Guidance for praying for the upcoming GENERAL ELECTION

There can be a lot of fear and anger around elections.  As we come into prayer now, pause for a moment and present our hearts to the Holy Spirit, asking Him to bring us into His perspective.

For I am the LORD you God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you “DO NOT FEAR; I WILL HELP YOU” Isaiah 41:13

Prayer:  LORD, I know that You are so much bigger than anything we are facing in this nation.  Thank You that You reign above it all.  As I pray today, I ask You to lead me into Your perspective of the situation, full of Your comfort, Your authority and Your hope.  Amen.

PRAY FOR PEACE

‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders.  And He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’  Isaiah 9:6

Tensions run high around elections, so let’s pray for peace to cover every part of the process:

• That the Prince of Peace would reign over the nation with His peace.
• That God would help any frustration to be channelled into productive action and conversation.
• The if there is to be an exchange of power, it should happen peacefully and with respect.

PRAYER FOR VOTERS

‘But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. ‘ James 3:17

• Pray that God would give voters ‘wisdom from heaven’ so that they can be ‘impartial and sincere’.
• That the process of voting is safe for everyone.
• That voters make decisions with Godly wisdom, led by the Holy Spirit.

PRAY FOR OUR NATION

‘For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the in the heavenly realms. ‘ Ephesians 6:12.

There are spiritual realities involved in human circumstance, and Jesus has ultimate authority over every ‘spiritual force of evil’ in our world. Let’s pray against the darkness that is enflaming fear, despair, and violence in people’s hearts:

• That where there is division, God would bring unity and respect.
• Let’s bless each political party and different group with a heart for unity and cooperation.
• That where there are lies and false narratives, God would bring revelation and truth.
• That where there is despair, God would bring hope and vision.
• Jesus is at work in our nation. Let’s pray for His vision to inspire hope in our nation.

PRAY FOR THE MEDIA

‘Get rid of bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.’ Ephesians 4:31-32

Let’s pray that the media contribute to these elections in helpful ways:

• That reporting will be accurate and true.
• That the media will promote conversation rather than division.
• That there will be no ‘brawling and slander’ or malice, but rather words that speak the truth in love.
• That God will work among the media to shed light on what is hidden.

PRAY FOR THE CHURCH

‘For we are God’s handwork, created by Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do’ Ephesians 2:10

As we look to a future beyond these elections, let’s pray:

• That God establishes a government of justice and righteousness in our nation.
• That all forms of injustice and corruption are exposed and destroyed.
• That those in power actively fight against all forms of oppression and discrimination, allowing freedom to flourish.
• That mercy and compassion for all people are restored in laws, policies, and our hearts.

PRAY FOR THE FUTURE

‘I urge you to pray for all people.  Ask God to help them, intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.  Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity’ 1 Timothy 2:1-3

Let’s pray for the leaders who are involved in this election:

• That God would bless each candidate, successful or not, with wisdom and grace.
• That God would give our political leaders a heart for unity and peace.
• That God would intervene to bring leaders who will best serve His vision for our nation into power.
• That God will raise up righteous leaders who are trustworthy, ethical, and pure of heart.

PRAY FOR JUSTICE

‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: ”Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.  Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor.  In your hearts do not think evil of each other”   Zechariah 7:9-10

As we look to a future beyond these elections, let’s pray:

• That God establishes a government of justice and righteousness in our nation.
• That all forms of injustice and corruption are exposed and destroyed.
• That those in power actively fight against all forms of oppression and discrimination, allowing freedom to flourish.
• That mercy and compassion for all people are restored in laws, policies, and our hearts.

Prayer guidance courtesy of 24/7 Prayer 

As of Sunday 12th May, things are getting underway. When Archdeacon Catherine visited the benefice as part of her already planned "visitation" in April, she met for a short while with the churchwardens who had been already elected. All the churchwardens now elected and the Ministry Team* are going to meet with Catherine and our Rural Dean, Tim Weathersone, on Wednesday 5th June. In the meantime, Catherine will be meeting the Ministry Team on Monday 13th May.

For people who may be interested in becoming Rector of Mattishall and Tudd Valley Benefice, there is already some basic information available at www.dioceseofnorwich.org/about/about-vacancies/ Scroll down to "Upcoming Clergy Vacancies" and then to "Archeaconry of Lynn"

* What was formerly known as the Staff Team is now known as the Ministry Team, the term usually used throughout our diocese and in parish profiles used in vacancies like ours. As with many tltles it can be misunderstood, particularly as there are many in the benefice who exercise different ministries, but when you see "Ministry Team" please think "clergy and Licensed Lay Ministers (LLMs)".

We will be doing our very best to keep everyone up-to-date with things as they happen.

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.

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

Diocesan Digital Advent Calendar 2022

Transformed by Christ: Prayerful, Pastoral, Prophetic

This coming Advent Sunday (27^th 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

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

Bishop Graham has written a letter to us all asking us to continue to wear masks in services, including when we are singing, and to do lateral flow tests beforehand.

https://www.dioceseofnorwich.org/news/latest-covid-guidance-a-pastoral-letter-from-bishop-graham/

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.

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!

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:

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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!

I don’t normally plug stuff, but Hodder are offering the “NIV Audio Bible read by David Suchet” until Monday April 6^th 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)

If you have an item (event or news) that you would like to go on the website, it is a big help if it is supplied as text and an accompanying picture rather than just an image file (with text in that image). When just an image/picture is supplied it means having to retype the text into the website manually, which can take a little while. The size of any accompanying image you send is not a problem as this can easily be resized.

However, if you can only supply something as an image, then don't hold back. Do send it. The above is just to try and reduce the time involved in adding it to the website where we can.

The new Bishop of Norwich has been announced. Please see https://www.dioceseofnorwich.org/article?id=4120 for details.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.