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18th April 2021

(Note: the Newsletter can also be downloaded as a PDF.)

The Parish of Christ Church, Lancaster

A vibrant inclusive worshipping community

Sunday 18th April 2021

Third Sunday of Easter

We are pleased to welcome the Rev’d Gary Bowness and the Rev’d Keith Brockbank to preside and preach at today’s 8:30 and 10:30 Eucharist respectively.

Collect

Almighty Father,

who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples with the sight of the risen Lord:

give us such knowledge of his presence with us,

that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life

and serve you continually in righteousness and truth;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen. 

Acts 3.12-19

When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, ‘You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

‘And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God

Psalm 4

Refrain:    In peace I will lie down and sleep

1    Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness;  you set me at liberty when I was in trouble; have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

2    How long will you nobles dishonour my glory;  

how long will you love vain things and seek after falsehood?

3    But know that the Lord has shown me his marvellous kindness;  when I call upon the Lord, he will hear me.

4    Stand in awe, and sin not;  commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. 

In peace I will lie down and sleep.

5    Offer the sacrifices of righteousness  

and put your trust in the Lord.

6    There are many that say, ‘Who will show us any good?’  

Lord, lift up the light of your countenance upon us.

7    You have put gladness in my heart,  

more than when their corn and wine and oil increase.

8    In peace I will lie down and sleep,  

for it is you Lord, only, who make me dwell in safety.

In peace I will lie down and sleep.

1 John 3.1-7

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God

Alleluia, alleluia. Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. 
Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.’ Alleluia. 


Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to Luke (24.36b-48).    Glory to you, O Lord.

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the thirdday, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ

Post Communion: 

Living God, your Son made himself known to his disciples

in the breaking of bread:

open the eyes of our faith,

that we may see him in all his redeeming work;

who is alive and reigns, now and for ever. Amen

Prayers                         

Please remember in your prayers:

Those who are sick:  Olive Niccolls, Youngblood McCray, Ernie Wilson, Pat Brooks, Ivy Buckley, Stephen Gardner, Ann Gilbride, Thea Harris-Ellis, Thomas Platt, Sophia Holden, Janet Ball, Stephen Taylor, Franke Joy Heise, Dorothy Eidsforth, Jenny Lawrence.

RIP:  Andrew Crompton, Wilf Barron, Judith Almond, HRH The Prince Philip.

Parish Cycle of Prayer:  

Those who live and work in Ridge Street, Albion Street, and Hind Street;  all refugees and asylum seekers, and all who work to offer support and care.

Georgia Nicholson, being baptised today, 18th April. 

Some suggested hymns you may like to follow at home:

Prayer and Worship this week: 

Sunday 18th 8.30am Holy Communion (Lady Chapel)

Sunday 10.30am Parish Eucharist, (in church, then uploaded to YouTube*)

Sunday 12:30pm Baptism Service

Sunday 4pm Staying Alert to the Spirit Course (via Zoom)

Sunday 6pm: Evening Prayer (in the Lady Chapel)

Wednesday 5:30 pm Meditation & 6 pm Evening Prayer (in the Storey Chapel)

Friday 9:30 am Eucharist (in the Lady Chapel)

Sunday 25th  8.30am Holy Communion (Lady Chapel)

Sunday 10.30am Parish Eucharist, (in church, then uploaded to YouTube*)

Sunday 11:45am APCM (in church and on Zoom)

4pm Staying Alert to the Spirit Course (via Zoom)

Sunday 6pm: Eucharist for St Mark (in the Lady Chapel)

*The Christ Church YouTube channel is at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPoAvGj4K9085RV8zo0ZS9Q

If you would like to book in for the Sunday Eucharists, please use these Eventbrite links:

Sundays: 8:30 am https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/144628127623

Sundays: 10:30 am

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/112092136598

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Zoom Prayer

Tuesday 20th April is the next meeting of Prayer4 – 30 minutes of prayer, at 4pm every fortnight. There’ll be a short Bible reading, some music, some stillness, and space to pray for the people and places on your heart – all from the comfort of your own sofa. Zoom details: https://zoom.us/j/8069459310?pwd=TlV6QUQ5UVdiK0p1M0Q0cE0vRXIvUT09

Meeting ID: 806 945 9310 Password: ChristChch

Dial in: 0208 080 6591  Meeting ID: 806 945 9310 Password: 310771 (any queries see Rev Carol)

Stay Alert to the Spirit Study Course

‘Staying Alert to the Spirit’ continues this afternoon (18th).  What is God saying to the churches as we emerge from lockdown?  In the light of Jesus’ death and resurrection – how should we live? What does this good news mean for us?  It will run for seven weeks as we journey towards Pentecost. All are welcome!

https://zoom.us/j/98903615188?pwd=a01QRFR1LzczM1JHSnZTdWt1WkJ0dz09   Meeting ID: 989 0361 5188

Passcode: 218739

Meeting up

Now that lockdown rules are slowly lifting, I’m able to meet more people in the parish again, and get to know folks. If you’d like to go for a walk, or arrange a garden visit – it would be lovely to meet and chat, please let me know when’s convenient! Rev’d Carol.

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Giggle (or Groan) of the week – suggestions welcome!

Q. How long did Cain hate his brother?

A. As long as he was Abel.  

Children’s Corner

Give everyone a paper plate and ask the children to draw on it what they would eat if they were having a meal with Jesus. Around the outside of their plates, ask them to write down what they would talk about when they were with him. 

Have you ever mistaken a person for someone else? What happened? 

What do you think some of the characteristics of Jesus are? 

Prayer

Lord Jesus, open our eyes to see you in the world around us, to notice you in our day to day lives, to recognise you in others. Amen 

Annual Parochial Church Meeting 

The APCM is on 25th April 2021 at 11:45 in Church.

Everyone who lives in the parish is invited as we elect our Churchwardens for the year ahead, and all who are on the Electoral Roll are invited to elect our Parish Church Council and Deanery Synod representatives. This meeting is for the whole church to review the year past, and to prepare for the year ahead. Please do hold those standing for election in your prayers, and consider who you would like to nominate for the roles of Churchwarden, Deanery Synod Rep, and PCC members. The meeting will also be held on zoom for those wishing to join from home. Annual Reports will be available shortly. 

Postal Voting for the APCM

If you wish to vote in this year’s APCM for the election of Churchwardens, PCC members and Deanery Representatives (for many of which you’ll need to be on the Electoral Roll), but won’t be able to attend the meeting for any reason – it is now possible to have a postal vote. (This was approved at last year’s meeting). Please let Rev Carol know if you’re interested in voting by post. 

Annual Review

Not all of us are called to formal, official roles in church – there are many ways in which we give of our time and talents in service of the community, and grow and flourish ourselves. We want to help each other to be active in our church and Christian lives – in ways which value the different gifts and skills each of us is blessed with. Some of this is about how our church community practically works and grows, and it is healthy to review this regularly as this will change over the years. The most important thing is being part of the congregation and family, as we pray, worship, serve, and care for each other and the parish.  There is now a green box at the back of church to collect the green ‘Gifts and Talents’ review forms ahead of 25th April – whether you’re a baker, sewer, reader, welcomer, pray-er, we’d love to hear from you! If you’d prefer to fill it in online, you can do so at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/THZ5GWH

PCC

Our Church Council next meets on 21st April.  If you have any items for the agenda, or other issues or questions you’d like to raise, please contact Julie Buckley, our PCC Secretary buckleys@live.co.uk

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PLEAS OF THE WEEK   

Help needed

Audrey Davies is retiring from her role as Sacristan – and we are grateful for all the hard work and care she has given over the years in ensuring our worship goes smoothly. If you can help in the preparation for worship and tidying after services, whether on a weekly or on a more occasional basis, please let Rev Carol know. If you’d like to know more about what’s involved, please ask Audrey.

Vaccinaid – Give the world a shot!

Our church leaders are encouraging us to play our part in helping UNICEF deliver 2 billion vaccines around the world by the end of this year, to bring this world-wide epidemic to an end.  Keeping one another safe from COVID is part of living out Christ’s call to love our neighbour.  By contributing to crowdfunding this project on  https://www.vaccinaid.org  we can help the whole world get the protection many of us already have through our easy access to healthcare.

House/flat/room to rent?

Please let Jacqueline or Pat know if you can offer, or know of anyone who has a house or flat to rent that would be suitable for one or two reliable young men.  Marius (our excellent Hall cleaner) and another refugee have each been given notice to leave their present accommodation, and RAIS (Refugee Advocacy and Information Service) is trying to help find them somewhere to live (either together or separately) as a matter of urgency. 

The Olive Branch Foodbank

Donations of tinned pies, curry, meatballs and hotpot especially needed. Thank you for all the donations in recent weeks  –  they gave out 300 parcels last month alone!   Or you can give money for them to buy what is needed: https://www.the-olivebranch.org.uk/donate/

Food Futures

An interesting website for Lancaster residents, especially gardeners and allotment holders, is www.foodfutures.org.ukwhich is a local award-winning sustainable food network. It carries a directory of local food, news and research, but above all an invitation to join in a conversation on shaping our food supply in 2030. This is important as coping with climate change will probably mean reducing our dependence on food coming from afar with all the transport pollution, costs, etc. Well worth a look!

The Christ Church Cookbook: contributions invited

The Eco Church Group has been promoting reducing our carbon footprint by eating less meat.  They are not all vegetarian or vegan, but reducing meat consumption, especially meat from intensive farming, has benefits for both the climate and for animal welfare.  To encourage people to try meatless recipes, a cookbook of our favourite vegetarian and vegan dishes that could tempt even carnivores is being produced, for which contributions of your favourite, tried and tested, veggie and vegan recipes are invited. Sales of the cookbook will raise money for Christ Church funds.  We need to balance starters, mains and puddings, and also vegan/non-vegan recipes, and are limited in the size of the booklet but all contributions are welcome, even if they can’t all be included. Please include metric measurements for ingredients, and send your recipes to reader@christchurchlancaster.org.uk.

Welcomers and Tiddlers’ Group

Jane Lippitt would love to hear from you if you would be willing to join the team of sides-people (welcomers) or to help with the Tiddlers’ Group (pre-school children and their carers) which will be starting up again on Friday mornings as soon as we can resume children’s activities.

HRH The Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh RIP

Many thanks to those who gave their time to open the church on Saturdays 10th and 17th April to enable people to sign the book of condolence, light a candle, and spend time in prayer and reflection.

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Prayers & our Newsletter

If you, or someone you know would like to receive this newsletter, either electronically or a paper version – do let Jacqueline/Rev Carol know and we will endeavour to keep in contact with people. 

We will be praying daily for all who are suffering in the current crisis. If you would like us to pray for you, or for someone you know, for any reason, please email your request to prayer@christchurchlancaster.org.uk or text the Prayer Chain on 07980 351855. Please ask the person’s permission if you’d like them included in the weekly notices.

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Thought for the week

Jesus sees the evil in this world as a lack of trust in God’s love. …. If we walk in the light, then we are enabled to acknowledge that everything good, beautiful, and true comes from God and is offered to us in love.                              Henri Nouwen

Eco-Group Action for the Week:  

Eggs are associated with Easter but how happy are the hens that lay the eggs you buy? Look for free range in the shops, sourced locally if possible. 

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Key contacts:

Vicar: Revd Carol Backhouse 942105 revcarolbackhouse@gmail.com

1 East Road, Lancaster, LA1 3EE

Lay Reader:  Dr Pat Allen 39552.

Churchwarden: Dr Paul Thompson 34949

Churchwarden: Mrs Jacqueline Stamper 64083 churchwarden@christchurchlancaster.org.uk

Parish Safeguarding Officer:  Ms Jane Lippitt 07930 979503 safeguarding@christchurchlancaster.org.uk

Nightshelter Co-ordinator: Ms Jan Norbury 07547 717 060   coordinator.nightshelter@gmail.com

Hall Bookings: hallchristchurch@btinternet.com 07890 351855

Christ Church School  Ms Emma Simpson 60955

The national prayer for this outbreak:

Keep us, good Lord, under the shadow of your mercy.  Sustain and support the anxious, be with those who care for the sick, and lift up all who are brought low; that we may find comfort knowing that nothing can separate us from your love in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen.

A prayer on the death of HRH The Prince Philip 

God of our lives,  

we give thanks for the life of Prince Philip,  

for the love he shared among us,  

and for his devotion to duty.  

We entrust him now to your love and mercy,  

through our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.