From the Peachcroft Christian Centre

I got into church early and was the first to be seated. T and R were chatting on the sound desk. T ran through the slides and I heard a short preview of each hymn. People arrived in ones and twos. Then I heard a few voices at once, like the echoes in an underground station. 

 At the start of the service, T welcomed us all from the lectern, . She especially welcomed, Andrew, the preacher, from the Peachcroft Christian Centre, and remarked we don't get many people from there.

One of the hymns, 'Give Thanks to the Lord', was a video performed by people from Peachcroft Christian Centre. 

The sermon had the title 'Our Identity in Jesus'. The main point being how closely we identify with Jesus. Andrew said the Christian life is like marriage where we give up part of our identity. He suggested spending more time in prayer as a start, and mentioned Prayer Force as a way into praying.

Returning to normality with caution

At Trinity Church in Abingdon this morning things are slowly returning to normal. For the first time people did not need to book in advance. However people were still socially distanced, and wore masks and there was no congregational singing. The songs were on videos. 

The preacher, Helen, was pinged by the NHS Covid-19 app on the way to church to say she needed to self isolate. She passed on her apologies and written prayers and sermon and they were read by another lay preacher. 

He began by saying you may have heard of the 'pingdemic' -  a play on words from “pandemic” and being 'pinged' or notified by the NHS app that you have been contact with somebody who has Covid-19 and should self isolate. 

He said that is why he was standing there before you instead of Helen. The service went smoothly and at the end Helen was complimented on her clear, and easy to read, notes.

Trinity Sunday

I was the door steward at Trinity Church and was waiting for the first people to arrive. I looked out through the half arch of the door to the blue blossoms of the ceanothus and yellow blossoms of a laburnum tree over the road. A car idled and birds chirruped and whistled. J and M came first and so I greeted them and ticked them off the pre-booking list. L was next to arrive. She was on her scooter and reversed it into a space by the door. The booking sheet had 20 people and next to her name was the comment 'reader'. There followed a rush of people, including S who was preaching, and Ba, who I added to the list - as she had forgot to book. At half past ten, S came to ask if we were expecting any more. G and M, the last two, came in at that moment. Ga asked when we were going to stop wearing masks. I said, 'possibly June 21st, depending on government advise.'

The Covid safety measures are the same as when the church opened after the first lockdown with masks and spaced seating and no singing. The first hymn video that played was 'Open the eyes of my heart, Lord'.

S's reflection was on the icon by 15th Century Russian painter, Andrei Rublev, known both as 'The Trinity' and 'The Hospitality of Abraham.' She said the Trinity was discerned by the early church and is not easy to explain but this icon can help us. It was made for prayer and can help us focus on God the Trinity and experience not in words but as a window. Selina then took us through a meditation on the icon with silences. S said we are included in the picture as there is a space for us at the front together with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.