep a look out for an email from Emmanuel Church from Kisseo Ecards. And for those not on the internet, last week we started sending birthday cards via our pastoral helpers to those members not on email.
There will be a Zoom prayer meeting on Thursday 7th May at 7.30pm. If you are interested in joining in the prayer together, let Cameron know, either by e-mailing him on thestirks@tiscali.co.uk , leaving a message via the FB Emmanuel family page, or leaving a message on his answer phone.
A big THANK YOU to everyone who has been working hard behind the scenes keeping Emmanuel church and our services going. A special thank you to the Leadership Team – and especially Claire and Alison for sorting out the weekly Sunday services and correspondence; and to Joan for helping to keep those not on email connected.
As an end to this week’s newsletter
Many thanks and God bless
The Leadership Team
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