Matt Earwicker

Remembering HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

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Dear friends,

Yesterday was a day of sad news for all of us, but especially for Her Majesty the Queen and the royal family. Please hold them in your thoughts and prayers.

At such a time as this, there would usually be many opportunities for individuals to show their respect and gratitude to the Prince, as well as their love and concern for the Queen. However, we are still limited in what we can do, and Her Majesty has made it clear that she does not wish any of the mourning to put anyone at increased risk and that therefore no special exceptions are made to general regulations at this time.

In the light of these restrictions, it seemed that the simplest and legally safest approach was to change our services tomorrow (Sunday 11th April) to give people a chance to pay their respects.

As always, let me encourage you to make your decisions based on your own circumstances. No one should put themselves or others at extra risk. To this end, weather- and technology-permitting, we intend to offer the following options:

1 Services in each parish church, with attendance up to the maximum allowed under Covid regulations. Each service will also be amplified into the church yard. This way if the numbers are above the maximum, or if you simply prefer not to gather inside at this time, it should be possible for you to join with others.

2 The service in St Andrew’s, Heddington will be streamed live via Facebook. The link is https://www.facebook.com/events/272555127835005/ and should work even if you do not have a Facebook account. However, the internet is not always reliable, so please accept my apologies if this doesn’t work, and consider option 3 below.

3 A recording of that service will be made available afterwards on this website to watch when you wish.

The service times are as follows:

St Mary’s, Calstone 9.45am
St James’, Cherhill 10am
St Andrew’s, Heddington 11.15am
St Swithin’s, Compton Bassett 2.30pm
All Saints, Yatesbury 4pm

With every blessing

Matt and team

Villages magazine back, and Easter services update

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It feels like an age since I last had something to update here. This time, two pieces of good news:

Because the rate of infection is falling, we have decided to restart the Villages magazine. It will be slightly staggered, so that each issue can provide information matching the stages of the Roadmap, so won’t be coming out on the first of each month like usual.

Secondly, we are going to be having more services in our churches again. These will begin with a service of Holy Communion in each church on Easter Sunday. Details of these and the rest of the services for April can be found here, in the Villages magazine, and in the “News” section of the website. This is a reduced rota, partly because it is still challenging to provide services in the current climate, but also because without singing and chat not everyone wants to be back in church. There will be an online service available each week as well, as long as we can manage.

Don’t forget to send me your pictures on the theme of Hope or New Start by next Sunday.

Blessings

Matt

Villages magazine pause

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We have decided to once again suspend publication of the Villages magazine. This is for 3 reasons:

  1. While the risks involved in delivering the magazines are small, any unnecessary risk should be avoided,
  2. The government has asked us to stay at home, and we want to support that message by not making extra journeys, and
  3. In any case, there is little material and so much uncertainty at the present, that it would be confusing to put in adverts which are not correct or where dates have had to be changed.

Whether we restart in March or April depends on the course of the pandemic and the success of the vaccinations.

Your subscriptions (and advertising) will of course be extended

Blessings
Matt and team

Christmas update 23rd December 2020

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Dear all

Given the large number of changes the government has had to make recently, I thought it might be useful to update you regarding services in the Oldbury Benefice this Christmas.

First, as yet no services have been cancelled. Even in Tier 4 the government permits public worship to continue provided appropriate measures are taken to keep people safe. We feel that our measures are at least in line with best practice, and if you follow the rules, we can continue to meet safely.

However, I am aware that many of you feel it is no longer appropriate to gather, and I have much sympathy for that position. In fact, I would go so far as to say something I never thought I would say as a vicar – if you are able to get through this Christmas without coming to church, maybe you should do so! To help with that, I will be putting a communion service online (on Youtube) on Christmas Eve at 11pm, so that you can use it instead of a midnight communion service or on Christmas morning itself. Do please consider seriously whether this would be the better option for you and your loved ones.

If you do come to one of the services (and you are most welcome to do so, although you do need to pre-book for Calstone and Heddington, and it would be helpful if you could let me know for Cherhill or Compton Bassett), please follow the rules carefully. If we reach our capacity, I regret that we will have to turn people away. This is something else I never expected to do as a vicar, but please understand why it may be necessary.

Please stay safe this Christmas.

With prayers and blessings

Matt

Carol and Christmas Services – keeping each other safe

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As you hopefully already know, Cherhill, Heddington and Yatesbury will be holding outdoor carol services this year. We are all very grateful not only that this is possible, but also that a limited amount of singing is also permitted.

However, no one wants these wonderful events to be the cause of suffering, so could I ask you to follow the guidelines below so that we look after everyone.

1 Hands, face, space. As usual, please come with washed hands, face masks and keep your distance from others. I know we are outside, but wearing masks will reduce the risk even further, so please do consider this seriously, especially while singing.

2 Keep the volume down. The risk of spreading covid is linked to the volume of sound produced rather than whether you are singing or speaking. Could we ask you therefore to sing at a normal conversation level, even if the carols lend themselves to enthusiasm.

3 Follow the one way system. This is intended to keep everyone apart as much as possible.

4 Stick to your cone. We will have measured out 4m between each cone. This should allow you to gather as a group of up to 6 around a cone while still keeping 2m from anyone else. Please don’t move away from that cone (except to leave), even though I know it is tempting to look for a better line of sight sometimes.

5 Respect the numbers. We think there is more than enough space at each venue for the people with links to that village, church or school. They are intended for these people only (and of course family if you have decided to gather for a Christmas bubble). Once we have reached our safe limits we will have to turn people away. Please understand that we would LOVE to host everyone who wants to be there, but safety is the most important consideration.

6 Please do not hang around for long afterwards.

Sorry for all the “don’ts”. I hope they are all straightforward, and you can understand how they meet what we are all being asked to do at these times. We want these services to bring joy rather than sickness. To that end, we are more than happy for you to share these experiences with others via video (including live via FaceTime or similar), but I would be grateful if you respected the privacy of others there by not sharing images or videos publicly in social media without the permission of those who can be clearly seen in them, especially children.

Looking forward to sharing a safe and joyful Christmas with you all.

Matt and the team.

If you wish to view the Risk Assessments for the outdoor carol services please click on the village you are interested in to download a PDF file.

Heddington

Cherhill.