Autumn Termcard

We would love you to join us at St Stephen’s in the Autumn. The attached file shows details of our upcoming activities. Highlights include:

• Harvest celebration, 18 October

• Remembrance day service, 8th November, with a seminar that evening to consider how we reconcile our faith in God with suffering in our world

• A three week course looking at Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son, giving the chance to think back over the basics of the Christian faith

• Carol service, 13th December

• In our Sunday sermons we will be reading John 8-12, thinking about the nature of real faith and then the book of Malachi which will help us to think about nature of real repentance.

• We will be launching a third Bible study group, meeting on a Tuesday evening. This will give us groups meeting on Tuesday evening, Wednesday evening and a Thursday morning. The groups will look together at the middle chapters of Luke’s gospel, where Jesus sets his face for the cross.

Meeting during COVID

As we meet during COVID-19 we have a number of procedures in place to help keep us safe. These include:

• We are keeping two metre social distancing between households within the church and have removed a number of chairs to facilitate this,

• Anybody entering the church will be given hand-sanitiser on entry,

• the government has made the wearing of face masks in a place of worship compulsory, other than for those with legal exemptions,

• We are ventilating the building with doors open at the front and back of the church from an hour before the service,

• We are not singing together as a whole congregation,

• We have stewards who will encourage people to sit down in a particular place as soon as they enter the building,

• We are exiting the building immediately after the service as directed by stewards,

• Most importantly, we are keeping a live link to our services through zoom. If you are shielding, in a vulnerable health category, or feel in any way uncomfortable coming into the church, please stay at home and log into the service through zoom. Others are doing the same and we are working hard to ensure that the “zoom experience” is good. The link for zoom is here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/122693181?pwd=RHVjbTd4STZwQlVTSEdQOVJsRnFoQT09 Meeting ID: 122 693 181 Passcode: 046849

Summer at St Stephen's

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What can faith say to COVID?

Lockdown Reflections: What can faith say to COVID?

We live in extraordinary and painful times. At the very least, our plans for 2020 have all been thrown up in the air; our routines have been destroyed; questions of life death confront us with a whole new gravity.

What difference does the Christian faith make at a time like this? When Christians speak of hope, what does that really mean? How can we move beyond vague wishful talk to a meaningful encounter with God? What is God saying to us in the midst of this? How do I pray to God right now?

The video below is a 15 minute reflection on a Christian Response to COVID. It was originally given as a talk to set up an on-line discussion of the issues.

If you would appreciate prayer or a phone call at this time please drop me a line on richard.dryer@ststephens.london

Rev’d Richard Dryer (Vicar, St Stephen’s Church)

A Deathless Pandemic?

Lockdown Reflections: A Deathless Pandemic?

We are in the midst of a lethal pandemic, but at what depth are we really talking about the painful topic of death?

Watch the 4 minute video below:

If you would appreciate prayer or a phone call at this time please drop me a line on richard.dryer@ststephens.london

Rev’d Richard Dryer (Vicar, St Stephen’s Church)

When all your plans are put on hold.

Lockdown Reflections: When all your plans are put on hold.

Whatever our five year plan was, it is now out the window.

Where do we find our sense of purpose in the midst of a lockdown? When we can’t do what we want to, when our plans are frustrated, how do we keep a sense of purpose and momentum?

Or to put it another way . . . to what extent do we allow our circumstances to define us or to what extent does our fundamental sense of purpose remain constant regardless of our situation?

Watch the 4 minute video below for Richard’s reflections:

If you would appreciate prayer or a phone call at this time please drop me a line on richard.dryer@ststephens.london

Rev’d Richard Dryer (Vicar, St Stephen’s Church)

If I was God, I wouldn't do it this way...

Lockdown Reflections: If I was God, I wouldn't do it this way . . .

so the question becomes, will I trust Him even now.

watch the 5 minute video below: