Alan

Grove Booklets

Grove Booklets

Grove Books are a series of short "evangelica and Anglican" books on a wide range of topics and which can be a very good introduction to a subject. Over the years I have bought a good number of these and would like to make them available for borrowing to anyone who wants to borrow one or more.

Details of which books are available at https://matvchurch.uk/res/GroveBooks/Grove_Books_for_Borrowing.pdf. If you wish to borrow any for a couple of weeks or so, please contact me, Alan Cossey, at alan.cossey@matvchurch.uk or on 01362 857904. I can bring the booklet(s) along to ASM services or do feel free to pick it/them up from me directly at 4, Mill Road, Mattishall, Dereham, NR20 3RN.

The Grove Books website itself is at Grove Books - books to stimulate and equip the Christian community.

 

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Alan

Anyone recognise themself from this Betjeman documentary in 1974?

Anyone recognise themself from this Betjeman documentary in 1974?

Mattishall appears in this BBC documentary from 1974. The small section about ASM can be seen at 5 mins 19 seconds into the documentary at https://youtu.be/EkqY-MBPTR8?t=319.

Were you one of the "little people" or even a mum then?

 

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Alan

A thank you from Open Doors

A thank you from Open Doors

Dear Friends at All Saints - Mattishall,

Thank you so much for your kind gift of £704.00 to strengthen our persecuted church family around the world who are risking it all to follow Jesus. Thanks to your prayers and support, our brothers and sisters know they are not alone and can stand strong in their faith.

Among those helped is Pastor Jonathan and his church in Indonesia. On 13 May 2018, a bomb was detonated during a service, killing eight people and wounding five. Seven years earlier, the pastor attended a seminar run by Open Doors local partners to prepare believers for persecution – and he believes this helped him stand strong following the attack.

“It seemed like the seminar was prepping me for the explosion that occurred seven years later, so thank you Open Doors,” says the pastor, who adds: “I want to express my gratitude to my brothers and sisters who have prayed for my church and congregation. I can't repay your kindness. May God bless and reward you abundantly.”

May the Lord fill you with His Spirit and surround you with His love.

Your sister in Christ,

Henrietta Blyth

CEO, Open Doors UK and Ireland

 

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Alan

Licensing of Tori Venmore Roland at All Saints, Mattishall

Licensing of Tori Venmore Roland at All Saints, Mattishall

Tori is being licensed as Assistant Curate to our benefice at All Saints, Mattishall on Tuesday 9th May in a service starting at 18:00. The Bishop of Lynn, Jane Steen, and the Archdeacon of Lynn, Catherine Dobson, will be with us. Do please come along to support Tori and her family as they start their life with us in our benefice.

There will be refreshments afterwards, so do stay for a while afterwards if you can.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

 

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Alan

Information about All Saints, Welborne

Information about All Saints, Welborne

Two documents about All Saints, Welborne, have been uploaded to this website that may interest you. One is a leaflet from 2015 giving details about the church building at that time (before the Fawlty Towers project, which provided a servery and loo) and a booklet, which gives details of the inscriptions in both the church building itself and on the memorials in the churchyard.

Please click on the links above to see the items.

 

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Alan

Earthquake in Turkey and Syria

Earthquake in Turkey and Syria

We will have all seen the harrowing accounts coming from southern Turkey and north-west Syria and wish to contribute financially to helping people there. There are several appeals starting to appear, including www.dec.org.uk, the organisation that coordinates responses among 15 British charities, including several Christian ones. One of ASM's mission partners is Open Doors, an organisation that helps persecuted Christians, and they have their own appeal HERE. Open Doors will be aiming to specifically help Christians there, a group that will struggle even more than other people, difficult though that is to imagine, because many Christians in Syria are desperately poor already and miss out in relief work generally.

 

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Alan

Fleeing North Korea

Fleeing North Korea

One of ASM's prayer partners is Open Doors, an organisation that supports persecuted Christians around the world. North Korea is generally recognised as the most difficult place in the world to be a Christian. Below are some details of support given to some of those fleeing that country to China and some of the major problems that still face them there.

www.opendoorsuk.org/news/latest-news/north-korea-refugee-interview

 

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Jackie

Open Doors World Watch List - persecution of Christians around the world

Open Doors World Watch List - persecution of Christians around the world

Open Doors, one of ASM's mission partners, has just published its World Watch List for 2023 at www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/world-watch-list. If you click on any of the country names you will get to see something of the cost of being a Christian in that country. May this inspire us to help our brothers and sisters through Open Doors itself or in whatever other way we can.

 

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Alan

Who Let The Dads Out? on the diocesan Advent calendar

Who Let The Dads Out? on the diocesan Advent calendar

The diocesan calendar has an article on Who Let The Dads Out?, the group for dads, other male carers and their kiddies up to and including school year 2 that a group of us run once a month at All Saints' Mattishall. If interested, do have a look at 10 December — Advent Calendar (squarespace.com). We did mention that a couple of ladies are part of the team, but that seems to have been missed out, perhaps due to lack of space or a wish to emphasise the concern of the men at ASM to help other men in their vitally important role of being fathers, spending time with their kids and getting to know other dads in a similar situation.

Please do pray for us and the dads who meet each month.

 

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Alan

Diocesan Digital Advent Calendar 2022

Diocesan Digital Advent Calendar 2022

Diocesan Digital Advent Calendar 2022

Transformed by Christ: Prayerful, Pastoral, Prophetic

This coming Advent Sunday (27th November), we move into the second year of our Diocesan Vision and so the second of our three ‘P’ words – Pastoral – becomes our focus.

To tie in with this, 2022’s diocesan digital (but downloadable) Advent Calendar explores pastoral care, each ‘window’ celebrating a different way of reaching out in loving concern. Contributors have been drawn from all over the diocese and showcase a wide range of ways of responding to many sorts of need… Running a school uniform bank, hosting refugees, visiting the lonely, and offering warm spaces to those who can’t afford to heat their homes are just a few of the 28 different examples of pastoral care which come under the spotlight... 

It's easy to subscribe at http://dofn.org/advent and then, every morning of Advent, each new calendar entry will ping into your email inbox. We hope this year’s calendar will provide a rich and inspiring way of setting out together on our journey into deepening the pastoral life of this diocese. Please encourage everyone in your faith community (and perhaps those on its fringes too?) to subscribe.

 

Susanna Gunner

Diocesan Adviser in Spirituality and Discipleship

 

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Alan

"Dangerous Faith" course by Open Doors

"Dangerous Faith" course by Open Doors

At Welborne's 9.00 and ASM's 10.30 services on Sunday 6th November, I'll be mentioning a course created by Open Doors, an organisation that helps persecuted Christian believers around the world. Open Doors was founded by Brother Andrew, whose own story is fascinating, exciting and challenging. The "Dangerous Faith" courseAlan will speak of and a 6 minute introduction video of which will be shown at ASM can be seen at www.opendoorsuk.org/resources/dangerous-faith. It is the one titled "Introduction to Dangerous Faith".

 

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St. Mary's Church, North Tuddenham, standing proud again

St. Mary's Church, North Tuddenham, standing proud again

Greetings to you all!

Just thought you might like to drive or walk up to the church and see St Marys Church standing proud again, with the churchyard free from all signs of ongoing building work.

It’s almost surreal after all this time!

Yes, except for the west window which is being restored and will be re-installed in February 2023, the repair work is finally complete!!!!!.

It’s a proud day for the village.

I remember that repair work officially started on March 16th 2021, although access restrictions were imposed as far back as February 2019!

There is a Communion Service tomorrow (Sunday 9th October) and a Harvest Service on the 23rd October,

Next month is Remembrance and then we are into Christmas.

Hope to see sometime in St Mary’s to celebrate!

Best wishes

Mike (Smith)

 

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Mark

Services of commemoration for Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Services of commemoration for Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

As we celebrate the life and mourn the loss of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and pray for King Charles, our services on Sunday will be reflecting those themes.

The service times will stay as expected, but Hockering and East Tuddenham, which were not expecting services this week will have them. For each service we have invited members of the parish council for that village to attend, and of course will welcome any from our communities who wish to join us in commemoration.

The service times are:

East Tuddenham

10:30

Hockering

09:00

Mattishall, All Saints

10:00

North Tuddenham

10:30

Welborne

09:00

Yaxham

10:30

Please note that the service time for Mattishall remains at 10:00 this week.

The churches will be open daily for prayers, people to come in and reflect and for people to sign the condolence sheets. Please do encourage people from our village to come in and use the churches for this purpose, as the Queen’s death has touched many people, often in ways that they were not expecting.

 

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Mark

Announcing the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II

Announcing the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II

It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Parish churches will be open for prayer and books of condolence will be opened tomorrow Friday 9th September. Other arrangements will be announced in due course.

Please pray for the King, the Queen Consort, the members of the Royal Family and our nation.

 

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Mark

West End has faith

West End has faith
St Nicholas' Church in Dereham will be hosting a fantastic concert, 'West End Has Faith, on Friday 12th August at 7pm. Stars from the West End will preform songs from hit musicals whilst talking about their careers and journeys of faith.

Tickets £12.50. 18 years and under £5.00.

Tickets available from Church House Dereham (9.30 am - 12 noon), Green Pastures, 20 Norwich Street, Dereham and The West End Comes To Dereham Tickets, Fri 12 Aug 2022 at 19:00 | Eventbrite
 

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Alan

More on Richard Wurmbrand

More on Richard Wurmbrand

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned in my sermons at ASM Richard Wurmbrand, the Romanian pastor who suffered so dreadfully for being a follower of Jesus during the Communist era in his country. J. John actually has him as the subject of his most recent blog on "Heroes of the Faith" at https://canonjjohn.com/2022/07/09/heroes-of-the-faith-richard-wurmbrand/

 

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Mark

Village Green Service, location moved

The Village Green service will now be at All Saints, Mattishall. Still starting at 10:30am.

 

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Jackie

Easter 2022 booklet online

Easter 2022 booklet online

The Easter booklet for 2022 is now available online HERE.

 

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Alan

North Tuddenham Festival May 6th-8th

North Tuddenham Festival May 6th-8th

More details will be forthcoming soon, but North Tuddenham are having a festival the weekend of 6th to 8th May to celebrate the completion of the major (as in, major) work done on the tower of St. Mary's church there. A special edition of their magazine, "The Mardle" is available HERE.

Please do have a read and see what will be happening.

 

 

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Sue

Easter Family Fun Afternoon

Easter Family Fun Afternoon
Hi everyone,
 
Easter is upon us!
 
This coming Saturday is the Easter Fun Afternoon. Starting and finishing at All Saints Church, Mattishall at 1.30 pm until 4.00 pm.
The Village Trail (about 45mins – 1 hour) will be followed by refreshments back at church, with an interactive story and action songs. There will be a prize for the winner of the trail. However, unfortunately due to several team members testing positive for Covid we have had to cancel the craft activities.
We are sure you can still have a fun time and experience something of Easter in a safe and enjoyable environment. Looking forward to welcoming you.
 
Sue Cossey
 

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North Tuddenham Services

North Tuddenham Services

We are continuing to have problems with the repair of the church tower of St. Mary's at North Tuddenham, with the expected date of completion still uncertain. For the time being, there will be no services in the church building itself apart from during the festival weekend on 8th May.

We are hoping to have some services in the village hall and will let you know when these will be when we know ourselves.

 

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Alan

An update on the extensive work being done on St. Mary's Tower, North Tuddenham

An update on the extensive work being done on St. Mary's Tower, North Tuddenham

Update on St Mary’s Church - January 2022

Firstly, I would like to thank the 60+ people who came to the special Carol Service in December despite the ongoing repairs to the tower and the impact of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 on society. Secondly, I applaud the enthusiastic cleaning team who transformed a sad-looking nave into a welcoming place again.  Feedback from attendees, including some who had never been in the before, was very positive. “Great to be back in St Mary’s!”, I heard.

As you may remember work began on the tower in March 2021 and at once the precarious state of the structure meant that the contractors had to revise their work processes to avoid an imminent collapse. “One of the worst examples of dangerous towers I’ve ever seen in decades of restoration work!”, are the words of the contractor that I will not forget.

Over the next few months, the scaffolding groundwork was prepared, and the contractors began replacing the mortar of the buttresses and strengthening them. The treasured west window with medieval stained glass was carefully removed and awaits conservation funding.

Over the months despite inclement weather in May, lack of scaffolding and the ongoing pandemic, scaffolders reached the top of the tower and work was then possible on different levels. As the repair work went higher up the walls it was evident that the tower structure was still moving. Additional ties were fixed across the tower, and it is now stabilised.

Work on the external walls, buttresses, windows and parapets is nearly complete, and the internal staircase to the belfry is now usable again. A final check by the architect, structural engineer, contractor and the main sponsor, Historic England, is planned for early February, and if all is approved, then removal of scaffolding will begin.

Then the final pieces of the project will start - piling the foundations, securing the buttresses to the piling rods, and improving site drainage.

I am hoping that the whole project will be complete by Easter 2022, but restoration work can always throw up the unexpected.

St. Mary’s will soon sit proudly in North Tuddenham again!

Mike Smith - Fabric Officer

 

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Alan

Christmas Special on "The Chosen"

Christmas Special on "The Chosen"

The recently filmed Christmas Special episode of "The Chosen" is now watchable online at https://watch.angelstudios.com/thechosen/watch?vid=S1:E0 Some of us have been watching series 1 and 2 (there should be a total of 7 series in all once finished) and a special episode featuring the birth of Jesus is now available.

 

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Alan

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - video by the Roothams

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - video by the Roothams

The Rootham family have created a wonderful video of the carol "O come, O come, Emmanuel". Sit back and enjoy... and worship with them.

Click here

 

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Jackie

Christmas 2021 magazine

Christmas 2021 magazine

 The Christmas magazine is now available for viewing and/or downloading from the Resources section of this website or directly from HERE. Printed copies are now available for distribution around the benefice. Please do help out in their distribution if you possibly can.

Please note that though the index says that page 28 is about an East Tuddenham festival, it is actually about a North Tuddenham festival (as can be seen by turning to page 28 itself).

 

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Alan

Submitting items to be displayed on this website

Submitting items to be displayed on this website

I have added a resource which gives details of what is needed when requesting something to be added to this website. Details can be found HERE.

 

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Drop In is restarting

Drop In is restarting

Drop In restarted Thursday 23rd September in ASM, with about 27 people present.

Do join us if you can. We will be meeting in ASM itself rather than the church rooms as we think the church building is more welcoming. We will continue in ASM for at least the time being each Thursday morning, starting at 10.00 (rather than the previous time of 9.30 a.m.) and continue till 12 noon. Do come along and let us know what you think.

If you have any questions, please do contact Liz Hunton or the church office.

 

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Alan

Audio and video recordings of final(?) Zoom service from 11th July 2021

Audio and video recordings of final(?) Zoom service from 11th July 2021

Audio and video recordings room the final Zoom benefice service from 11th July 2021 are now available from HERE and HERE respectively.

 

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Alan

Audio and video recordings of Zoom service from 4th July 2021

Audio and video recordings of Zoom service from 4th July 2021

The audio and video recordings from this service, based on 2 Corinthians 12:2-10, are now available from HERE and HERE respectively.

 

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Mark

Worship patterns into the summer 2021

Worship patterns into the summer 2021

Dear friends,

I hope this email finds you well. In it you will find plans for our worship into the summer. The worship pattern described is a step further forward into worship fully in church buildings.

We had, of course, hoped that by this time, we would be a full week into life after restrictions on our worship. As you will know, that is not the case, and that we are expecting restrictions to be lifted on Monday 19th July. The staff team have reviewed the plans in the light of the expectation that restrictions are staying until the 19th July and then be lifted fully. If this changes, we will of course keep things under review.                                          

For Sunday 4th July and Sunday 11th July, we will be continuing with Zoom services at 10:00 alongside services in parishes.

On the 11th there is a united service for both ASM congregations at 10:00am.

On Sunday 18th July we will be having our annual Benefice Service on Mattishall Village Green service at 10:30am, because we can hold the service despite restrictions.

From Sunday 25th July we will no longer have Zoom services in order to free up staff team members for services in parishes.

So we plan that the worship for the next three months looks like this:

 

9:00am

10:30am

 

Hockering

Mattishall

Welborne

East Tudd

Mattishall

Yaxham

Sun 4 Jul

HC

 

Word

HC

Word

 

Sun 11 Jul

 

United @ 10

Word

 

United @ 10

HC

Sun 18 Jul

Benefice Service on Mattishall Village Green at 10:30

Sun 25 Jul

Word

HC

HC

Word

HC

 

Sun 1 Aug

Word

Word

 

 

Word

Word

Sun 8 Aug

HC

 

Word

HC

Word

 

Sun 15 Aug

 

HC

Word

 

Word

HC

Sun 22 Aug

Word

Word

HC

Word

HC

 

Sun 29 Aug

Word

Word

 

 

Word

Word

Sun 5 Sep

HC

 

Word

HC

Word

 

Sun 12 Sep

 

HC

Word

 

Word

HC

Sun 19 Sep

Word

Word

HC

Word

HC

 

Sun 26 Sep

Word

Word

 

 

Word

Word

There may have to be changes if restrictions are not lifted, staff team members become unavailable or we are able to have worship at North Tuddenham once again, but we hope that having these details now will help us all have as much certainty as we can do about worship for the new few months.

With every blessing,

Mark

 

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Alan

Audio and video recordings of Zoom benefice service from 27th June

Audio and video recordings of Zoom benefice service from 27th June

The audio and video recordings of the Zoom service of 27th June 2021 are now available from HERE and HERE respectively.

 

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Alan

Audio and video recordings of Zoom benefice service of 20th June 2021

Audio and video recordings of Zoom benefice service of 20th June 2021

The audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service on 20th June 2021 are now available HERE and HERE respectively.

 

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Alan

Audio and video recordings of Zoom benefice service on 13th June 2021.

Audio and video recordings of Zoom benefice service on 13th June 2021.

The audio and video recordings of the service are no available HERE and HERE respectively.

 

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Alan

Audio and video recordings of Zoom benefice service on 6th June 2021

Audio and video recordings of Zoom benefice service on 6th June 2021

The audio and video recordings of the service are now available from HERE and HERE respectively. Alan was speaking on the need for Christians to be distinctive.

 

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Alan

Audio and video recordings of Zoom benefice service on Trinity Sunday 2021

Audio and video recordings of Zoom benefice service on Trinity Sunday 2021

The audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service on Trinity Sunday 2021 are available HERE and HERE. Mark both led and preached at this service.

 

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Alan

North Tuddenham's Mardle magazine for June 2021 is now available

North Tuddenham's Mardle magazine for June 2021 is now available

The Mardle magazine created by North Tuddenhams is now available for download HERE.

 

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Alan

Audio and video recordings of Zoom benefice service at Pentecost 2021

Audio and video recordings of Zoom benefice service at Pentecost 2021

The audio and video files for the Zoom service on 23rd May 2021, i.e. Pentecost are now available HERE and HERE respectively. Today we did not have a sermon, but Jackie interviewed Alan. 

 

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Alan

Audi and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service from 16th May 2021

Audi and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service from 16th May 2021

The audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service, with Mel preaching, are now available from HERE and HERE respectively.

 

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Alan

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service from 9th May 2021

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service from 9th May 2021

The audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service on 9th May 2021 are now available HERE and HERE respectively. The service included the Parker Sermon by Matthew Bullimore from Corpus Christi College in Cambridge. More details about that from Mark at the start of the recordings.

 

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Alan

Services 16th May 2021

Services 16th May 2021

Services this Sunday are:

9:00 All Saints' Church, Welborne

10.00 Zoom benefice service (https://tinyurl.com/matv-sundays / Meeting ID 834 0140 0096 / 858873

10.30 All Saints' Church, Mattishall

 

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Alan

Video recording of Zoom service on 2nd May 2021 - Mel leading

Video recording of Zoom service on 2nd May 2021 - Mel leading

So far we only have a video recording available this week, which can be found HERE. We'll update this page if we can also get an audio version. It is also available on the benefice Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/matvchurch.

 

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Mark

Audio and video recording of Zoom service on 25th April 2021

Audio and video recording of Zoom service on 25th April 2021

The audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service are now available from HERE and HERE respectively.

 

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Mark

Audio and video recording of Zoom service 18th April 2021

Audio and video recording of Zoom service 18th April 2021

The audio and video recording of the benefice service on Sunday 18th April are now available HERE and HERE respectively. Mark's talk was based on Luke 24:36b-48.

 

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Mark

Service of Remembrance for HRH Prince Philip

Service of Remembrance for HRH Prince Philip

A simple service of Remembrance for HRH The Duke of Edinburgh is being held at All Saints, Mattishall on Friday 16th April at 6pm, the time many such services are happening across the country. This service is open to all, but we hope will be of relevance to anyone who has felt the Duke’s loss personally or who has been influenced by his life of service and charity work. 

The service will include a few personal tributes to Prince Philip. If you have any that you would to be considered for inclusion, please pass them onto to Mark. 

 

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Alan

All Saints Church, Mattishall open each weekday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for reflection

All Saints Church, Mattishall open each weekday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for reflection

Following the death of Prince Philip. All Saints Church, Mattishall will be open between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. for anyone who wishes to come in and spend time in personal prayer or otherwise spend some quiet time. Please do feel free to take advantage of this opportunity.

 

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Alan

Audio & video recordings of the Zoom service on 11th April 2021

Audio & video recordings of the Zoom service on 11th April 2021

The audio and video are now available from HERE and HERE respectively. The service was led by Mel, who also gave the talk based on John 20:19-end and Acts 4:32-35. The service included a reflection on the life of Prince Philip.

 

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Mark

Mourning the Loss of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh

Mourning the Loss of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh

It is with sadness that we announce the death of Prince Phillip, and offer our condolences and prayers to Her Majesty The Queen and all the Royal Family.

A special prayer for the Prince.

God of our lives,
we give thanks for the life of Prince Philip,
for his love of our country,
and for his devotion to duty.
We entrust him now to your love and mercy,
through our Redeemer Jesus Christ. Amen.

If you wish to offer your condolences you can do so here: Remembering his Royal Highness Prince Philip.

Local arrangements will announced as soon as they have been made.

 

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Alan

King of Kings sung by the Rootham family

King of Kings sung by the Rootham family

The Roothams have created another video of a worship song. This time it is "King of Kings" and can be seen HERE. Do take a look. Enjoy it and worship with them!

 

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Alan

Benefice service on Zoom on Easter morning

Benefice service on Zoom on Easter morning

The audio and video recordings for the benefice service on Easter morning are HERE and HERE respectively. This service was one of 6 services in the benefice that morning, with the other services taking place in the various churches of the benefice.

 

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Alan

Services 11th April to 16th May 2021

Services 11th April to 16th May 2021

Dear all,
With the next stage of lockdown easing due on 17th May, we have only planned services up until 16th May. From the Sunday after Easter, we will be having services in 2 churches each Sunday (one at 9.00 and one at 10.30) as well as continuing with the Zoom service at 10.00. Current plans are as follows:

Date

9.00 service in church

10.30 service in church

10.00 service on Zoom?

11th April

Mattishall

Yaxham

Yes

18th April

Hockering

East Tuddenham

Yes

25th April

Welborne

Mattishall

Yes

2nd May

Mattishall

Yaxham

Yes

9th May

Hockering

East Tuddenham

Yes

16th May

Welborne

Mattishall

Yes.

Please note that we intend to have the annual Parker Sermon service in All Saints, Mattishall at 18.00 on Sunday 9th May. More details on that later.

 

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Mark

Notice of Annual Meetings

Notice of Annual Meetings

Over the next couple of months we have our annual meetings around the benefice. Each parish has its own meeting, when churchwardens are elected together with other lay people who serve as part of the leadership of their parish and the wider church. There are two annual meetings, often run together, one which just elects the churchwardens, called the Annual Parochial Meeting (APM) and the other that looks at the financial health of the church, and conducts the other elections, called the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM).

Covid-19 restrictions means that we will be doing things differently this year. For the parishes of East Tuddenham, Mattishall, North Tuddenham and Yaxham, we will be running them online using Zoom. For Hockering and Welborne we are splitting the two parts onto two dates - the APM after a church service and the APCM in May.

The official notices are uploaded onto the resources section of this website here, but here is the summary of what they say:

East Tuddenham: APM & APCM on Tue 20 Apr 21 at 19:30 at tinyurl.com/MATV-APCM. There are elections for 2 churchwardens and 6 PCC members.

Hockering: APM on Sun 18 Apr 21 at 09:00 at St. Michael's, Hockering & APCM on Wed 19 May 21 at 19:30 at St. Michael's, Hockering. There are elections for 2 churchwardens, 5 PCC members, and 1 Deanery Synod representatives.

Mattishall: APM & APCM on Wed 21 Apr 21 at 19:30 at tinyurl.com/MATV-APCM. There are elections for 2 churchwardens, 6 PCC members, and 3 Deanery Synod representatives.

North Tuddenham: APM & APCM on Thu 22 Apr 21 at 19:30 at tinyurl.com/MATV-APCM. There are elections for 2 churchwardens, 4 PCC members, and 1 Deanery Synod representatives.

Welborne: APM on Sun 25 Apr 21 at 09:00 at All Saints, Welborne  & APCM on Mon 17 May 21 at 19:30 at All Saints, Welborne. There are elections for 2 churchwardens, 6 PCC members, and 1 Deanery Synod representatives.

Yaxham: APM & APCM on Mon 19 Apr 21 at 19:30 at tinyurl.com/MATV-APCM. There are elections for 2 churchwardens, 5 PCC members, and 1 Deanery Synod representatives.

Churchwardens are elected every year, but because we missed out elections last year at all the parishes except East Tuddenham, we have elections for Deanery Synod Reps and two years worth of PCC members as well. If you would like to consider election for any of these important roles, or would like to suggest to someone else you know that they consider it, please find nomination forms also in the resources section of the website here.

 

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Alan

Audio & video recordings of Palm Sunday benefice service on Zoom

Audio & video recordings of Palm Sunday benefice service on Zoom

The audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service on Palm Sunday 2021 are now availalbe. The audio is HERE and the video is HERE. Alan was speaking about Jesus coming as king and making sure he is our king.

 

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Jackie

Easter booklet 2021

Easter booklet 2021

Everyone in the benefie should have received their Easter booklet by now, but a downloadable copy is available from HERE too.

 

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Alan

North Tuddenham Mardle for April 2021

North Tuddenham Mardle for April 2021

North Tuddenham's Mardle magazine is now available for download HERE.

 

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Alan

Services Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday

Services Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday

Services over the period Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday will be as follows:

Palm Sunday:
10:00 Online service (Zoom). We will be looking, with a bit of help from Donald Trump and Bob Dylan, at Jerusalem as king.

Maundy Thursday:
19:30 Online service “Jesus washed his disciples' feet…” (Zoom)

Good Friday:
11:00 Online Walk of Witness (Zoom)
14:00 Hour before the Cross at Yaxham

Easter Day:
09:00 Communion services at Hockering & Welborne
10:00 Online service (Zoom)
10:30 Communion services at ASM, East Tuddenham and Yaxham

All online services will use the usual connection details of:

https://tinyurl.com/matv-sundays

Meeting ID: 834 0140 0096
Password: 858873

 

 

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Alan

Audio & video recordings of benefice service focussing on mission partners

Audio & video recordings of benefice service focussing on mission partners

This morning (21st March 2021) Mark led us through the last verses of Romans 15 where the apostle Paul is writing to the church in Rome. There, amongst other things, he asks them to pray for him in hse work. Mark then went on to speak of our privilege in being partnered with people overseas who are spreading the good news of Jesus Christ and focussed on Paula and Derek Finlayson.

The audio can be heard from HERE and the video recording HERE.

 

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Alan

Thought for Easter (front page of Easter booklet)

Thought for Easter (front page of Easter booklet)

The last year and a bit have been hard for many, many people. Even for some of us oldies (I’m pushing 63 myself), it has been a time unlike any other we can remember. The huge change since early 2020 has been a shock to the system. Early on things were changing rapidly, but as the months wore on, so many of us became tired, so very tired. Now, there is hope that the darkest days are generally behind us, though thousands upon thousands of families have lost loved ones and many who have had Covid-19 are still struggling with ongoing symptoms. For some, such difficulties are still to come.

So where has God been in all this? For Christians, this sort of question is difficult to answer. I don’t think any Christian can honestly say they have the complete answer.

However, we do know someone who does and it is someone who has suffered immense pain and suffering himself. The bible teaches that Jesus was “in very nature God”, yet was born as a human being into this world where there was so much pain and suffering. He knew and knows what it is to suffer.

There was a state-sponsored attempt on his life as a baby, he was a refugee as a baby, he was brought up in an ordinary family in an occupied country and when he began his public ministry around the age of 30 he had “nowhere to lay his head”. He was betrayed by a close friend, arrested, beaten, scourged and then nailed to a cross to die a horrific death. On top of that was something that we struggle to understand, his abandonment by his Father. On the cross Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?!” Those words are the opening line of Psalm 22, one of the psalms that he, as a Jewish man, would have known by heart. It was this psalm, which Jesus prayed on that cross.

Yet, the day Jesus died, the day we call “Good Friday”, was followed by Easter Sunday. Jesus had died on the cross to pay for our sins (the actions and attitudes that separate us from God), to make a way back to God for us. His Father demonstrated his acceptance of what Jesus did by raising him from the dead early that Easter Sunday. There was an end to the darkness.

Those who love and follow Jesus Christ, who know his forgiveness, have a hope that God has given us. If you read the whole of Psalm 22, you will see that despite the horror of the first verses the psalmist (King David) is able to trust God through that horror and have hope. It isn’t a wishful thinking, but a hope based on the God that David knew. For Christians, things are clearer than they were for the David, who lived hundreds of years before Jesus did. For Christians we can see that Jesus conquered death and promised the same for those who turn to him.

Maybe we will get back to some sort of normality this year, but there will always be things that life will throw at us, things we can’t handle. Yet there is a God who loves you, who wants to be with you through those bad things (and in the good things too). In the relatively comfortable West, we so often ignore him, yet elsewhere in the world many people are driven by their circumstances to look at what is really important in their life. They have come to the conclusion that what matters above all else is knowing the God who loves them. Covid-19 has turned our lives upside down. May it lead to us knowing that what matters above all else is the same for us too, knowing the God who loves us, both now and for all eternity. Want to know more? Grab yourself a bible and read about what Jesus said and what Jesus did in the New Testament. Maybe you heard about some of it when you were young and in Sunday School and have distant memories of it. If you look again now and dig deep, you’ll meet the Jesus who has been through it all himself and wants you back.

 

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Alan

Audio & video recording of benefice service for Mothering Sunday

Audio & video recording of benefice service for Mothering Sunday

The audio and video recordings of the benefice service for Mothering Sunday are available HERE and HERE respectively.

 

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Alan

Audio & video recordings from service for World Day of Prayer

Audio & video recordings from service for World Day of Prayer

The audio & video recordings of the benefice service for the World Day of Prayer are now available. Anna English led the service along with several other ladies. The audio can be heard HERE and the video seen HERE.

 

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Alan

Audi & video recording of benefice service on Mark 8:31-9:1. Alan speaking.

Audi & video recording of benefice service on Mark 8:31-9:1. Alan speaking.

The audio and video recordings of the benefice service are now available from HERE (audio) and HERE. Our them was Jesus' command to "Take up your cross". Alan Cossey was the speaker.

 

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Alan

Audio & video recording of benefice service on Genesis 9, Mel speaking

Audio & video recording of benefice service on Genesis 9, Mel speaking

The audio and video recordings of the benefice service on Genesis 9 is now available. The audio file can be found HERE and the video file HERE.

 

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Alan

Audio and video recording of benefice Ash Wednesday service

Audio and video recording of benefice Ash Wednesday service

The audio and video files of tonight's Ash Wednesday service can be found HERE and HERE. Andrea led in in a series of reflections.

 

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Alan

Audio & video recording of benefice service on Mark 9:2-9, the Transfiguration.

Audio & video recording of benefice service on Mark 9:2-9, the Transfiguration.

The audio and video recordings of the service on 14th February 2021 are now available. The audio recording is HERE and the video recording is HERE.

 

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Alan

Audi & video recording of benefice service on Colossians 1:15-20

Audi & video recording of benefice service on Colossians 1:15-20

The audio and video recordings of today's benefice service are now available. The audio recording is available from the Resources section of this website or directly from HERE and the video is available HERE.

 

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Jackie

Audi & video recording of benefice service on Mark 1:21-28

Audi & video recording of benefice service on Mark 1:21-28

The recording of the service from 31st January 2021 is now available as audio HERE and as video HERE.

 

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Alan

Audio & video recording of benefice service on Mark 1:14-20

Audio & video recording of benefice service on Mark 1:14-20

The audio and video recordings of the benefice service of 24th January 2021 is now available. The audio can be heard HERE and the video seen HERE. As ever, there may be a slight delay on the afternoon of the recording while YouTube processes the video, but it should be available to watch from about 14:30 on 24/1/2020 onwards.

 

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Alan

Audi & video recording of benefice service on Genesis Ch. 1 - creation and God's

Audi & video recording of benefice service on Genesis Ch. 1 - creation and God's

The audio and video recordings for this service, where we looked at creation and it demonstrating God's love for us, are now available. The video is HERE and the audio is HERE.

 

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Jackie

Audio& video recording of benefice service for the 2nd Sunday of Christmas

Audio& video recording of benefice service for the 2nd Sunday of Christmas

The audio and video recordings of our service are now available HERE and HERE respectively. Jackie's talk was based on John 1:1-18 and included telling us about how she became a Christian.

 

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Alan

Audio & video recording of benefice service for the 1st Sunday of Christmas

Audio & video recording of benefice service for the 1st Sunday of Christmas

The AUDIO and VIDEO recording of the benefice service on Sunday 27th December are now available. We looked at the example of Joseph in Matthew 2:13-23 and how he leads us to Jesus. Please note that the 1 minute 15 seconds video clip shown during the service has not been allowed on YouTube because of copyright reasons.

 

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Mark

Christmas Services

Christmas Services

Dear friends, 

I hope this email finds you well and with some of the hope of Advent filling your life after such a difficult year.

As Advent makes the transition into Christmas this weekend, we are having plenty of opportunities to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We look forward to welcoming to you to our worship, both online and also in our parish churches. We have tried to choose the best approach to fit the service. Therefore, Carol Services and Christingle are on Zoom because we aren’t allowed to sing carols together in church buildings and we can’t fit in the numbers we usually have, and there are Communion Services in every open parish church as we cannot receive bread and wine ‘virtually’.

The details are all below, but can I encourage you to please spread the news as widely as possible. Not everyone who would like to join in is on our email list, or reads their emails. And people in our communities who would normally come to a service may not realise what is happening, especially for those services on Zoom. Please give people a call, or pass on the details in other ways so that everyone who wishes to join in for Christmas has the opportunity. Thank you in advance.

Carol Services and Christingle (on Zoom and Facebook Live)

Sunday 20th December:

  • 14:00; Carol Service for the village of North Tuddenham (Meeting ID: 834 0140 0096, Passcode: 858873)
  • 18:00; Contemporary style Carol Service, similar to that held at ASM in previous years (Meeting ID: 820 9614 6521, Passcode 20122020)

Thursday 24th December, Christmas Eve:

  • 16:00; Christingle Service – (Meeting ID: 890 7383 6690, Passcode 24122020)
  • 18:00; Traditional style Carol Service, based on nine lessons and carols (Meeting ID: 879 2263 3430, Passcode 24122020)

Friday 25th December, Christmas Day:

  • 10:00; Joyful Christmas Day service with carols (Meeting ID: 834 0140 0096, Passcode: 858873)

Sunday 27th December, Christmas 1/John

  • 10:00; Morning Worship (Meeting ID: 834 0140 0096, Passcode: 858873)

 

Christmas Communion Services (in our parish churches)

These are happening in our parish churches (except for St. Mary’s, North Tuddenham which is unfortunately closed at the moment). They are ‘proper’ communion services, and we will be receiving both the bread and wine, but the social distancing rules apply, we must wear masks and there is still no congregational singing.

For the services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we heavily recommend that you book up in advance, because the capacity of all our churches is heavily reduced owing to the social distancing regulations. If you don’t book up, come on the day, and the church is ‘full’ then we will not be able to let you in the service!

Thursday 24th December, Christmas Eve:

  • 10:30 East Tuddenham; book through Janet Guy on 01603 880523
  • 20:00 Yaxham; book through Sally Thurgill on 01362 692745
  • 21:30 Welborne; book through Susan Cross on 01362 858612
  • 23:30 Hockering; book through Andrea Woods on 01603 928279

Friday 25th December, Christmas Day:

  • 10:30 Mattishall, All Saints; book through Alan Cossey on alan.cossey@matvchurch.uk or 01362 857904 (email preferred, please).

Sunday 27th December, Christmas 1/John

  • 10.30 Yaxham; no need to book in advance

We look forward to seeing you all at some point(s) this Christmas season.

Wishing you a joyful and safe time.

 

Mark McCaghrey

Rector: Mattishall and Tudd Valley Benefice
Benefice Office, Church Rooms, Dereham Road, Mattishall,
Dereham, Norfolk, NR20 3QA.
Phone: 01362 882260
Office: 01362 858873
www.matvchurch.uk
Skype: mark_16515

 

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Alan

North Tuddenham Mardle is now available.

North Tuddenham Mardle is now available.

North Tuddenham's Mardle magazine for January 2021 is now available either from the Resources section or directly from HERE.

 

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Alan

Audio & video recording of benefice service for the 3rd Sunday in Advent

Audio & video recording of benefice service for the 3rd Sunday in Advent

The video and audio recordings are now available. The video is available from HERE and the audio from HERE or the resources section of this benefice web site.

 

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Alan

Audio & video recording of the benefice service for the 2nd Sunday in Advent

Audio & video recording of the benefice service for the 2nd Sunday in Advent

The audio and video are now available. As usual the audio can be heard and/or downloaded from the resources section of this benefice website or directly from HERE and the video can be see HERE

 

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Alan

Audio & video recording of Advent benefice service 29th November 2020 on Mark

Audio & video recording of Advent benefice service 29th November 2020 on Mark

The audio and video recordings of the benefice Zoom service on 29th November, which is the first Sunday in Advent, are now available. The audio recording can be found in the resources section of the benefice website or directly HERE. The video can be seen HERE.

 

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Mark

Audio & video recording of benefice service 22nd November 2020 on Mt. 25.31-46.

Audio & video recording of benefice service 22nd November 2020 on Mt. 25.31-46.

The audio and video recording of the benefice service on 22nd November 2020 are now available. The audio recording can be found in the resources section or directly from HERE. The video is available from HERE. Mark was speaking on Matthew 25:31-46.

 

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Alan

Recording of prayer time at International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Churc

Recording of prayer time at International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Churc

The 1 hour time of information, prayer and worship spoken about in the service today (15th November 2020) has been recorded and can be seen at HERE.

 

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Alan

Service on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church

Service on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church

The audio and video files of this service are now available. The video is available HERE and the audio file can be found on the resources section of the website or, directly, HERE.

 

 

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Alan

The Persecuted Church

The Persecuted Church

UPDATED: The theme of this Sunday's service on Zoom at 10.00 is "The Persecuted Church". We will be sharing something of what it is like for many of our brothers and sisters in other countries, including praying for them. If you can, please would you bring a small holding cross, if you have one, or a cross of some other description to focus on during the prayer time. As ever, please do bring a bible.

Also, this year the Evangelical Alliance will be hosting for an evening with CSW, Release International and Open Doors of prayer and worship, featuring the latest news and prayer requests from China, India and Nigeria. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to unite together in prayer for our persecuted family. You can find out more details at https://www.opendoorsuk.org/resources/prayer/idop/. Note that if you want to join the event, you will need to get (free) tickets then set up an account with EventBrite (the people organising access to the event). If you need any help, please contact Alan Cossey (alan.cossey@matvchurch.uk or 01362 857904 in good time.

 

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Jackie

UK day of prayer – 13 November 2020

UK day of prayer – 13 November 2020

The Evangelical Alliance has called a UK day of prayer on 13 November. To quote their website, "We are working with networks, denominations and churches to bring people together to pray. As communities across the UK face further restrictions and lockdowns, as many churches are forced to stop their in-person gatherings, as suffering and loss affect so many families, we hear the call again to unite and seek God together in this time of trouble"

For more information, please go to their website at https://www.eauk.org/what-we-do/prayer-centre/uk-day-of-prayer-november-13th-2020

 

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Alan

Audio & video recordings of the Remembrance Sunday service 8th November 2020

Audio & video recordings of the Remembrance Sunday service 8th November 2020

The recordings of the Remembrance Sunday service are now available. The audio recording can be heard from the Resources section of this web site or directly from HERE and the video recording is available from our YouTube channel HERE.

 

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Alan

Benefice Remembrance Service on Zoom

Benefice Remembrance Service on Zoom

With the new lockdown now in place in England, there are restrictions on how worship can take place. Basically, we cannot hold our normal services inside our church buildings and most are reluctant to hold entire services outside due to the complexity of ensuring (= policing) social distancing, particularly if there are large numbers of people involved. For example, Mattishall normally has about a couple of hundred people involved in the first part of the service on the village green, finishing off the service inside All Saints. Mattishall Parish Council had cancelled the outside part of the service because of the problems involved in social distancing and how that would detract from the atmosphere of a respectful act of remembrance.

Before the new lockdown was announced last weekend the benefice staff team had organised local services, but on Monday afternoon started organizing a suitable Zoom service. Just after we finished the organisation, the Prime Minister announced that outside services could be held under certain stringent, documented conditions. With the problems with outside services under lockdown mentioned above we decided to proceed with the Zoom service this Remembrance Sunday as planned (apart from a short service totally outside at Yaxham, which had been the original plan there anyway).

This Sunday's Zoom Remembrance Service will include the reading of the names from all our benefice parishes who fell and thus the timing of the service is a bit more complicated than usual. We are still working out at what time we will start the service, but will let you know soon.

So, please do join us for our Remembrance Service on Zoom on Sunday and invite those you know who would normally come to Remembrance Services in our church buildings. The Zoom connection details are the usual details for each Sunday, but I have put them below anyway.

When the time of the start of the service is known we will put it on this website and email those on our distribution lists. If you are not on our distribution lists and only receive weekly email updates from this website, please check this website.

For those who join us on Sunday, please do join the Zoom meeting in plenty of time so we can try to avoid having to let people in during the actual service itself. The Zoom meeting will be open to join at least 15 minutes before the start of the service itself.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83401400096?pwd=REJTTmlPUHlveHhSbmhBQURucHJnZz09

Meeting ID: 834 0140 0096

Password: 858873

 

One tap mobile

+442034815237,,83401400096#,,1#,858873# United Kingdom

 

Dial by your location

        +44 203 481 5237 United Kingdom

Meeting ID: 834 0140 0096

Password: 858873

 

Hope to see you on Sunday.

 

Alan Cossey

 

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Alan

Audio & video recordings of the Zoom benefice service Sunday 1st November 2020.

Audio & video recordings of the Zoom benefice service Sunday 1st November 2020.

The audio and video files of the benefice Zoom service on 1st November 2020 are now available. The audio file can be downloaded from the Resources section or listened to directly here. The video version can be watched from here.

In her talk Mel was speaking on part of Revelation chapter 7. 

 

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Alan

Services in church buildings to not be allowed for a month as from Thursday 5th

Services in church buildings to not be allowed for a month as from Thursday 5th

Under the proposals announced by the Prime Minister on 31st October, church services are to be severely restricted for some weeks. The proposals will be voted on in Parliament before implementation, but if they are passed unamended it will mean we cannot have Remembrance Services in our churches as planned on Sunday 8th November.

There is a benefice staff meeting on Monday 2nd November and shortly after that we hope to have more information on what we intend to do on 8th November. 

Details of the government's intended lockdown rules for churches can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november#weddings-civil-partnerships-religious-services-and-funerals

 

 

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Alan

November 2020 Mardle is available

November 2020 Mardle is available

North Tuddenham's Mardle magazine is now available either from the Resources section or directly from here.

 

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Alan

Audio recording of talk given by Alan Cossey at ASM on Bible Sunday

Audio recording of talk given by Alan Cossey at ASM on Bible Sunday

Audio recording of the talk at All Saints, Mattishall, on Bible Sunday based on Nehemiah 8.1-12. The talk can be heard here.and is very similar to the talk given earlier the same day at the service at Hockering.

 

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Mark

Audio & video recordings of the Zoom benefice service Sunday 25th October

Audio & video recordings of the Zoom benefice service Sunday 25th October

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service on Sunday 25th October 2020 with Mark speaking on Matthew 22:34-46. The audio recording can be heard here and the video recording is here.

 

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Alan

Audio & video recordings of the Zoom benefice service Sunday 18th October 2020

Audio & video recordings of the Zoom benefice service Sunday 18th October 2020

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service on Sunday 18th October 2020 with Mel speaking on Matthew 22:15-22. The audio recording can be heard here and the video recording is here. Mel was speaking on the passage in Matthew's gospel where Jesus is questioned by the Pharisees and Herodians (usually enemies of each other) about paying a tax to Caesar. They had been hoping to catch him out, but Jesus turns the tables on them.

 

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Alan

Audio &video recordings of the Zoom benefice service Sunday 11th October 2020

Audio &video recordings of the Zoom benefice service Sunday 11th October 2020

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service on Sunday 11th October 2020 with Mark speaking on Matthew 22:1-14. The audio recording can be heard here and the video recording is here.

 

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2020 Bright Party

2020 Bright Party

Bright Party 2020

 

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Alan

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service on Sunday 4th October 20

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service on Sunday 4th October 20

The audio and video recordings are now available. The audio file can be found in the Resources section of the website here and the video from here. This week there is the bonus of the audio recording of the talk by Alan Cossey at All Saints', Mattishall at their 10.30 service (basically the same one given at the 9.00 service at Hockering the same day). This talk can also be found the on the Resources section or here.

 

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Alan

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service on Sunday 27th September

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service on Sunday 27th September

The audio and video recordings are now available. The audio file can be found in the Resources section of the website here and the video from here.

 

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Alan

Samaritan's Purse - shoe box appeal

Samaritan's Purse - shoe box appeal

If you wish to contribute by filling a shoe box, donating items towards a shoe box or helping towards the £5 suggested delivery fee per box, then please let me know via the Church Office (contact@matvchurch.uk or telephone 01362 858873 during office hours). Spare boxes are available with the 2020 leaflets. Many thanks and blessings - Mandy x

 

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Alan

Shoeboxes through Blythswood

Shoeboxes through Blythswood

Janet Guy, churchwarden at East Tuddenham, has asked that people be informed that she "will be collecting shoe boxes for Blythswood again this year. it is probably the only parcel the children will receive and at this difficult time it will be more important than ever. If you would like to fill a box please get them to me by the middle of October, if you are not able to fill a box but would like to contribute either money towards transport costs, or just a few items towards filling a box, that would be really helpful."

Boxes can be left her my porch 7 Mattishall Road East Tuddenham or at Alan and Sue Cossey's at 4 Mill Road, Mattishall. Please mark clearly what they are.

For more information please check the Blythswood website at https://blythswood.org/

 

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Alan

Upcoming services in church buildings

Upcoming services in church buildings

We will be continuing with Zoom benefice services for the foreseeable future, but are now starting to have two services in our church buildings as well. Over the coming weeks, services there will be held as below. There will be continue to be restrictions on what we can do in the services. Please let your friends know who are not on Facebook, email or the internet generally.

 

09:00

10:30

27/09/2020

Mattishall

North Tuddenham

04/10/2020

Hockering

Mattishall

11/10/2020

Welborne

East Tuddenham

18/10/2020

North Tuddenham

Yaxham

25/10/2020

Hockering

Mattishall

01/11/2020

Mattishall

East Tuddenham

We will send out details about the postponed ASM informal evening service when we have more details.

 

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Alan

Covid-19 app

Covid-19 app
The NHS Covid-19 app for your phone is now available for download and use. Details can be found at at https://covid19.nhs.uk/.
All Saints' Church, Mattishall, and the benefice office now have posters up enabling you to easily record your presence at those places. Once you have installed the app, just go to "Venue check-in" in the app to scan the code on the poster.
 

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Mark

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service on Sunday 20th September

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service on Sunday 20th September

The video and audio recordings of the online benefice service of 20th September 2020 are now available. The audio recording can be found in the Resources section or directly HERE. The video can be watched on our YouTube channel HERE.

 

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Alan

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service of Sunday 13th September

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service of Sunday 13th September

The video and audio recordings of the online benefice service of 13th September 2020 are now available. The audio recording can be found in the Resources section or directly HERE. The video can be watched on our YouTube channel HERE.

 

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Mark

Reminder about services this weekend around the benefice for Andrea's first comm

Reminder about services this weekend around the benefice for Andrea's first comm

Dear friends,

Just a short reminder of our services tomorrow and Sunday around the benefice for Andrea’s first communion. Please do join us along the route and/or at the services around the benefice. Thank you also for your sponsorship of Andrea. You can still sponsor her here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/andreas-first-communion

Saturday 12th September

  • 9.30 am All Saints  East Tuddenham
  • 12noon All Saints Welborne
  • 4pm St Peters Yaxham

Sunday 13th September

  • 9am St Michaels Hockering
  • 11am St Mary’s North Tuddenham
  • 2pm All Saints Mattishall

With thanks for your support of her.

Mark

 

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Alan

Bible Society series on trusting the bible

Bible Society series on trusting the bible

The first full series (Trusting the Gospels) is now available to listen to online HERE.  The people involved are Andrew Ollerton, who led The Course, which many of us (50+) in the benefice have taken part in, as well as staff from Tyndale House, headed up by Peter J. Williams, who, again, some of us have heard speak in videos.

If you want to learn more about why the gospels are trustworthy, particularly if you want to tell other people, this is a short series well worth checking out.

If you have any questions, do please contact Alan Cossey (see the Who's Who page on this benefice web site for details).

 

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Alan

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service of Sunday 30th August

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service of Sunday 30th August

The audio and video recordings of the service, in which Sally preached on Jonah chapter 3, are now available. The audio recording can be found in the Resources section of this website or directly from here. The video can be viewed at here.

 

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Alan

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service of Sunday 6th September

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service of Sunday 6th September

The audio and video recordings of the service, in which Andrea preached on Revelation, are now available. The audio recording can be found in the Resources section of this website or directly from here. The video can be viewed at here.

 

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Alan

North Tuddenham's Mardle Magazine

North Tuddenham's Mardle Magazine

The September 2020 edition of The Mardle from North Tuddenham is now available from the Resources section of this website or directly from here.

 

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Alan

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service of Sunday 16th August 20

Audio and video recordings of the Zoom benefice service of Sunday 16th August 20

The audio recording of the service has been uploaded to the Resources section of this website and can be accessed directly from here. The video of the service can be accessed from our YouTube channel here.

Mark was preaching on Philippians 4:2-9.

 

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Alan

Benefice service of Sunday 9th August

Benefice service of Sunday 9th August

The audio recording of the service has been uploaded to the Resources section of this website and can be accessed directly from here. The video of the service can be accessed from our YouTube channel here.

 

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Alan

North Tuddenham Mardle

North Tuddenham Mardle

The August edition of North Tuddenham's Mardle magazine is now available form the Resources section of this website.

 

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Alan

Benefice services on Sunday 2nd August 2020

Benefice services on Sunday 2nd August 2020

Do join us for worship together this Sunday, 2nd August. We are having two benefice services again with Welborne hosting our "physical" service and there again being a Zoom service. Joyce Turner will leading and preaching at the service at Welborne. Alan Cossey will be preaching in the Zoom service, which can be accessed in the usual manner using the link here or starting Zoom and entering a meeting ID of 834 0140 0096 with a password of 858873. Both services start at 10.00.

For the Welborne service there will be some things you will need to do to keep yourself and everyone else involved safe. Part of this is that you are strongly encouraged to wear a face covering (there will be disposable ones available at the service).

For the Zoom service, please ensure you have joined before 10.00.

We look forward to seeing you at one of the services.

 

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Alan

Trusting the Gospels

Trusting the Gospels

There is a new audio series on Trusting the Gospels by Andrew Ollerton (from The Bible Course which over 50 of us have done in the benefice) and Peter J. Williams from Tyndale House in Cambridge, which covers material similar to Peter Williams excellent, 140-page book "Can we trust the Gospels?" which came out earlier this year. Both Andrew Ollerton and Peter Williams know their stuff and, importantly, how to put it across in a way that the ordinary man or woman can understand. If you are interested in knowing why we should trust the Gospels (that should be all of us), then do have a listen to the first episode. You can hear it online at https://trustingthebible.buzzsprout.com/.../4327502... and you can download the actual audio file from https://www.buzzsprout.com/.../4327502-trusting-the...

PS Peter J. Williams doesn't include the "J." in his name, because he is a poser, but to distinguish himself from at least two other UK Christian leaders called, "Peter Williams".

 

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Alan

Benefice service of 26th July 2020

Benefice service of 26th July 2020

The video of the service and audio of Jackie Crisp's talk on Philippians 2:19-30 are now available. The video can be seen at on our YouTube channel here and the audio file can be listened to or downloaded from the Resources section of this website or directly from here.

 

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Alan

Benefice service of 19th July 2020

Benefice service of 19th July 2020

This morning Betty Trinder preached on Philippians 2:12-18 as part of our series on Philippians, with Sally Thurgill leading the service. Thank you, Betty, for joining us just ahead of your retirement.

The audio recording can be heard from the Resources section of this website or directly from here. There will also be a video recording available on your YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0vlLiqkyImh3iiloD4Mm9w/videos

 

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Alan

Benefice service of 12th July 2020

Benefice service of 12th July 2020

Recordings of the benefice service of 12th July 2020 are now available. The audio recording can be listened to or downloaded from the Resources section of this website or directly from here. There is also a video recording which can be seen at our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnDTnsmgMdk Andrea was our preacher speaking on Philippians 2:5-11.

The video is also on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/matvchurch/

 

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Alan

Audio recording of our online benefice service 28th June on Philippians 1:12-26

Audio recording of our online benefice service 28th June on Philippians 1:12-26

The audio recording of today's online benefice service is now available from the Resources section of this website or, more directly, from here. Sally Thurgill gave her talk based on Philippians 1.1-11 as the first main talk in our series on Paul's letter to the Philippians. The video of the entire service is now available at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0vlLiqkyImh3iiloD4Mm9w (minus the music while we sort out copyright problems).

 

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Mark

Audio recording (partial) of our benefice service on 5th July on Philippians 1:2

Audio recording (partial) of our benefice service on 5th July on Philippians 1:2

This week's recording is only partial, because I (Alan Cossey) forgot to turn on the recording until about 30 seconds into Mark's talk. I have added the first two songs manually at the start to partially make up for it. The recording can be found in the Resources section of this website or directly here.

 

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Alan

North Tuddenham's Mardle magazine

North Tuddenham's Mardle magazine

North Tuddenham's monthly Mardle magazine for July 2020 is now available from the Resources section of this website or directly from here.

 

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Alan

Audio recording of our online benefice service 21st June on Philippians 1:1-11

Audio recording of our online benefice service 21st June on Philippians 1:1-11

The audio recording of today's online benefice service is now available from the Resources section of this website or, more directly, from here. Sally Thurgill gave her talk based on Philippians 1.1-11 as the first main talk in our series on Paul's letter to the Philippians.

 

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Mark

Worship Sunday 14th June, series on Philippians and opening church buildings for

Worship Sunday 14th June, series on Philippians and opening church buildings for

Dear friends,

Another Friday – another email regarding our worship on Sunday. I’m looking forward to seeing you all again.

Details are as last week: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83401400096?pwd=REJTTmlPUHlveHhSbmhBQURucHJnZz09

Meeting ID: 834 0140 0096

Password: 858873

Or you can join by phone by calling 0203 481 5237 and then entering the Meeting ID and Password and prompted. You will then be able to listen in, and join in as appropriate. I have attached a copy of the service for Sunday so that if you join via phone you will be able to follow the service sheet.

Please do send this invite on to anyone else you think might be interested in joining us whether by Zoom App or phoning in.

If you find you have problems joining, please try again. Zoon can be temperamental.

Over the next few Sundays, we are going to focus on the book of Philippians – Paul’s letter to the church in the city of Philippi, which he planted. This is one of the smallest books of the bible, and also one of the most loved (maybe for that reason). It is a very pastoral letter, and we see Paul at his most engaging, encouraging, and intimate. After a bit of an introduction on Sunday, we will be looking at the letter step by step, discovering how Paul’s words to this fledgling church family speak to us today.

So often, because of the way the lectionary is ordered, we have a bit of one book here and then the next week another bit of a book there. We would never read other books like that, or watch a film by watching sixty-six at the same time, flicking backwards and forwards from one film to another, only watching a few minutes or even seconds of one at a time before going on to the next. Yet, that is how we usually study the bible on Sundays. But not for the next few weeks – we will be looking at the book chapter and verse, complete and whole, just the way Paul wrote it and the church at Philippi heard it.

Last Sunday we tried something a bit different – we had “post-service coffee”. We know that one of the things people are missing is the opportunity to catch up with friends after the service over a cup of coffee. So this Sunday, we suggested you hung around,  grabbed a cup of tea or coffee had a “comfort break” and the spent some time talking to others just as would on a normal Sunday. It seemed to go really well last week and was appreciated, so we are going to make this a regular part of our Sunday morning worship pattern.

You will no doubt be aware that the government announced this week that church buildings can now be opened for individual prayer. As you will understand, there is much more to this than simply throwing the doors open, as we have to abide by the governments guidance on how to keep everyone safe – guidance which was only published this morning. Therefore, we are still examining the guidance from the government and the Church of England to determine how to proceed and will only act on this new permission when we can be sure that we can do it in a way that keeps everyone safe and after consultation with the Diocese. The threat of Covid-19 has not gone away, transmission rates and deaths may have decreased but the virus is still around and as dangerous as ever.

Also, the government has made it clear that this is for prayer for individuals or members of the same household. We are still not allowed to meet together physically as PCCs, house groups, for acts of worship or any other kind of gathering of more than one household. There is no indication yet when this situation will change, not least because of some evidence that gathering for worship is the kind of activity that contributes to the spread of Covid-19 around communities. It will therefore not affect what we do on a Sunday, which will remain on Zoom for the foreseeable future.

As guidance changes we will of course take into account those changes and work out how to safely implement them and will let you know as soon as anything changes here in the benefice.

See you on Sunday. Take care,

Mark

 

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Alan

North Tuddenham's Mardle magazine for June 2020

North Tuddenham's Mardle magazine for June 2020

North Tuddenham's Mardle magazine for June 2020 is now available from the resources section of this website or from clicking here.

 

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Alan

MATV YouTube channel

MATV YouTube channel

We now have a YouTube channel where we are starting to add some videos. To get to it, please either go to www.youtube.com and search on "Mattishall and Tudd Valley" or go directly to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0vlLiqkyImh3iiloD4Mm9w. If you want to be notified when new videos get added, please subscribe there to our channel.

Please do take a look and let us know what you think.

 

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Alan

Audio recording of our online benefice service on 7th June 2020

Audio recording of our online benefice service on 7th June 2020

The audio recording of our benefice service on 7th June 2020 is now available. Paula Finlayson gave her testimony and Derek Finlayson was the preacher.

 

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Alan

Audio recording of our online benefice service on 31st May 2020 (Pentecost)

Audio recording of our online benefice service on 31st May 2020 (Pentecost)

The audio recording of our benefice service from 31st May 2020, which was Pentecost, is available from here. The preacher was Alan.

 

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Alan

Audio recording of our online benefice service on 24th May 2020

Audio recording of our online benefice service on 24th May 2020

The audio recording from our service on 24th May 2020 at the start of "Thy Kingdom Come" is available for listening to direcly or for download from here. Sally is the preacher.

 

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Sue

Mattishall Village Trail

Mattishall Village Trail

Hi everyone,

During this time of lockdown many of us who are able to have been taking extra walks around our communities.  This prompted me to draw up a village trail for Mattishall.  It is designed for adults alone or adults accompanied by children so nothing too taxing! Just for fun!

If you would like to participate you can download the form from the resources section of the benefice website here or fill it in online, e.g. on a smartphone, here. In addition to these, feel free to pick up a paper copy from my home -  4 Mill Road, Mattishall (Turn right off the main Dereham Rd just past Mattishall News going towards Dereham). Such a copy can be collected at any reasonable time! The closing date for completion is 30th June and small prize awaits the winner.  Hope you enjoy.

God bless

Sue Cossey

 

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Alan

Changes to Zoom connection details

Changes to Zoom connection details

Please note that as we expand our use of Zoom for services and meetings we are having to alter some of our connection details. The new connection details for our services are as below. Connection details for home groups and other meetings will be sent by email to those due to take part in them.

Morning Prayer Mon-Fri and Informal Prayer Sat
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83513925378?pwd=QnZEK0lQTmF3ZEQycTJQb21LV1JQUT09
Meeting ID: 835 1392 5378
Password: 858873

Sunday Morning Services
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83401400096?pwd=REJTTmlPUHlveHhSbmhBQURucHJnZz09 
Meeting ID: 834 0140 0096
Password: 858873

To join a Sunday morning service by phone, please ring one of the following numbers. When prompted,
* enter the meeting ID followed by #,
* when prompted for a participant ID just enter #,
* then finally when prompted enter the password followed by #

0203 481 5237
0203 481 5240
0131 460 1196
0203 051 2874

 

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Jackie

Praying for you

Praying for you

The church building may be closed but the Church, the people, are still there for everyone.

If you have something you would like to give thanks to God for, or to ask Him something, let us know and we would be privileged to pray for you.

If you don’t wish to provide details, that’s fine too.  All requests are confidential if you wish them to be.

To let us know:

Email – contact@matvchurch.uk

Phone – 01362 858873 and leave a message if you wish and the office is closed.

Post – in the post box to the office which is adjacent to the Drs surgery.  The address is Church Office, Church Rooms, Dereham Road, Mattishall. NR20 3QA

 

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Sue

Helping Mid Norfolk Foodbank

Helping Mid Norfolk Foodbank

Mid Norfolk Foodbank

Can you help?

 

Foodbanks are now feeding many families with basic essential foods.

A collection of non-perishable, non-alcoholic items can be donated at 4 Mill Road, Mattishall.  Please leave your bagged items on the doorstep and ring the bell to alert us a package has been left.

All items will be donated to the above foodbank on a weekly basis. All donations will be greatly appreciated and much needed.

         Many thanks.

 

 

 

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Alan

Videos and audio from Sunday 17th May 2020

Videos and audio from Sunday 17th May 2020

Despite the problems at Zoom which stopped some of our people from seeing the service, we have managed to produce an audio file of the entire service. This can be played at or downloaded from the Resources section of this benefice website or directly from here.

We also have two videos available, the interview Mark had with our speaker, Andrew Davison, which we showed at the start of the service and a video of Andrew giving his sermon. These can both be seen here.

 

 

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Alan

Audio recording of our benefice service on Sunday 3rd May 2020

Audio recording of our benefice service on Sunday 3rd May 2020

The audio recording of the benefice service online from Sunday 3rd May 2020 is now available. Please see the resources section of this website. Mel Stevenson was the preacher.

 

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Mark

North Tuddenham's Magazine May 2020 edition

North Tuddenham's Magazine May 2020 edition

The May 2020 edition of North Tuddenham's Mardle magazine is now available here.

 

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Alan

No audio recording from Sunday service 26th April 2020

No audio recording from Sunday service 26th April 2020

Apologies. There is no recording available from the service on 26th April 2020 due to a technical problem with Alan Cossey's PC. The PC has now been fixed so should be OK for 3rd May.

 

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Alan

Change in day of week that weekly email updates go out

Change in day of week that weekly email updates go out

Please note that the day of the week that weekly email updates are sent out from the benefice website will be changed from Fridays to Saturdays from w/c 4th May 2020. This is because we are doing fewer things on Saturdays that people need reminding about and it is more important that they are reminded about the Sunday service near enough to the service date to not then forget!

 

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Alan

New song by the Rootham family

New song by the Rootham family

The Rootham family have been continuing to put their time together to good use. Another wonderful song from them using a song written by Graham Kendrick and based on the start of Psalm 25. https://youtu.be/MKLRKaqgtao

 

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Alan

New Bible Course to be run in the benefice

New Bible Course to be run in the benefice

Do you know your Exile from your Exodus, your Jeremiah from your Job? Ever wondered what was going on during the time of that Old Testament reading that you didn’t really understand in church? Should we trust the bible? Why is this or that reading actually in the bible? Does it all seem to fit together or do the readings you read or hear seem totally unrelated and confusing?

Bible Society has created a course to help us understand and appreciate our bibles better. A couple of years ago, we ran it in a number of people’s homes and around 50 people took part overall. A new version of the course is now available and can be streamed to our homes for us to watch without having to meet together physically. Since so many people are restricted to their homes, it seems an ideal time to run it over the next few weeks.

The course consists of 8 sessions, each with 2 x 20 minute videos to watch together as well as time to discuss things together with one person leading the sessions. To enable us to chat together we will probably also use Zoom (as we have been doing on Sundays, but in a simpler fashion) and we will probably run one session per week.

To find out more details, please either contact Alan Cossey (01362 857904 or alan.cossey@matvchurch.uk) and / or have a look at the course website at https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/explore-the-bible/the-bible-course/ where you can see a couple of short videos describing the course as well as being able to watch the video of the first session in its entirety (36 minutes = 2 x 18 minutes). The only cost is for a manual for each person which goes with the course and which is really very helpful both during the course and afterwards and costs £4.99 each (corrected from £3.99), which we can order it for you.

Hope you can join us.

Alan Cossey

 

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Mark

Using Zoom for Worship

Using Zoom for Worship

Over the last three weeks (22nd, 29th March and 5th April) we have found Zoom to be an effective way of bringing us together in worship despite our physical separation. It is an App which can be used on Android/Apple or Windows devices and is relatively easy to install and use without requiring you to register . There are plenty of ‘How to’s online: This one is on how to Join a Zoom Meeting https://www.youtube.com/embed/hIkCmbvAHQQ?rel=0&autoplay=1&cc_load_policy=1 which will tell you how to join any of the acts of worship we are having this week.

Obviously, there are some things that are easier to do than others, so our worship is different from before, but with the same sense of the Spirit joining us together.

You can either join one of the acts of worship by clicking on the link above, or by installing/opening Zoom on your device, entering the correct Meeting ID (e.g. 224-497-494 for Easter Sunday) and then entering the password (which Zoom requires us to set) of 858873 which is the MATV Office Phone Number without the area code. The password is the same for all the Acts of Worship to make it easier to remember.

And please do offer to help with the worship in this most special of weeks by using the form you will find at https://bit.ly/2xcxDZZ to tell us how you would like to help. It would be helpful if you could use the form rather than via email as it will make the planning easier.

Looking forward to seeing you this week as we join together to remember all that Jesus has done for us.

With every blessing,

Mark

 

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Alan

Rootham family and Hillsong song

Rootham family and Hillsong song

While cooped up together the Rootham family from ASM have created a video of a new song from Hillsong for us. It should bring a smile to your face and, if you take the words on board, encourage you.

As people say, "Enjoy."

https://youtu.be/vp0mAngt8tc

 

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Alan

NIV Audio Bible with narration by David Suchet

NIV Audio Bible with narration by David Suchet

I don’t normally plug stuff, but Hodder are offering the “NIV Audio Bible read by David Suchet” until Monday April 6th only for your Android device or iPhone/iPad (not for any Windows machines, it appears though). If you go to

https://tinyurl.com/sff2eqq

you will find a link for downloading it from Apple’s App Store or Google Play (for Android devices). When you install it, you can download all the audio files. I don’t have an Apple device, but on an Android device there is an icon at the top right which looks like a speaker. Tapping on that gives you the option to “Install all audio”. If you use that option, you will be able to hear David Suchet reading whichever verses you want to hear even when you have no internet connect. Do be aware though that the total size of all those files is 1.54GB so you will need that amount of spare space on your device and, if you don’t have fibre broadband, it will take a while to download.

On the Android version (at least on my phone), starting the reading at whatever point you want is a bit strange. You have to find the starting verse first then double-tap on it and then say whether you want to “Play from here” (with no end set) or “Play verse” to play just that verse. Once underway though, a “pause button” appears in the bottom navigation bar, which allows you to pause (and then restart) the playing.

Happy to try and help if anyone gets stuck.

Alan (contact details on "Who's Who" page)

 

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Mark

Joint worship on Sunday 29th March at 9.45 for 10.00

Joint worship on Sunday 29th March at 9.45 for 10.00

AUDIO RECORDING NOW AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD OR LISTENING TO DIRECTLY FROM THE "FEATURED RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD" SECTION OF THE HOME PAGE. THE SERVICE SHEET AND THE TEXT OF THE READING ARE AVAILABLE FROM THE RESOURCES SECTION OF THE HOME PAGE OF THIS WEB SITE. If reading this on a mobile phone, please tap the picture of Andrea first then tap on the link above. 

Dear all,

I hope this week has not be an anxious time for you amid all the changes to our way of life and that you have been able to feel something of the presence of God, nonetheless.

After last week’s trial of streaming worship using Zoom, we are giving another go! It was great to see so many of you last Sunday, and thank you for all the encouraging comments after the service. It was great that so many of you found it a real blessing to see each other’s faces through the power of technology overcoming our physical separation.

Use this link for our worship this week and every week from now on: https://zoom.us/j/224497494. Or from your Zoom App, click “Join a Meeting” and then enter the Meeting ID of 224 497 494.

If you have not got the technology for Zoom (i.e. no Laptop or Smart Phone) you can still join us. Phone 0330 088 5830, 0131 460 1196 or 0203 481 5237 and enter the Meeting Id via your keypad when prompted. Obviously you won’t see us, but you will be able us this to follow the worship. If you tried the app last week but didn’t hear anything, that’s because you need to use select “Call via Device Audio” via the headphones icon at the bottom left hand side of the app screen when you connect to the service. If you don’t not only won’t we hear you, but you won’t hear us either.

Our worship begins at 10:00am although we will start gathering from 9:45 onwards. This week our worship will be led by Andrea and we will be joined by Ven. Ian Bentley, Archdeacon of Lynn, who will give our talk on the Bible Reading: John 11:1-45. There are some activity sheets to go with this bible reading are available at here for home printing. If you like craft try looking here: https://ministry-to-children.com/lazarus-raised-crafts/ for some fun crafts to make.

On Friday or Saturday I will email out a service booklet for those of you who don’t like following words on a screen.

I would also be grateful if you can forward this email to friends, neighbours and members of your congregation. I am painfully aware that our distribution list does not yet have everyone’s emails on it. So please help by passing this on. The act of worship, like all our ‘normal’ worship is open to all and we don’t want anyone to miss out because we haven’t got their email on our system and of course that means that others in our communities or wider who want to join are very welcome.

Finally, can I ask you for forbearance, not least when things are not perfect or quite ‘as you would like it’. Please remember that an item of the service that you are finding a barrier to worship is almost certainly the one thing that is blessing someone else. If you don’t know the song, just listen to others worshipping or take that as an opportunity to have a biscuit (having switched your mike off of course so we don’t hear you crunching). We are a diverse benefice. Our worship from now on will reflect that.

Looking forward to seeing you again on Sunday.

With every blessing,

Mark

 

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Mark

Update on continuing to worship, caring, praying, pastoral support and being par

Update on continuing to worship, caring, praying, pastoral support and being par

Dear friends,

I hope this email finds you all well and flourishing despite all that has happened this week. It is surreal to think quite how quickly things have changed, but as we believe in a God who is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8) we are finding new ways of expressing the same truths of the gospel and what it means to be the church.

In their letter on Tuesday (how long ago that seems), the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, said “As the challenge of the coronavirus grips the world, and as the Government asks every individual and every organisation to rethink its life, we are now asking the Church of England in all its parishes, chaplaincies and ministries to serve all people in a new way. Public worship will have to stop for a season. Our usual pattern of Sunday services and other mid-week gatherings must be put on hold. But this does not mean that the Church of England has shut up shop. Far from it. We need to look at new ways of serving everyone.”

So as we come towards the end of this week – here are some of the ways we are starting to find new ways of serving while still staying the same,

  1. We will be continuing to have acts of worship on Sunday. As we are not able to worship in our buildings we will worship online. Details below.
  2. We will be continuing to care for each other and our communities, in conjunction with parish councils and members of our villages. Details below.
  3. We will be continuing to pray each day in and for our villages. Details below.
  4. We will be continuing to offer pastoral support at pivotal moments in lives. Details below.
  5. We will be continuing to be the universal church, connected to the church in the nation and around the world. Details below.

1.     Sunday Worship

As you know, we are not able to use our buildings for worship (so please don’t turn up), but we have been investigating ways of meeting together online. At present we are still trying things out but it seems the most effective way of doing this will be using a provider called Zoom.  So this Sunday we are having a try out with a time of worship, bible study and prayer at 10:00am, which this Sunday will be hosted by me. I hope you will be able to join me by clicking on this link (https://zoom.us/j/400008490). You will have to download a small app onto your PC, laptop, tablet or phone, but you will then be able to join me and other members of the parish churches of our benefice in worship.

This is very much a try-out – so it will almost certainly be clunky and not as smooth as normal, but as we carry on things will get smoother and we will develop things further.

I realise that up until last week this might not have been your thing – mine neither – but it the easiest way to ensure that we can continue to meet up together as it says at Hebrews 10:25 “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

We do also recognise that not everyone is online or wants to join in this way. So next week we will be producing a simple liturgy that can be used at home and which we will make as available as we can on paper and online and which will be used alongside the online Sunday Act of Worship.

2.     Caring for each other and our communities

The staff team together will be keeping in touch with you and holding you in prayer and support. We are looking at ways of working with parish councils, the foodbank and others to ensure that no-one is left alone or vulnerable. We are trying to find ways we can easily stay in touch with you and help practically while at the same time we have to stay in as much as possible and avoid contact. However please do stay in contact with us also. The Church Office will still be open on 01362 858873 and at contact@matvchurch.uk, Mondays to Fridays 9:15 to 12:15 (although it will no longer be open by foot or car). Also my phone number 01362 882260 will always be answered.

Unfortunately we are going to have to plan for the possibility that some or many of us are self-isolating or get Covid-19, possibly badly, so we are trying to ensure that everything we do will be done in a way that ensures the care can carry on no matter what. We still have the “Cure of Souls” for these lovely villages of ours and the virus does not stop that.

I know that you are already caring for each other and for your neighbours, we just want to ensure that no-one is left behind. We will let you know more as soon as some of our plans are a little more filled out.

3.     Praying in and for our villages

Prayers have been said Monday to Saturday in each of our villages for a few years now (Hockering, Yaxham, Welborne, East Tuddenham, North Tuddenham, Mattishall) and we will be continuing this pattern, with some changes because of the circumstances. One member of the staff team will be in each parish church using the existing pattern (of Monday-Hockering, Tuesday-Yaxham etc) to act as a hub for our prayer, but with a changed time of 9am, and we invite you to join them in prayer at home (just like Sunday worship you won’t be able to join them in the church itself). We are finalising a simple form of daily prayer that we will be using together and will get out to you as effectively as we can. If the Live-streaming works on Sunday I hope we will be able to do it like that as well. We realise that not everyone will wish to join in even a simplified form of morning prayer but please do stop at 9am and pray – using the Lord’s Prayer or a simple Arrow prayer. There is a real power when we all get together to pray even if we are not all in the same place. It is the Holy Spirit of God who truly connects us (Colossians 2:5).

I fully agree with the Archbishops in their letter I referenced earlier when they say “Being a part of the Church of England is going to look very different in the days ahead. Our life is going to be less characterised by attendance at church on Sunday, and more characterised by the prayer and service we offer each day. We may not be able to pray with people in the ways that we are used to, but we can certainly pray for people.” I believe that there is a power in prayer and particularly when the people of God come together, so I hope that as many of you as possible will add to your schedule the coming together at 9am knowing that you are not alone but praying with many others in our villages.

This is particularly important in such uncertain times. We know that people are afraid, or acting out of character or fear (toilet-roll hording anyone). Our villages, country and world needs our prayer and the action of the God who revealed his love to us in Jesus.

4.     Pastoral Support at Pivotal Times

The Church of England has a historic ministry at times of birth, marriage and death. This is continuing, again in different ways. We will continue to baptise and bless children, conduct weddings and funerals – but at the same time minimising the numbers of people who will come together as a result. If you want to know the detail you can find it out on the Church of England’s central Covid-19 webpage and we will put more details up on the website, but it will mean things are different. For baptisms, blessings and weddings many are choosing to wait, but of course for those who lose loved ones that is not an option. Please pray for those families and also the funeral directors and others who are no longer able to be as flexible as they once were in helping families and friends in their time of grief.

5.     Being part of the national and universal Church.

Although I am not sure there has ever been a time before when public worship has been suspended across the country, other Christians have always had to meet privately or in scattered ones and twos (such as in North Korea) – so in one sense we are being brought together as a worldwide church in a way that our usual pattern of worship obscures.

However I would like to invite you to two things that show that greater unity in our nation as well on this Sunday, Mothering Sunday, which has been set apart as a day of Prayer and Action by all the churches in this country.

First – The Archbishop of Canterbury invites you to join with him in worship. He is being broadcast at 8am on local Radio stations, 8:10am on Radio 4 and online at 9am through Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/thechurchofengland).

Second – He invites you to light a candle at your windows at 7:00pm “we are calling on everyone to place a lighted candle in their window at 7.00 p.m. as a sign of solidarity and hope in the light of Christ that can never be extinguished.”

Some final words

Please remember that although all public worship is suspended, the office is closed to visitors (but open otherwise), all meetings and events are suspended (unless they can be done online), we are very much still here, active and at work.

I recognise that this email will not get to everyone – so I would be grateful if you know of someone near you who is not on email please do stay in touch with them, so I have attached to this email a copy of it in letter form – please print it off and drop it through their door. Help us to find ways of encouraging them, praying with them, supporting them and being with them over these coming weeks. Also please feel free to forward this email to anyone who think may not be on our mailing list (yet).

In their letter the Archbishops go on to say “This is a defining moment for the Church of England. Are we truly a church for all, or just the church for ourselves? We urge you sisters and brothers to become a different sort of church in these coming months: hopeful and rooted in the offering of prayer and praise and overflowing in service to the world.”

This is our intent here in Mattishall and Tudd Valley – to truly be a church for all despite of the challenges that our situation now gives us. Please do hold each other up in prayer and mutual encouragement.

And I look forward to you being with me on Sunday at 10:00am (https://zoom.us/j/400008490).

With every blessing, continuing prayers and love,

Mark

Mark McCaghrey

Rector: Mattishall and Tudd Valley Benefice
Benefice Office, Church Rooms, Dereham Road, Mattishall,
Dereham, Norfolk, NR20 3QA.
​Phone: 01362 882260
Office: 01362 858873

 

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Mark

No services in our churches within the benefices for the time being

No services in our churches within the benefices for the time being

Dear friends,

In the light of Boris Johnson’s statement Monday night, the Archbishops of York and Canterbury have ordered all public acts of worship to be suspended with immediate effect (https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/news/archbishops-call-church-england-become-radically-different-public-worship).

This means that THERE WILL BE NO SERVICES AT ANY OF OUR CHURCHES WITHIN THE BENEFICE with immediate effect (Tuesday 14:00).

Also all meetings will be cancelled and all APCMs postponed until further notice. The Church Office will be open for emails and phone calls but no one will be able to walk in, so the door will be locked.

We will be putting into place pastoral arrangements to support people at home and are looking into ways of making our worship visible even if not public. We will let you know more as soon as we know more.

Please continue to pray for our difficult situation as a nation and world in these unprecedented times.

With every blessing and prayers,

Mark

 

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Mark

Thought for the month - December 2019

Thought for the month - December 2019

Christmas lends itself to actions or rituals which by annual repetition become things of delight and deepened memory: oranges in stockings; Christmas pudding; watching (or studiously avoiding) the Queen’s speech; singing carols. For me it is also things like the prayer which begins “Stir up O Lord…” and most of all hearing the beginning verses of John’s gospel, “In the beginning was the word…” (commonly known as the prologue).

If we were basing our school nativity plays on the prologue, they would be short and unpopular with parents. There are few parts to play - there is no mention of angels, Joseph and Mary, shepherds or Magi, but despite this it cuts through to the meaning of Christmas and why we remember the birth of this poor provincial Jewish boy every year for over two thousand years after the event.

Christmas is important, because God entered into his creation. Christmas is important, because in this often dark world eternal light shines. Christmas is important, because it gives us hope that we may truly become God’s children.

In a way - because we don’t have the individual characters of Mary, Joseph, shepherds, Magi or angels to draw our mind’s-eye – the prologue leaves us focusing on Jesus and at the same time the wider perspective. If Luke and Matthew’s gospels are a portrait, John’s is a landscape.

The Christian pastor, teacher, preacher and scholar John Stott said “We must be global Christians with a global vision, because our God is a global God.” This is what the prologue of John’s gospel reminds us. Christmas is about a global God, who became local for the globe to be saved. And if we call ourselves God’s children, then we are required to share this global vision. Our Christmas vision must be so much wider than oranges, puddings, Christmas traditions and even carols.

That’s why in the New Year, beginning with the feast of Epiphany (which we are celebrating this year on the 5th January) we will be spending some time together looking at the place of a global vision for our Christian faith here and now.

We will be picking up the theme of inclusion which is at the heart of the visit of the gentile (and pagan) Magi to Bethlehem. We will explore the global scope of the Gospel “God so loved the world” and the centrality of the cross “Christ died once for all”. The gospel is always crossing boundaries, so we follow the call of Paul over to Macedonia and Paul’s deliberate argument that his mission to all is just a reflection of God’s zeal for all.

We then start to unpick the nature of partnership in the gospel – by focusing on the importance of body-thinking – we are one body across the world and we need each other, followed by a reflection on the privilege of being in partnership with others engaged in mission. Lastly we look forward and up to that greater unity which is in our future and the ultimate goal of all mission – when heaven and earth will be joined together in God.

So my prayer this Christmas is that all your Christmas traditions may be suffused and indwelt with God’s global vision of love and salvation for his world.

Happy Christmas and a flourishing New Year.

Mark McCaghrey

 

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Thank you from Mid Norfolk Foodbank

Thank you from Mid Norfolk Foodbank

Since this time last year the need for food boxes being given out increased by 50%. This is due to the benefit changes, benefit delays and the number of people on low incomes who can no longer manage financially, because of universal credit.

As you can see the need for food, unfortunately in these times, is desperately important to so many local people.

We still have a particular need for biscuits, tins of rice pudding, tinned potatoes and packets of mashed potato.

Mid Norfolk Foodbank would like to thank all those in the Benefice who donate the much needed food throughout the year and at Harvest and Christmas time. We are so thankful for all that is given and your kindness.

Liz Chappell

 

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Mel

Thought for the month - November 2019

Thought for the month - November 2019

November brings us into a season of remembering. Firstly, we have Bonfire Night, where we recall the Gunpowder Plot, when in 1605 there was a failed assassination attempt against King James I and Parliament. More importantly, we have Remembrance Sunday when we remember those who gave their lives in service to their country in the two World Wars and conflicts and wars since 1945. At All Saints Mattishall on Sunday 24th November at 4.00pm we also have a Memorial Service, where people from around the Benefice can come and remember loved ones they have lost.

Memory is very important. It is good to remember. In my voluntary work with those living with dementia, I see the impact of failing memory on the lives of those affected and their families. Sometimes though, failing to remember can be helpful. As a family we have had a very stressful, difficult year. Whilst there are things which have happened which I will always treasure in my memory, there have been some things which I would gladly forget. However, their significance will undoubtedly not allow me to do so.

How different it is with God. No matter what we have said, or thought or done, if we bring our sins to God and ask for his forgiveness, he promises “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12) And in Hebrews 8:12 the writer recalls the words of the prophet Jeremiah, “For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.” We have an amazing compassionate God who sent his Son to die in order that our sins may be forgiven, and we might have eternal life. We are sometimes told to forgive and forget - how hard that is. But if we come to God, we can be assured of forgiveness and know that our sins will be remembered no more. God does not forget our sins, he chooses not to remember them. He does not treat us as our sins deserve and he sets us free to experience a new life. Hallelujah!

Mel Stevenson

 

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Alan

Acts of Remembrance Sunday 10th November 2019

Acts of Remembrance Sunday 10th November 2019

Details of the acts of rembrance taking place this coming Sunday can be found in the Events section or the Worship session. Please note that some services are being held at a different time to the usual Sunday service time.

Do please join us as we remember those who gave their lives so that we could live in freedom and peace.

 

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Alan

Video of All Saints, Mattishall, from the air.

One of the dads, James Peach, from Who Let The Dads Out? at ASM has very kindly done us a video of ASM using his drone. Do have a look at the video using the link below so you can see ASM in a way you've never seen it before. Yes, there is a lot of lead on our roof and yes, we do now have it protected.

Our thanks go to James for doing this. It is much appreciated.

See the video here.

 

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Sally

Thought for the month - September 2019

Thought for the month - September 2019

Whenever I open the door of our garden shed, my eyes are drawn to a small green watering can that we bought for our grandson so that he could help me water the tomatoes. It reminds me of 1 Corinthians 3, verses 5-9, verse 6 of which says:

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.”

During the next five weeks we have lots of harvest events taking place across the benefice with special services, suppers and school assemblies. Opportunities to come together and give thanks to our God who provides for all our needs and to give thanks for those whose labour brings food to our tables.

Living in a rural community, we witness first-hand the changing seasons that determine the farming year. Paul uses the image of farming or gardening to send an important message to the young church at Corinth, namely that whilst one person may plant, another water - it is God who makes things grow. We each have a job to do and working together, we can be fruitful.

In September, our grandson starts primary school. It strikes me that teachers are farmers of a different kind, as they sow seeds for learning to open up the world to our young people. I pray that my grandson will get a taste for more than just tomatoes!

May this season of harvest be one for giving thanks; and for remembering the generosity of those who donate to our local foodbanks, community fridge and who have provided meals for children during the summer holidays.

And finally, my prayer is that God will help us to grow his church in our benefice.   

Sally

 

 

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Jackie

GATE 2019 Project - Janet Clark Memorial Milling Machine

GATE 2019 Project - Janet Clark Memorial Milling Machine

Janet Clark, who with her husband Les, founded and operated GATE, died on 13th June 2019 after a battle with womb cancer. As a charity we want to build a milling machine in her memory in the first village she visited in The Gambia, Sasita Medina.

Pounding cous is very hard work and is done every day. The women in Sasita Medina have to walk 7 km(4 miles) to the nearest milling machine. A milling machine in Sasita Medina will also serve 7 surrounding villages, Sasita Toranke, Dighanteh, Sareh Bully, Sein Boboreh, Foreyaa, Sareh Saidy and Farumburregh and save the women there a 7km(4 miles)+ trek too! Providing a milling machine in their village will save the women labour and the need for the older children to mind the babies and toddlers while mum is pounding will be removed. Some years ago, when we installed a milling machine in Bakadargi 500 children were able to go to school the day it went ”live” as they were no longer needed to mind their younger siblings while mum was busy pounding millet to make cous so they could eat that day. This is why the Sasita Milling Machine project, will be a great and fitting memorial to all the hard work Janet did in The Gambia.

If you can hold a coffee morning, host a talk and slide show with craft sale, or organise any kind of fundraising event or make a donation please get in touch, as anything you can do will help! Please help us to raise the £6,500 we need for this project. We already have £2500!

Contact us through GATE's Facebook page, email: GambianAid@gmail.com or write to us: G.A.T.E c/o All Saints Church Office, Dereham Road, Mattishall, Dereham, NR20 3QA.

 

 

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Mark

Thought for the month(s) - July and August 2019

Thought for the month(s) - July and August 2019

They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit also Philip… ...who was presented to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.” (Acts 6:5-6).

 Throughout the bible there is the principle that God calls particular men and women for particular roles, that they are set apart for that role and that there is the release of the Holy Spirit to empower them in the role. In the Old Testament we see this many times—for example, David, called by God to be King or Elisha as prophet and then in the New Testament, the appointment of leaders for the church.

So in Acts 6 we see this with the first Deacons. They are set aside to physically wait on tables in order that fairness is observed in the distribution of food. They are called, set apart for the role and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit through prayer and the laying on of hands. Although this role as those who wait on tables is where we get the word deacon from, they are quickly shown to be more important than that, as Stephen is martyred after witnessing to Jesus and Philip goes on to bring an Ethiopian to faith and so found the Ethiopian church.

I write these words just before Andrea’s ordination as Deacon on June 29th. This service also follows this threefold pattern—it will recognise her call from God to serve him, that she is being set apart for this new role and she will be prayed for and receive the laying on of hands. As a symbolic mark of this new role she will put her dog-collar on for the first time on Saturday morning, and will receive a white stole at the service.

As a Deacon Andrea will be able to lead and preach at services, lead funerals, lead projects in the parishes and do other things as directed by me.

Then next year she will be ordained priest (or presbyter or elder) as a sign that she is ready for further responsibilities and leadership. But as a recognition that Christian leadership is “as one who serves” and following the example of the servant King, she will remain a deacon, as do I, Sally, and all other priests and bishops in the Church of England. We may be called into leadership, but we are also called to serve.

Over the next three to four years, while with us here in Mattishall and Tudd Valley, Andrea will be discovering more of this call of God upon her life and why He has called her into ordained ministry. She will gain skills that she will need for the future and will have opportunity to grow into the person God is calling her to be as an ordained minister of the Church of England.

This training is a kind of apprenticeship, which is why we have such an amazing privilege in all this. God has chosen Andrea, but he has also chosen us all, as the members of this benefice, to help Andrea discover more of what God has planned for her. It is not an academic training (she has already completed that) but practical training in the very warp and weft of parish life.

So please continue to uphold Andrea, Tim and us all in prayer as we discover what all this means for her, for them and for us.

Mark McCaghrey

 

 

 

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Jackie

Cakes on a plate!

The cakes on a plate are going well. 

So well that we have had to order another 72!!

They are being so well received, so I urge you to think of a reason to make/acquire a cake and take it round to someone.  One recipient told us, ‘a cake is edible love’!

I am aware there are 20 new homes, which have been occupied off the main road in Mattishall at Walnut Tree Fields with more to be occupied.  We need 20 cakes!!!

The plan is for you to pick up a plate from ASM, the office or your own church and bring it along to the estate at 6.30pm on Friday 14th June.  If you can’t make it, ask a friend or contact me as I am happy to pick your cakes up.

If you can’t bake, ask a friend or supply someone with the ingredients.  It doesn’t have to be fancy, maybe the simpler the better so we have cakes to deliver which aren’t exotic, so please come down to my standard of a Victoria Sandwich or similar.

This is such a simple way of showing God’s love, Edible Love!

See you on the 14th!

Jackie Crisp

 

 

 

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Mark

Thought for the month - June 2019

We live in a world full of management jargon. “Moving forward” to mean do something in the future. “Low hanging fruit” to mean something is easy to do. “Run it up the flagpole” to mean try it out. “Communication Strategy” to mean planning how to talk to people. And most phrases like these are despised by those who endure them.

Now I don’t know if God ever had a Communications Strategy Meeting with the Archangels Gabriel and Michael to discuss Moving Forward with communicating his Mission Strategy and whether to Run It Up the Flagpole… But the bible shows God’s communication strategy anyway: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

God communicated with us, not with a document, or strategy, or a text or WhatsApp message, newsletter or magazine, but with a person – his own Son Jesus. God’s eternal message to his world came and lived among us.

God got it just right when he sent Jesus. All other attempts since tend to fall short.

That includes the way we communicate with you. Historically our communication has only really been the Benefice News, supplemented by word of mouth and notices at services. However, this has not always been very efficient, and has cost a significant part of our shared benefice office expenses.

Last year we updated our website, matvchurch.uk, which is now the best way to find out about events, and which gives you the ability to find out about updates daily, weekly or monthly. We try to keep the website as fresh as possible so you will always have the most up to date news via the website update.

We do recognise that a paper supplement to the website is important – that it’s not an either/or but a both/and way of communicating. So last year when we started the new site, we cut down to a simple 4 page booklet, not least because we wanted to minimise the amount the benefice office costs us all.

Unfortunately, in our attempt to be good stewards of the money you give, we recognise that we may have become a little too spartan. Sorry. Therefore we will be changing the MATV News sheet so that it is printed on colour paper, has more content and graphics and is useful for those who don’t have access to the Internet and those who do, to those who are regular parts of the church family and visitors. However, it will also be slimmer than the old Benefice News so we keep our shared costs to a minimum.

But if you do have the internet, please use the website update emails. They really are the best way of staying in touch with what is going on, and we will never pass your emails onto anyone else. Just go to updates.matvchurch.uk to sign up, select all groups and then we will keep you in touch the best we can.

Mark McCaghrey

 

 

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Alan

Path of Reflection at Welborne

Path of Reflection at Welborne

All Saints' Church, Welborne, has constructed a "Path of Reflection" in the churchyard. The changing views across the fields from the church lend themselves to reflection and contemplation. Do take a few moments in your busy life to stop and take a look at the beauty around us from our new path to the north of the church.

 

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Jackie

Thought for the month - May 2019

Thought for the month - May 2019

When I want my brain to be ‘idle’, I sometimes play Solitaire on my tablet. I find it quite restful, because there is no jeopardy. There is a ‘hint’ button that I can use when I get stuck to show me the moves and I can’t see for looking! I receive congratulations when I win but then, if the cards beat me, I am simply offered a button to press which says ‘new game’ and I can start again. There is also an option to replay the previous game, so that I can make different choices. There is no record of how many games I lose, just how many I win.

If only life were the same. When things get tough, messy or too painful, it would be great if we could just hit a ‘new game’ button or opt for a replay and have another go. If only we could do that with our planet at this time. The stark reality of ‘progress’ in human terms, without recognising, or in some cases caring about the consequences on creation has now reached critical. If we could hit ‘replay’ we would hope to do things differently and take much more care. It certainly puts the debacle of Brexit into perspective. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. However…

We have just celebrated Easter and journeyed with Jesus through His last week to the cross. On the cross He re-set the future, pressed the ‘new game’ button on behalf of all of humankind. He gave us a future that wasn’t there beforehand and amazingly, He offers each of us that ‘new game’ button every time we get stuck. We still have the worldly consequences to deal with, but Jesus will wipe our slate clean with Him when we ask. He gives us an opportunity to ‘replay’ and make different choices, without keeping a record of how often we lost the game. What a gift!

Not just that, at the resurrection He won the game of all games! He took the victory and that will never leave His hands. When things in our world look so bleak, that is our hope. He offers us the light that can never be consumed by the darkness. Can you see it? If not, turn to Him and ask to press that ‘new game’ button and let Him show you.

With every blessing

Jackie Clay

 

 

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Mel

Give a Lunch at Lent

Give a Lunch at Lent

Following the success of the Reverse Advent Calendar, I would like to propose a Lent appeal. 
Why not forgo a meal (or two) during Lent and use the fast to pray. In addition why not donate a lunch or another meal to The Foodbank by donating the ingredients to make a family meal?
For example: Lunch or dinner-  a jar of pasta sauce and a packet of dried pasta
                                                   a tinned meat pie and canned vegetables
                                                   a jar of curry sauce and a packet of rice

                      You could even add a pudding- a tin of fruit or rice pudding
                                                                       - a tinned sponge pudding  and a can/ carton of custard
                       Breakfast - a packet of cereal, a carton of long-life milk, a jar of marmalade or a carton of fruit juice.

                       Morning coffee/ afternoon tea - a packet of biscuits, a jar of coffee or a packet of teabags and a carton of long-life milk.


There are plenty of options - just consult the list of Foodbank foods at the back of your church and create a meal to give to a household which is struggling.

 

 

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Alan

St. Mary's, North Tuddenham to re-open from March 10th

St. Mary's, North Tuddenham to re-open from March 10th

Good news. St. Mary's is due to reopen from 10th March. Everyone on the benefice mailing list should have had an email from Mark giving more details.

 

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Sally

APCMs are good for us!

APCMs are good for us!

March is the month when four of our six benefice churches will be holding Annual Parochial Church Meetings with the other two coming in the first week of April. I like a good meeting.

Whilst every parish has a statutory duty to hold the annual meeting of parishioners and the annual parochial church meeting respectively, I truly believe that we miss an opportunity if we do not attend nor see the potential that they offer. Each of our annual reports will guide us to where God has been present during the past year and help us to recognise how He has provided for us, how we have been supported, and help us to celebrate the commonality we share.

As part of the Diocesan Mission Strategy 2021 we are encouraged to think about Reimagining Church through the four work streams - Listen, Celebrate, Imagine and Empower. 

I want to ask you to read your annual reports prayerfully and honestly.  I would like to encourage you to read the annual reports for each of the churches in our benefice too and will be placing a single copy in each church.

For some of our smaller churches the APCM serve as a reminder of the lack of PCC members, officers and churchwardens and we are not alone because many rural churches are in a similar position.

I personally believe that now is the time to consider what we can do to support one another. Do we have a talent or time to offer outside of our own church? Let us take time to thank God for the things we do share.

Please read Acts 2:42-47. Verses 44-45 read ‘All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.’

We can very easily get hung up by thinking that having everything in common means losing the individual identity of each of our churches if we pool our resources so to speak. I don’t believe this to be so and suggest that we need to be bold and imagine the potential for lifting burdens and seeking to grow the gifts that we have been blessed with here in the MATV benefice.

I really do look forward to being present at all of the APCMs and hope to see you there too!

Sally

 

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Alan

Church of England Christmas Advert

Church of England Christmas Advert

The Church of England has released a Christmas advert on YouTube inviting people to come to church this Christmas. See it here.

 

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Jackie

How do we respond in these times of uncertainty?

How do we respond in these times of uncertainty?

I am not a political person. I avoid reading the papers and would not choose to watch the news on the TV. However, it is surely impossible to avoid the uncertainty, confusion and conflict dominating the UK news now. It can be overwhelming, leave us feeling anxious, fearful, frustrated, even angry. 

We will all respond to differently, depending on many things but as Christians, how should our faith influence our response?

The Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds says this:
“... in these current dangerous circumstances of division, insecurity, and growing fear, the Christian tradition has something more to offer: hope.”
“...Christians are not driven by fear; we are drawn by hope. It is a hope that comes to us from the future: resurrection. It is a hope that should not be confused with fantasy. It is committed to the life of the present — in all its complexity and muckiness — but refuses to see the present reality as the end or the ultimate.”
“Christians must love the light by looking at the world — and our politics, and our media — in the light of the Christ who is the light of the world. Don’t just look at Jesus: look at the world through his eyes, say what you see — always with the humility that we might be myopic or wilfully blind — and be trustworthy and faithful.”

These are excerpts from a lecture the Bishop delivered earlier this month on “How Christians should respond to populism”.

I must confess, I don’t even understand the title! However, what he says here works for me. It reminds me that we are part of a far bigger picture, an infinite and eternal timeline, way beyond the arguments between Theresa and Jeremy, the UK and the EU, in or out. It reminds me too that when we try to look at the world through the eyes of Jesus, the perspective changes. Jesus sees through the flaws to the potential, past the bickering to the heart of those striving to do their best job amidst the turmoil. However, I think we can safely say He won’t be happy with the lack of compassion, the personal criticisms and the division it is causing between friends, families and communities.

When it all gets too much, we have a mighty weapon in our armoury – prayer. Perhaps we can share this one together:’

 

Gracious God,

As we move through uncharted waters, we look to You.

You are our anchor and our hope, help us to keep our eyes on You
 For all involved in negotiations and decisions please bring wisdom, tolerance, integrity and empathy.
You are our anchor and our hope, help us to keep our eyes on You
Lord, as nations in the United Kingdom, may we always be people of hospitality, compassion and kindness, welcoming the stranger, the lost and loving our neighbours as You call us to do.

You are our anchor and our hope, help us to keep our eyes on You
Lord, remove all fear of the future from our hearts and help us to look at the world through Your eyes. In Jesus' name, Amen

 

Jackie Clay      

 

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Drop In Coffee Morning

Drop In Coffee Morning

We hold a coffee morning on Thursdays from 9.30 until 12.00 which is a nice place to meet new friends and to chat to those you already know. There is no specific charge but we do suggest a small donation of £1 to cover our expenses. We serve hot and cold drinks, as many as you want, cakes on the tables and at around 11am we serve toasted tea cakes. We have celebration events such as our Christmas Dinner and occasional buffet lunches which are all great fun. We can also arrange lifts for anyone unable to walk there or who is without transport so it is ideal for those who can not always get out and about.

The majority of people are aged over 50, however we have had some younger people come along recently and that is great. It is important for us to have events that cross the generations. It also means that we could then have some younger people who can help out in the kitchen.

At the moment anyone on the rota for helping out in the kitchen is on duty around every 4 weeks. This does not however give us much scope to cover holidays or illness so we would really love to have a few more volunteers on our list. The more people we have the less often each person is on the rota. It would be great to get us back to a situation where each person is only on duty once every 6 weeks.

It is actually quite rewarding being in the kitchen. Part of the duty is to greet people as they come in and ask what they would like to drink. If it is someone new you may be the first person they speak to. There are always at least 2 people in the kitchen together so you are never just left there on your own. It only involves making drinks, collecting up cups and washing up. Toasting the teacakes is usually done by one of the regular helpers, although it is fine for anyone to do that as well.

If you are interested in coming along and/or helping out just turn up on a Thursday and ask for Lizzie.

If you would like to ring me my number is 01362 850491.

(You do have to announce who you are as we have call guardian to stop all those nuisance calls getting through.)

 

 

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Mel

Reverse Advent Calendar

Reverse Advent Calendar

Why not do something different this Advent?  Put aside a box and as you open each window in your Advent Calendar, place a grocery item in the box for the Foodbank. Or perhaps more realistically, please bring two or three items to church for the Foodbank on each Sunday of Advent. Either way you will be helping those in our area who may not be able to even afford the essentials this Christmas.
Each family who receives a voucher for the Foodbank in December also gets given a voucher for a small Christmas box.
The Foodbank suggest we donate Christmas food items on 2nd and 9th December, so that these boxes go out in time. Items such as Christmas cake, Christmas puddings, chocolates, biscuits, sweets, mince pies etc... would be appreciated. Then on 16th and 23rd December, please bring items from the normal Foodbank grocery list- see back of church or speak to Liz Chappell.
Let us be generous as a church family this Advent and bless those less fortunate than ourselves.
Christians are called to be counter- cultural so please join in the Reverse Advent Calendar. Thank you.

 

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Alan

Update on money given at the benefice Harvest Supper

Update on money given at the benefice Harvest Supper

The amount sent to  Barnabas Fund after the benefice Harvest Supper on 5th October was £129.39. We haven't specified how they are to use it, but it is how much it costs, for example, to feed a displaced family for 6 months in places like Syria or Myanmar (Burma).

 

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Mark

Andrea Woods to become our curate

Andrea Woods to become our curate

Dear friends,
I have some great news to pass on to you.

From July (well the very end of June) next year, our team here in the Benefice will be boosted by a Curate, or rather by Andrea Woods, who will become our Curate here. Currently, Andrea is Families and Children’s Worker with St. Andrew’s, Eaton and is an LLM (Reader), well known to many of the staff team in the Benefice already. Andrea is married to Tim, and they have two adult sons. You can find out more about them with this amazing video (https://vimeo.com/298664479). Please have a look.
Andrea is likely to be ordained on the 29th June 2019 and we will welcome her, Tim and family formally to the Benefice on the 30th June, when we will be having our annual Village Green service.

 

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Mark

Giving what's right, not what's left

Giving what's right, not what's left

Mark's talk at the Mattishall 10.30 service on 14th October on the subject of "Give what's right, not what's left" is now available in the Resources session. Note that Mark is due to speak on this subject at Yaxham and North Tuddenham on 21st October and at East Tuddenham and Welborne on 4th November.

 

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Other News from around the benefice

Other News from around the benefice

On the 16th September, there was a wonderful rededication service at All Saints, Welborne to mark the completion of the work to fix the tower and to provide a toilet and refreshment facilities. This will open up more uses of the church. A big thanks is required to Dean, Linda and Richard, who gave many hours and considerable effort to bring the project to completion.

Yaxham is looking forward to having supplementary heating installed this autumn, which should be completed by December. Mattishall’s long journey to replace the failing wood burning stove has progressed one more step along the road to approval.

G.A.T.E has received £1507 thanks to Jackie Crip’s 10K run and Mark completed his sponsored walk around the Benefice. Please pass money on to Janet Clark for G.A.T.E and your PCC treasurer for Mark’s journey.

 

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Mark

A Time for Reflection

A Time for Reflection

Is it because “we look back” to summer, as the mnemonic for the change from British Summer Time goes, that autumn is a time for looking back? We have harvest – a time to look back at the year and give thanks for God’s provision. We have Remembrance Day, especially this year as we come up to the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1 on Sunday 11th November with services in each village. We have our annual Memorial Service on the 25th November. All these events combine the flavours of thanksgiving, commemoration and remembrance, in different measure.

Therefore we will be continuing the sermon series started in September called “Generous: Our God. Our Call” as we use the Harvest time to reflect on our response to God’s generosity. For the details of this series please check back to September’s Benefice News or the website.

On the 28th October, there will be just one service across the Benefice as Bishop Jonathan comes to licence Sally as Assistant Priest, at Yaxham at 10:30. This licencing will not change the character of what she does, but is an outward mark of Sally’s own response to the generous God who called her into ministry. Over the last few years Sally’s role as a Priest who is called from the local community and stays here has developed, and so this new designation of Assistant Priest, shared with other Locally Ordained Ministers across the Diocese, will recognise that new role.

 

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Mid-Norfolk Foodbank

Mid-Norfolk Foodbank

Liz Chappell, our local representative for the Foodbank writes.

With harvest starting in September, donations from churches and schools really boost our supplies and this time of year is a very important means of food requirement for the Foodbank.

The Mid Norfolk Foodbank is run from Dereham, with distribution centres also in Swaffham and Fakenham. Unfortunately, the necessity for food for those in real need is as great as ever, with over 2000 people in our local area receiving food parcels. The introduction of Universal Credit in Dereham this June has had the same impact here as around the country in increasing the demand for food. A quarter of our clients receiving food are those on low incomes unable to make ends meet and who have not got the reserves required to manage through the transition period.

We recently received a letter from someone in Dereham who received a food box. They said “I have to say what a great idea and conception it is for us to have Foodbanks, without them many people would go hungry through no issues of their own, just a bad situation or bad luck.

“I hope you never find yourself stuck without food any chance of getting any for over a week. Not everyone has family or friends that they can go to, so the Foodbank is that last life line for them.

“To those people who donate a little food, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Everyone one involved feel pride in the service you provide, free of charge. You have made a difference in my life and the kindness I have felt from the staff was overwhelming and made a shameful act (having to ask for free food) was made much easier and I walked away from there in Dereham not feeling shame but overwhelmed by kindness. You are true stars. Thankyou.”

Please continue to give generously. You can see what a difference it makes. If you would like to become a volunteer to help in this crucial work, either in our distribution centres or the warehouse please contact me or the Mid-Norfolk Foodbank online. Alternatively, see their website at https://midnorfolk.foodbank.org.uk/

 

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Alan

Change in email updates

Change in email updates

We have made a change to the day of the week that weekly email upates are set up. Previously it was sent out each Monday, but an enhancement to the design of the site means we can choose the day we want. We have chosen Friday as it is just before the weekend, i.e. when most stuff benefitting from reminders happens.

 

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Mark

Harvest and stewardship

Harvest and stewardship

Come, ye thankful people, come,
Raise the song of harvest home!
All is safely gathered in,
Ere the winter storms begin;
God, our Maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied;
Come to God's own temple, come;
Raise the song of harvest home!

 This, one of the traditional hymns of harvest, was written in 1844 by Henry Alford, a Vicar in Buckinghamshire, expressing that sense of gratitude towards God’s generosity towards us that Harvest and autumn invoke and that we reflect through our Harvest services and suppers.

The bible teaches us that every moment we experience God’s generosity to us, and as those who have been awoken to recognise its source we are also called to mirror that generosity in our lives.

That is why this Harvest-time, across the Benefice, we will be thinking in a bit more depth about what this means for us, as our worship follows the series “Generous: Our God. Our Call”. To enable this to happen across the Benefice, this means different churches will be focused on different parts of the series at different times, rather than the same set of readings each week.

There are six themes we will be following:

1.1:
Giving God

Gen 1:1-5, 24-31

Ps 8:1-9

Acts 17:22-28

John 3:16-17

2.1:
Jubilee people

Isaiah 58:1-12

Ps 19

James 2:1-13

Luke 4:14-21

2:2
Grace-full

Deut  20:1-18

Ps 24:1-10

2 Cor 9:6-15

Luke 19:1-9

3:1
Resisting Gravity

Amos 5:6-15

Ps 49

1 Tim 6:17-19

Luke 12:13-21

3.2:
Reflecting God

1 Chr 29:10-16

Ps 98

2 Cor 8:1-7

Luke 14:1-24

3.3:
Right Giving

Malachi 3:1-12

Ps 30

2 Cor 8:8-15

Matt 6:1-4

Which across the benefice, looks like this: (Services in italics are not following the series Generosity: Our God, Our Call)

16 Sep:     East Tuddenham, Mattishall 09:00 & 10:30, North Tuddenham, Yaxham: 1.1 Giving God Welborne: Rededication Service

23 Sep:     Hockering: 3.3 Right Giving Mattishall 09:00 & 10:30, North Tuddenham: 2.2 Grace-full Welborne: 1.1 Giving God Yaxham: Sunday Special

30 Sep: East Tuddenham (Benefice Service): 2.1 Jubilee people

07 Oct: East Tuddenham, Welborne: 2.2: Grace-full Hockering: 1.1 Giving God Mattishall 09:00 & 10:30: Harvest Festival from 10:00am North Tuddenham, Yaxham: 3.2: Reflecting God

14 Oct: East Tuddenham, Welborne: 3.1 Resisting Gravity Hockering, Yaxham: 2.2 Grace-full Mattishall 09:00 & 10:30: 3.3 Right Giving North Tuddenham: Morning Prayer

21 Oct: East Tuddenham, Hockering, Welborne: 3.2 Reflecting God Mattishall 09:00 & 10:30: 3.1 Resisting Gravity North Tuddenham, Yaxham: 3.3 Right Giving

28 Oct: Yaxham (Benefice Service): Sally’s licensing as Assistant Priest

04 Nov: East Tuddenham, Welborne: 3.3 Right Giving Hockering, North Tuddenham, Yaxham: 3.1 Resisting Gravity Mattishall 09:00 & 10:30: 3.2 Reflecting God

This pattern means that by the 4th November, every congregation will have had an opportunity to hear every part of the series.

 

 

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Mark

Return of the Prodigal Vicar - Mark's Benefice News Article

Return of the Prodigal Vicar - Mark's Benefice News Article

It’s good to be back writing to you again having reached the end of my sabbatical. Fiona and I had a very refreshing time while I was “off” and it has recharged the spiritual batteries, but I am glad to be back in harness and look forward to us all discovering what God has got planned for us.

First, and most importantly, I want to thank all of you who have worked so hard in my absence to continue the ministry and presence of the churches in our villages. I have felt so privileged that I could step outside of daily ministry so completely for three months and know that things were continuing without me.

This is entirely down to you all, the staff team, office and churchwardens and particularly Sally and Jackie Clay, to whom I had delegated my day to day responsibility. I am so thankful that I share my ministry with them and with you all here.

As well as the privilege of being able to spend three months doing completely different things, I also found real enrichment in the people I met, the worship I attended, the study I started, and the time with Fiona, friends and family. So, before the memories fade, I want to give you a flavour of my three months “away” and what it means for me to come back with recharged batteries.

My sabbatical plan

I had planned my sabbatical with four elements.

The first two were concerned with the question “How we might use Luke chapter 15 to inform the way in which we live as church communities?” I had become increasingly convinced that Jesus interaction with tax collectors and ‘sinners’ and his threefold response in the parables of the Lost Sheep, Coin and Son(s) had something to teach us as 21st Century Churches.

So the first element was academic study under the supervision of Professor Rev’d Steve Walton, a biblical specialist on the writings of Luke (the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts). I wanted to test whether it was reasonable to argue that we can apply Jesus’ method and his teaching in this chapter to the church today and if so how.

The second element was going to visit churches in the UK and in the USA and talk to church leaders to see what they thought about the question and how their churches lived out a Luke 15 shaped ministry.

In particular I was going to spend some time visiting the Desert Vineyard Church based in Lancaster, California because of the ministry of David Parker, until last year their pastor.

The third element was to go on silent retreat for a week. I know some of you are sceptical about my ability to stay silent for a whole week, but I had done this before and knew how important it is.

And the fourth element was to spend time with Fiona, family and friends doing “normal” things, like going away for the weekend. With one day off a week, six Sundays off a year, and a growing family, and no life together before ministry, this was going to be a new thing for Fiona and I.

A summary of what I did when

April 23rd – 11th May

I started my academic study supervised by Steve and quickly discovered just how far behind I had fallen in my academic learning over the 24 years since I left theological college.

12th May – 24th May

Flight to Los Angeles, visits to various churches in LA and an extended time at Desert Vineyard Church, staying with some of the leadership and experiencing their church life.

24th May – 31st May

New York. I had abortive attempts to connect with Church Leaders there, but did attend a Harlem Gospel Church. Fiona and I spent a few days being tourists in New York (much recommended).

1st June – 22nd June

Travelling around the UK to visit churches and leaders combined with study when back at “home”.

23rd June – 24th June

Birthday weekend (in London)!

25th June – 10th July

More visits, more study and writing a paper for Steve, summarising where my study had go to.

11th July – 18th July

Silent retreat at the Cenacle retreat centre, Liverpool

19th July – 22nd July

Completing sabbatical tasks, supervision with Steve and “weekend away” with Fiona.

What I have brought back

Unfortunately, the 24 years of not really studying theology in any depth really showed and it meant that I could not complete the study in the way I wanted. Instead of a proper academic paper, Steve got 9000 words on “what I would have said, if I had not run out of time to do the study really needed”. Despite this I have felt that my deep sense that this chapter is not just another one in Luke’s gospel but has something to say to us today and should shape our life together is correct and a view shared by others.

  1. Jesus ministry in Luke 15 and elsewhere in Luke was with those regarded as outcasts by his culture. He showed that the Kingdom of God was at work in them in a way the other religious leaders could not believe. This should make us ask questions about our own expectations where God is at work in our villages and our own willingness to welcome the outcasts of today.
  2. For Jesus his ministry was about “seeking and saving the lost”. This was his main thing. Is it our main thing (it should be)? How can we stop it being shunted out by all the other things we have to do?
  3. Are we trying to get God to fit our agenda, or are we willing to make God’s agenda ours? How do we ensure that we are seeking God’s will first rather than pushing ahead with our own plans and hoping God will bless them?

I have come back with a strong sense that the Holy Spirit is at work in the people living in the Mattishall and Tudd Valley, and that the harvest is still plentiful (Luke 10:2). I met many inspirational leaders of all stripes and was challenged by their examples. I have come back having clearly met God again, rediscovered his love, renewed my calling to serve him here, and with a strong desire to see him fulfil the plans and purposes he has for the Good News in these villages.

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

 

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Jackie

Mark Experiment - article on Network Norfolk

Mark Experiment - article on Network Norfolk

To see the details on Network Norfolk about the Mark Experiment which will be running in ASM later this year go to  here

 

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Alan

Three part series on prayer at ASM

Three part series on prayer at ASM

We are having a three part series on prayer at All Saints, Mattishall at both the 9 am and 10.30 am services. A recording of all three talks are now available in the Resources section of this website (and are currently featured at the bottom of the home page). We have also made available there the prayer survey. If you are a member of ASM and were not at ASM on Sunday 22nd July, it would be a great help to us if you would fill in and return the survey as detailed on the survey itself.

 

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Alan

The Return of the Prodigal Vicar

The Return of the Prodigal Vicar

As we prepare to get our rector back, please have a read of the letter from Mark and Fiona in the resources section at the bottom of the page. If you have signed up for email updates, it should reach you automatically by email.

 

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Alan

GDPR - final call!

GDPR - final call!

The General Data Protection Regulation 2018 is now in force in the UK. This means that, due to people’s religious beliefs causing the benefice’s handling of your personal data to be deemed ‘special category’ we have to be especially careful about how we handle your details. One result is that we need your specific prior permission on how to contact you. If we need to contact you other than at a church service we need your specific permission and we are asking, one last time, that those who have not yet done so to fill in the GDPR General Consent form available at the back of each of our churches (and return them to the church office) or, preferably, fill in the online form which you can get to at the top of the home page at the benefice website. Please note that the website automatic e-mail updates is entirely separate from this more general consent that we need from you.

 

This is our final call! Without your specific permission we cannot legally contact you and you may therefore miss out on important matters.

 

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Jackie

Dementia Friends

Dementia Friends

Dementia Friends

 

On a warm sunny evening 22 representatives from most of the congregations or churches in the Benefice gathered for a beautiful evening in All Saints Mattishall where we had gentle fun, fellowship and education about dementia led by the Rev Gill Wells from Shipdham.

 

An overwhelming majority of us knows of someone with dementia and we all have preconceptions about it.

 

Gill acknowledges she is not an expert but she led us through an evening where we learnt and appreciated the Five Key Messages of becoming dementia friends:

 

  1. Dementia is not a natural part of ageing.
  2. Dementia is caused by diseases of the brain.
  3. Dementia is not just about losing your memory – it can affect thinking, communications and doing everyday tasks.
  4. It is possible to live well with dementia.
  5. There’s more to a person than the dementia.

 

So now we can state that most of our congregations or churches have people within them who are dementia friends and they can impart their new found knowledge to others in the church.  We can do more to say we are dementia friendly churches and those new dementia friends (and anyone else interested) can see more information her ein a dementia-friendly-church-guide.

 

For those of you who missed the course and would like to join in, do let me know and I can see about another evening or I can put you in touch with Gill direct and you can join in one of her other courses. 

 

The course takes about 1 hour and we had food and drink after, naturally!  We can invite businesses in our area and anyone who we think may benefit from this short course.

 

Jackie Crisp

 

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Mark

Cynthia Wake

Cynthia Wake

On the 26th March, we had to say goodbye to Cynthia, whose sudden death has shocked and saddened us all. She passed away so quickly that I can’t quite believe that we will no longer be seeing her walk into a room with her bag of hassocks, or hear her sermons, or receive her wisdom.

My first encounter with Cynthia was at my interview in ASM in May 2012. She was at the “Readers” table and straight away asked me of my opinions of lay ministry and my experience of working with Readers. At the time I was struck by her quick mind and strong presence - and a little flustered. Only now as I look back can I also see the evidence of the many interviews she must have conducted as Director of Education (I hope I measured up!). In the six years since, I have been so grateful for those qualities and the way she used them here amongst us and to the glory of God.

Although the manner of her passing was so sudden, I am grateful that she didn’t suffer a long decline and that she was able to keep on serving and preaching right up to the end.

In Paul’s passionate letter to the Philippians, he speaks of his longing for a deeper relationship with Jesus and experience of the resurrection (3:10), combined with his determination to keep on with all his energy and drive in the service of his saviour (3:12-14).

He ends the section like this “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!”

As we remember Cynthia, her service, her friendship and her place among us, Paul’s words apply to her and us too. Our citizenship is in heaven and through Jesus Christ our bodies will be transformed to be like Jesus’ resurrection body (c.f 1 Corinthians 15) – and our response to this should be, as Cynthia’s was, to stand firm in the Lord and serve him with all of our heart.

Thank you

I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who was present at and participated in the service for Cynthia. It was a great way of honouring her service to us. I am sorry that its timing meant some of you couldn’t be there but that was really out of our control.
Please continue to pray for Gerald and June Rootham and Noel Alexander as they act as her executors.

In memory of Cynthia

Any donations in Cynthia’s memory will go towards two things close to her heart: Money will be given to the Church Mission Society’s work in Latin America (this is where she served as a missionary) and money will be used to set up an award or other project in Cynthia’s memory at Hockering school. Please be generous. Money can be given to the church office or via Littleproud’s Funeral Services.

Mark

 

 

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Alan

In case you are wondering what all the fuss concerning GDPR is about

In case you are wondering what all the fuss concerning GDPR is about

The Bible Society has just been fined £100,000 for allowing a hacker to get to the details of thier supporters. Please see this link.

 

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Jackie

Thought for the month(s) - June and July 2018

Thought for the month(s) - June and July 2018

"The Rule of St. Benedict, a repository of wisdom for monastic living around 15 centuries old, has found new admirers in recent decades for its balance, common sense and good humour. It begins with the world 'Listen'. A wise person listens well, is attentive and not continuously distracted by other demands. Listening and restfulness seem closely connected. In the Letter of James in the New Testament there's an instruction, 'Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.' Put that into practice and I think we might learn a bit more about rest. Certainly, it's advice I need to heed." Thought for the Day - Wednesday 28th Septemeber 2016, The Rt. Revd. Graham James, Bishop of Norwich.

This week, Bishop Graham announced that he will be retiring early next year. Being a Radio 2 listener myself, I hadn't realised he is a regular contributor to Radio 4 - just one of so many aspects to his ministry. He is a great speaker, characterising 'balance, common sense and good humour' in abundance, along with great wisdom and faith. The legacy he will leave in this area and much wider is immense and he will be a very hard act to to follow. He and his wife are returning to Cornwall - a beautiful place to move into a season of rest, of listening and of restfulness, with fewer distractions from other demands. A retirement well earnt.

Please continue to pray for Mark during his sabbatical. He is using this time to listen and be attentive, without the continuous distractions and other demands on his time that parish ministry brings. We pray that, through this, he comes back truly rested.

With every blessing,

Jackie.

 

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Alan

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation 2018)

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation 2018)

The new General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (aka GDPR) is almost upon us. If you are a member or former member of one of our congregations or are in regular contact with us with regard to activities we undertake, then the benefice is entitled to hold relevant data on you as this is deemed a "legitimate activity" under GDPR. However, for us to be able to contact you, we need your specific consent for how to do that contacting. Note this is distinct from the benefice website's own "Email Updates" section, which is handled entirely in its own section on this website.

For us to be able to contact you when GDPR comes into force on 25th May 2018, we need you to tell us specifically which contact methods, i.e. which of:

 

  • Email
  • Phone
  • Post
  • Text (SMS)

we can use, if any. We will make some paper forms available in our churches, which you can use to let us know by filling one in for yourself, signing it and then returning it to the Church Office. However, it would help us greatly if you would kindly fill in an online form instead as we can import the online form data directly into our database without Teresa and Mandy having to copy everything from the paper form.

Since both paper forms and data from the online form could get forged, we will contact you afterwards to confirm that the details from the form (paper or online) are correct. To fill in an online form, please go to here. (PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS LINK WAS CHANGED ON 30TH MAY AS THE PREVIOUS ONE HAD STOPPED WORKING CORRECTLY.)

If you have any questions, please contact us at gdpr@matvchurch.uk.

 

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Sally

2018 Elections of lay persons to Diocesan Synod

2018 Elections of lay persons to Diocesan Synod

The 2018 Elections of lay persons to Diocesan Synod will take place between May 25th-June 19th this year. We are part of Dereham in Mitford which may elect 4 representatives.

If you would like to apply please collect a nomination form from the Church Office or Sally.

The nomination form needs to be sent to Rev Gill Wells at The Rectory, Church Close, Shipdham, IP25 7LX by 16th June, 2018 please.  

 

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Sally

Thy Kingdom Come

As a benefice we are participating in the prayer initiative “Thy Kingdom Come”, praying alongside Christians all over the world between Ascension Day and Pentecost.  A prayer booklet is available from your parish church along with a local focus prayer sheet as from Sunday, 6th May.

 

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Alan

Data Privacy Notice

Data Privacy Notice

As you may be aware a new regulation is coming into force on 25th May 2018 called the General Data Protection Regulation (aka GDPR). This gives individuals greater control over the way other people and organisations handle data about those individuals and is to be welcomed. In accordance with GDPR we have created a Data Privacy Notice (based on an example created by the Church of England) to explain how we handle data within our benefice and is available from the Resources section of this site. If you have any questions about  it, including what any part of it means, please do contact me via the benefice office or directly via email in the first instance. My details are in the Who's Who section of this site.

Alan Cossey

 

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Alan

Using this website

Using this website

Please do sign up to receive automatic email updates for benefice-related events shown on this website. To do this, please click the Email Updates link at the top of the screen (or the one at the bottom). The process is pretty clear, but if you have any problems do please refer to Videos on how to use Email Updates. On the video you will hear Alan's dulcet tones guiding you through what to do and showing you the entire process.

Note that if you currently receive email updates from the benefice office on Fridays please be aware that the last of these will be on Friday 18th May. Thereafter, you will need to use this website's Email Updates to receive notifications by email. We will continue to provide verbal notices at services and in Benefice News (or similar). An advantage with signing up for email updates, particularly if you sign up for the daily option, you will hear about the event soon after it is entered onto the website and will be reminded of the event shortly before it takes place.

 

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Jackie

Thought for the month - February 2018

Another new year is upon us and I’m sure I am not the only one who has gone into 2018 with plans to change certain things. Perhaps, like me, you plan to lose a bit of weight and get fit, to de-clutter, to spend more time reading (especially my Bible!)…..

Well, one month in, I wonder how your plans are going. Mine aren’t going too well so far, but I’ll keep trying!

I wonder whether you have resolved to address any deeper issues. Perhaps there is someone who you have lost touch with and you are being prompted to re-connect. Maybe you are aware that, deep down, you are still angry or hurt about something from the past that is holding you back. Or are you carrying a fear, for your health, your finances, a relationship, your family?

Surely all of us carry a burden from the past, a worry in the present, or a fear of what lies ahead, in some form or another. When listening to the news around the world, it prompts me to wonder why I give my cluttered cupboards or my clothes feeling too tight a second thought! However, our worries, even if they appear small to others, are very real to us.

I heard this hymn (What a friend we have in Jesus) on Songs of Praise this afternoon and the words resonated strongly:

Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Oh, what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer

Sometimes, we are so busy carrying our worries and fears in our backpacks, looking down as we struggle under the weight or straight ahead intent on going in our own direction, that we forget to carry them to Jesus. Matthew 11:28 says “Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads. I will give you rest” and 1 Peter 5:7 “Give all your worries to Him, because He cares for you.”

Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness
Take it to the Lord in prayer

 Perhaps that is the only resolution we need. Then all we need to do is listen for His answer.

With every blessing for 2018.

Jackie Clay

 

 

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Alan

New website

New website

We are currently moving to a new website for the Mattishall and Tud Valley Benefice. It is based on a system set up by Adrian Miller, rector of the Mulbarton group of parishes and their website can be seen at mulbchurch.org.uk Other churches using the same setup are Tas Valley (tasvalley.org) and St. Catherine's at Mile Cross in Norwich (stcatherinesmilecross.org.uk/).

As of early February 2018 I am concentrating on properly understanding events, special events and diary events as they get handled in slightly different ways and appear on email updates differently. I have also asked ASM members for ideas on what to put on the ASM page. I'll move onto other parishes when that has been sorted out.

 

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