Newsletter for Sunday July 12th

Guidance for the safe conduct of our worship during this pandemic.

Please refer to the simple Mass sheet on your pew. After Mass, please take all papers with you. We are also required by Government to compile a list of names and contact details for Track and Trace. This information will be held for 21 days then destroyed.

Today our Gospel is the Parable of the Sower and it is recorded in three of the four biblical Gospels – Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, and Luke 8:1-15. The human heart is like receptive soil to the seed of the Word of God. Jesus used this analogy in the Parable of the Sower. The soil that the seed fell on represents four categories of hearers’ hearts, four different reactions to the Word of God: the hard heart, the shallow heart, the crowded heart, and the fruitful heart.

FAREWELL TO RUTH & NICK. As Ruth and Nick Leach-Stephens have stood down and resigned as Churchwardens, we hope to mark their many years of faithful service. We extend our sincere thanks to them for their deep commitment and stalwart service to Holy Trinity Church. You can contribute to a congregational collection to offer them a fitting gift to mark their significant contribution to the life of the parish, especially during the time when there was no Rector in post. Please see Clive, Mary or Dave for collection.

Annual Parish Meeting – Sunday July 26th The APM will take place immediately after Mass. We hope that this will be the shortest APM on record, but we need to conduct the formal business of the parish as required by Canon Law. If you are interested in serving on the PCC, we have 9 vacant places to fill. We have to date two applications for nomination for Churchwardens, the office is open to all who qualify under the Church Representation Rules 2020. We are still needing a new PCC secretary, but the good news is we have the offer of a new Safeguarding Officer in Mr Paul Gorham. Exciting times indeed!

READERS ROTA – It would be good to re-start our regular readers rota for Sunday Mass. Perhaps that is another area of Church life you might like to consider? See Fr Paul or any existing reader.

HOLY TRINITY SCHOOL We are very pleased to announce that on September 23rd the Bishop of Dover, The Right Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin will be visiting our Church school for worship and to address the school, and also to see what we get up to in our amazing school.

Can you help us? In various places around our Church building we have weed growth on external walls, these need to be first treated with a weed killer via a spray, then when dead, removed. This will entail the use of a ladder in some places, so Health and Safety is paramount. Also, there are a few rusty air grills around the building which according to the latest architect’s inspection need to be either cleaned down and re-painted or replaced. Is this the kind of small task you might assist with? Please speak with Fr Paul for details.

The current financial situation at HTR.

Over the time of the lockdown, now almost four months we have been managing to pay our bills and cover our utility costs, but this has placed a great strain on how we keep going as a Church. Our parish share to the Diocese which covers the stipend of the priest, along with the Rectory and pension costs as well as Diocesan administration is well over £60,000 per year. Our insurance costs on the building alone are £3,500 per year. Heat, light and water and cleaning and gardens cost us over £6,000 per annum.

As your priest, I want to record a very real thank you to all those people who continue to support our Parish Church with a weekly/monthly offering. The PCC also extend thanks to all those new people who have signed up as regular givers by BACS payment or Direct Debit. If you wish to set up a Direct Debit for your giving and help our church here is our Church Bank details: Nat West Bank: Sort code 60-17-17 Account: 82912408. Thank you!

Good News! I can report that this week we received a very generous gift towards Church funds of £9,000 which has been gift aided. This means that £10,800 will be given to our Church. Thank you to the anonymous donor. God is good!

Your guide to the Sunday Mass while in Pandemic!

There will be no public singing, as this is still a sure way of transmitting the virus through droplets. We are however allowed to have a single cantor to sing from an area away from the congregation.

We will not share the Peace with hugs or handshakes. We will simply look at each other as we say Peace be with you. No physical contact is the safest way to avoid catching the virus.

No kneeling at the altar rail. Communion will be administered in single file by standing before the priest, with social distancing between other communicants as they approach the priest.

Communion only given in one kind! No wine from the chalice. During the Prayer of Consecration, the ciborium containing the hosts will be closed with its lid in place to reduce droplets. The priest will be replacing the normal Lavabo (washing hands) with the use of hand sanitiser.

Communion will be given only by the priest using silver tongs on to the palms of the hand, not the tongue. The priest will not say the words “The Body of Christ” to every communicant, but to all before distribution, thus keeping any possibility of contact or droplets to a minimum. The priest will be wearing a mask at the time of communion for your safety and his.

There will be no use of Hymn books or Mass books, only a single sheet to be taken away by the individual worshipper after Mass. Please, do not leave them in Church after you have touched them.

As you leave, keep a social distance from your friends.

No Sunday School until at least September.

No collection to be taken, but collection plates will be available in various parts of the Church for you offering.

Seating arrangements will be clearly marked on pews to allow for safe social distancing. However, if you come as one family or members of one household, you may sit together, but keep a distance from non-family members, ideally in a different pew.

Fr Paul will continue to say the daily office at 9:00am and 5:00pm Tuesday – Friday and 5:00pm on Saturday. People are free to join him but without books. This will be a reflective listening experience of prayer and reflection.