Saint Paul's Church, Landkey

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Letter from Revd Shaun - 8th May

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Welcome to what is now our sixth weekly letter under lockdown. Today, Friday, we are celebrating VE Day, the time when we give thanks for the bravery of our servicemen and women who gave up so much - even their lives - so that we could enjoy the happiness of a future in a free Europe.

It’s hard to imagine what those brave men and women faced day by day in combat and in keeping things going on the home front. It puts what we are doing right now to protect our fellow citizens into perspective: we are frustrated and tired of sitting in our homes, not being able to do what we want but they lost lives, homes and loved ones. I believe that we should keep our chins high and put up with what our government has asked us to do so that we and our children may have a healthier future. It’s our national duty to do our bit.

I know many of us are worried about our church buildings and when we finally do get back to slowly use them, we expect that there will be new procedures that we will have to implement to assure safety. It is likely that there will be just small gatherings at first, but we will endure and move ever slowly forward, protecting ourselves and our neighbours and offering an environment in which people can feel safe coming back to our churches.

Many of you are continuing to give to your churches and for that we are greatly thankful. Our church finances are taking a big hit and we still have to pay the normal everyday expenses. If you would like to contribute your normal giving and have thought about it, please do so as we need to have a healthy church to return to. You can contact your Treasurer to arrange this and I know they would be overjoyed at your contributions to keep us all open.

Please don’t forget that you can access daily prayer every day at 10am live on our dedicated Facebook page Mission Prayer Programme or watch it later in the day, we have between 25 and 40 people sharing that medium every day and we also have a full communion service on a Sunday at 10am as well. All are welcome, all are wanted, and all are loved by God.

The link to Mission Prayer is https://www.facebook.com/mission.prayerprogramme

Thank you as well to all our wardens and members who have been going into church to make sure the church is secure every week. It’s been wonderful to see the commitment that you have all had to our wonderful church buildings - it’s inspiring.

God willing, we will soon be able to join again in worship under one roof together and that is something we all look forward to with anticipation.

May God bless each and every one of you and keep you safe.

With blessings

Fr Shaun

Letter from Revd Shaun - 30th April

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

It is so good to write to you all again, the weather has changed, and we are getting a little well-needed rain. I know we don’t want it but it’s good for the earth!

In our live services we have had a mixture of Celtic morning prayer and reflections from the fire and the bread resources book and we have been so well supported. This week, we are adding prayer slots that you can watch covering prayers for the community, children and those who are ill or isolated. They are very simple prayers that can be watched or shared.

The link to Mission Prayer is https://www.facebook.com/mission.prayerprogramme

I hope that each and every one of you are keeping safe and are all well. As well as having our morning service I am holding an afternoon prayer session in my prayer space that is in my office and I bring all of you to our God. It is so very important that we don’t lose our perspective on prayer as it connects us in a spiritual way with each other and our Lord Jesus Christ. We are a family, a family under God’s watchful eyes - we are his creation and God’s love is boundless. We may not be in our buildings, but we are still church - the body of Christ in the world and God is always within us and around us. His Holy spirit is gifted to us if we accept it, and I urge you to open your hearts and minds to that belief. We stand in his light, he is our rock to which we are anchored, he will always be ready to save, to embrace and fill us with good things - even in death we are gifted salvation through our Lord. I can never comprehend how great God truly is, how we are accepted. It fills me with wonder and gives me strength.

May I remind you all to please get in touch with me if you need prayers said for anyone you know or for yourselves. You do not have to have them read out in our services - they can be said in the stillness of the afternoon prayer time.

The prayer slots on the Mission Prayer Programme will be available tomorrow (1st May). Kerry and I completed a set of prayers for all occasions today and they will be uploaded during Friday.

We have been asking people to send in hymn requests and photos of flowers and gardens which we can use on our projector. We always have a hymn before the service, so please join in. We have had some wonderful hymns played - some we know, some we don’t - and it’s been a great experience.

We have a few of our members in hospital at the moment so, may I ask that, in your personal prayers, please remember all the other churches and your fellow worshippers that they might make a great recovery.

So, thank you all for being church, a living breathing example of Christ in the world. Thank you for the love and support you share with your communities and families and thank you for being you.

With every blessing for the future,
Fr Shaun

Letter from Revd Shaun - 24th April

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Here we are in another week of lockdown and I hope that you are all coping and are all fit and well.

Please remember you can have prayers said for any of your family and friends, either by our Facebook account (see link above) where we share morning and Sunday services together every day at 10am live, or "inbox" me, email or phone and they will be included in my afternoon prayers in private or read out in the service.

We have asked today that people send us photos of your garden flowers to include in our background slides while the service takes place as it will enable people to have something personal in the service.

If you know anyone who would like to be added to my phone-around pastoral care calls, please let me know and let me have the names and numbers. Getting hold of people is so important at this time, and I just don’t have everyone’s number.

Some breaking news from the Diocese: Mark our Archdeacon is leaving us for a new post, so the hunt is on for someone to replace him. Please keep Mark and his family in your prayers - he has been a wonderful Archdeacon and will be missed by all who were guided by him and were under his care.

It’s so hard to see our churches closed and I miss the sense of community, the friendships we share, the laughter and the camaraderie. However, this will be over soon, with I hope lessons learned. It has been wonderful to see communities coming together and nature bursting forth. It’s been a time also for the planet to heal: I look at "before" and "now" photos of major cities around the world with the "before" grey and visibility so poor with pollution and "now" blue skies, clear views, indeed, showing us the beauty of our cities towns and villages.

It’s important to remember those around the world who are living with this virus without access to medical treatment or, indeed, food and water to meet their daily needs. We need to pray for them but, indeed, put prayer into action when we come out of this, perhaps make friendships and partnerships with people around the world.

I am missing you all, I am missing my family back in Manchester and I know that many of you are in the same situation as myself. Families seem to be scattered around the country nowadays and I pray that each and everyone of you are finding joy in contacting them and supporting them as we support each other.

So please keep in touch, share your phone numbers with me, and join me in our daily prayers and reflections.

May God bless and heal us in mind body and soul.

Fr Shaun

Letter from Revd Shaun - 9th April

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Welcome to our second letter update. Here we are still locked down, our familiar lives disrupted - indeed, gone for the moment. It is so important that we all follow the government's guidelines and stay at home, isolate, stay safe and protect the lives of everyone around us. Maundy Thursday has always been a reminder that we are all charged with serving our communities and here is one way of doing this. It is pertinent during this crisis that we follow that message of serving others, so I hope you are all safe and well.

Once again, a quick reminder that we are live streaming a service every morning at 10am on Facebook (see link below). This Sunday there will be a full Eucharist to celebrate Easter Sunday at 10am. The numbers who join us are amazing: 180 at one, over a hundred at the other, and around 40 to 50 views daily. Remember you can watch it at any time, not just at the live streaming. You can "inbox", email, text or phone if you have prayer requests. We pray for all those who ask, and we pray for our communities all the time.

The link to Mission Prayer is https://www.facebook.com/mission.prayerprogramme

Easter morning, that great day when our Lord rises from the dead is a pinnacle in our faith. His resurrection is a resurrection for each and every one of us, the gates of heaven crumble before Jesus, our ransom paid, our sins forgiven and paid for in his blood. How great is our God, how beautiful the sacrifice of Jesus. How can you not just love and give thanks for this day? We are given the opportunity to walk with him to share in his resurrected life. Yes, Easter is so important to us, and we must share that spirit with all we know to bring joy out of death, to bring hope in despair and to bring salvation to the world through the word of God in Jesus Christ.

Some of us are already suffering through ill health and may be fearful of the world outside. Some of us are of an age that brings with it doubt in how we cope. Some of us feel indestructible. All of us feel different but all are given the life ever after and all we have to do is love each other, serve each other, love God and share his word.

I hope each and every one of you are keeping safe and please don’t forget if you want prayers said contact me. If you know someone who needs a telephone call let me know the details. We are all working together even in isolation as a church and as a community.

May God's blessing flow over you and may Easter inspire your very souls.

Fr Shaun

Letter from Revd Shaun - 17th April

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I pray that you are all doing well.

Moreover, as our communities come together to fight this virus, it looks like we may be in for the long haul, but together we can overcome. Remembering that we are community together and part of another, that we are a community of faith in the wider world is essential.

I know that each of our mission community churches is still struggling with being in lockdown but we must remember that this is by direct order from the Archbishops - it’s not a local decision.

Many, like me, are finding it difficult and are worried about the impact on our buildings, but that’s what they are - buildings. The heart and soul of our church is you, your love of Christ and your faith in God. It is that which will bring us back together, stronger and more determined to move ever forward.

I know I am struggling with not being able to offer ministry to those who are in hospital and to those who have died. People whom I know have died and, not being able to get to funerals to share my last respects, has hurt both me and my family - we are in strange times. I also know that this will more than likely affect many of us and my prayers and thoughts are with all of you who have family or friends who are suffering with this illness at this time.

I am preparing video prayer links that people can download and watch. They will contain prayers and thoughts for families, for children, grandparents and those who have lost someone. I will put the links into my next letter.

Our Mission Prayer online services are being very well attended during the week on Facebook and so is our Sunday service at 10am. Please join us as it’s good to pray together, even if we are apart.

The link to Mission Prayer is https://www.facebook.com/mission.prayerprogramme

Don’t forget to always follow the government guidance and stay safe.

God bless and keep you all in his love and protection.

Fr Shaun

Letter from Revd Shaun - 2nd April

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Welcome to our regular weekly message from the Four Ways Mission Community, which includes St Paul’s Church.

Here we are approaching Easter and church doors are closed. Never in my lifetime have I seen anything like this. However, it’s being done for all the right reasons as we need to be part of the government scheme to protect the public, to be part of the isolation which we are all facing together.

People have asked me why church is shut to everyone. The response is, as always, the church is not shut: the building is. Because the church building is not the church the people are, the building does not hold God confined, for God is everywhere and with every person, God resides in each of us always there to comfort us, to be part of our lives to build us up and give us strength.

As a priest we are trying to find new ways of sharing the church with others ever moving onward changing, developing to meet the changing world in which we live.

At the moment we are live-streaming services on Facebook on our new Facebook channel. It’s called Mission Prayer Programme and you can join us every morning at 10am for a Celtic morning prayer or reflection and every Sunday at 10am for a full Sunday communion. Church is being done in a different way to meet people’s needs. Our services are going well: 105 joined for our last Sunday service and an average of 30 view every day. You can inbox if you wish prayers to be said for anyone in your community, or loved ones anywhere in the country you can bob in and out or watch it later but it’s church and you are part of it.

The link to Mission Prayer is https://www.facebook.com/mission.prayerprogramme

Together we will face challenges in our church life and our own personnel life, but together we can share the burdens we can be there for each other.

I am trying to put together teams of callers to get in touch with those in our communities who may be on their own and isolated and if you would like to be part of that please contact us through our website and leave us your phone number and email address and we can set up a virtual meeting or just a phone call to make arrangements to work out how it can work best in our parishes.

Always remember that we are family and should act like one, caring for each other. I am praying that when this is all over, we can hold a celebration at church that involves the whole community and our doors will be flung open, our building will be open and our church return to that place of tranquillity.

May God bless
You all

Fr Shaun