29 January 2021

Dear Crofton Parish,

January has felt like it’s been 2,431 days long, so it’s a relief to get to the end of it.

Thanks for all your support and kind words about the farewell to Gavin & Christina Collins and family and the Churches

Together service from last Sunday. Both events were special moments in our community life and I’m so grateful we

were able to mark them together.

While in-person services and Streams are suspended right now (apart from the Thursday morning service), many groups

have been finding ways to meet online. I appreciate the creativity and commitment so many of you have put into

continuing to be the people of God together, meeting and supporting one another as best we can. It’s likely that

Lockdown 3.0 will continue for some time, so let’s keep gathering online as groups and Streams, encouraging and

looking out for one another.

VISION 2021 – DAYS OF PRAYER

Through the spring, we will be holding 3 Days of Prayer. The dates and themes are:

Thu 4 Feb The Pandemic & The NHS

Thu 4 Mar Our Community & Frontline Workers

Thu 1 Apr Our Country & Spiritual Awakening

These days are a simple way to practise Jesus’ instruction to ‘remain’ in him. The first Day of Prayer is this Thursday.

Both churches will be open for private prayer:

Holy Rood from 11am-4pm and from 7-8pm

St Edmund’s from 3-4pm

Attached to this letter you will also find a flyer about how you can Pray at Home. On the Crofton Parish website, you will

find resources you can use to help you and your household pray. There will be a few different resources, so you can use

them through the day or just pick one or two that particularly work for your situation. Parents, we have tried to create

simple resources with families in mind, so your kids can join in too.

Our Days of Prayer will be important moments through this term when we can seek the Lord. I do hope you’ll join in.

You may also like to join in with our Archbishops call to prayer at 6pm every evening during the month of February to

pause, reflect and remember the 100,000 individuals who have died in the UK as a result of the Covid pandemic, and to

pray for their loved ones.

Zoom Interviews with Emily Horne and Lois Gouldstone

As you may know, we have a few people from both churches who work in the NHS, including at QA hospital. I was

privileged last week to record two Zoom interviews with Emily Horne and Lois Gouldstone. Emily is a nurse on the

Intensive Care Unit at QA and Lois is a Nurse Clinical Practitioner in the Emergency Department. As you can imagine,

both interviews are moving accounts of what it means to be on the frontlines of the pandemic at QA.

Clips from these interviews will be available as part of the Day of Prayer on Thursday and we’ll be sharing the whole

interviews shortly after that. Do look out for them on the Parish website and Holy Rood Facebook page.

As I mentioned last week, we are partnering with Paul & Becca Chamberlain at St Faith’s, Lee-on-the-Solent, to offer the

excellent ‘Raising Faith’ parenting course from Care for the Family. This will be a 6-session course offered over Zoom for

anyone who wants tips and advice on how to inspire their children’s faith.

The course is not just for parents but also for carers, grandparents and godparents. Each session gives you the

opportunity to discuss your own experiences and explore some key parenting principles.

The course runs for six weeks, starting Monday 1 February on Zoom, 7.45-9.30pm. There is a suggested donation of £5

towards the cost of the course, and for that you will receive a copy of the course booklet in the post for you to use each

week. Sign up by visiting http://stfaithslee.org/raising-faith/

Finally…

Next Sunday, 7 February, will be our next Church Online with Zoom for Families! These have become such a great way

for us to be community together for all generations, enriching our worship and learning. Families will receive a separate

email early in the week with login details, so do look out for that.

You can contact the Parish Office at any time if you need practical help or prayer using the usual contact details.

This week at Church Online we will be hearing from the Open team who are offering a new Listening Service for anyone

who just needs someone to talk to. Do join in on Sunday to find out more. I am grateful to this wonderful group and all

they offer to our community.

With much love,

Richard

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