Worship & Notices for September 2021
Our Circuit Churches are now open for in-person worship.
Most churches will be advising the congregation to continue to follow Covid precautions regarding hand sanitising, wearing masks and social distancing, etc.
If you feel uncomfortable attending in person there will still be online alternatives for you to use.
If you feel unwell at all please do not attend in person.
Now that we are back to worshipping together in person at Castle Methodist Church, these pages will be updated less frequently. Our morning services begin at 10.30am and will be Live Streamed on the internet from around 10.20am.
Zoom Services will “open” 15 minutes before the start time to allow everyone to join and settle in before beginning Worship together.
There will be no evening Zoom service when there is a 5th Sunday in the month.
Our services for September 2021 are detailed below:-
September 5th
We welcome Rev Alan Jenkins to lead our Communion service.
The evening Zoom Service will be led by The Ark at 6.30pm.
September 12th
Jo Eckersley returns to lead our worship once again.
The evening zoom service will be led by Castle at 6.30pm.
September 19th
Rev Alan Jenkins will lead our worship.
The evening zoom service will be led by Wivenhoe at 3pm.
September 26th
This service will be a Local Arrangement and will look at our Easter Offering for the on-going work of our church’s World Mission Department. More details are in our Newsletter.
The evening zoom service will be led by The Well at 6.30pm.
We continue to experiment with Live-Streaming the 10:30am Sunday Service from Castle. We have invested in a better camera and the results are well worth it. To view our services – by joining us Live or from the database of previous ones – they are all now available on Castle’s YouTube Channel here, and you can access the Live-Stream playlist here at any time. Alternatively, you can use the Live Stream link, from the Services page, on this website.
To join future services live from home, please Subscribe to the channel, and click the Notification Bell icon, to be notified when this service is about to go live. Contact someone from our technical team if you need more help with this. (It is free, and you can change your mind at any time. We need to reach 100 subscribers and then we can ask for a more memorable channel name, so please consider doing so if you have not already).
We will continue with the Zoom evening services for the whole Circuit on most Sunday evenings, hosted by various Churches. Your local email Hub Co-ordinator will send you an email with a link to join these. (If you haven’t received an email please contact one of your church stewards).
The YouTube channel for Colchester Methodists will not have videos uploaded regularly for the time being. You can access all of our existing material, including stories for Young People, at any time on the channel, and new material may be uploaded on an ad-hoc basis. If you are subscribed to that channel you should receive an email notification when this happens. https://www.youtube.com/ColchesterMethodists
If you haven’t already, don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the You Tube channel. It is FREE. (Just click on the SUBSCRIBE button), also click on the NOTIFICATION BELL ICON, then choose “all” as an option to receive an email notification / link each time a new video is uploaded. You can unsubscribe at any time, by clicking on the Subscribe button a second time.
Circuit Notices
The Circuit Plan for September to November will be available on our Downloads page.
Many Circuit Churhes, if not all, will be open for in-person worship during the next few weeks. Most churches will be advising the congregation to continue to follow Covid precautions regarding hand sanitising, wearing masks and social distancing, etc.
If you feel unwell at all please do not attend in person.
If you feel uncomfortable attending in person there will still be online alternatives for you to use.
For your thoughts and prayers:-
As we return to in-person worship, continue to remember all of our Circuit Ministers, Supernumeraries, and Lay Preachers in your prayers.
Rev Ken Chalmers is now back to full time working.
Rev Joe Adams remains unwell, and unable to carry out his usual duties for several weeks. Please pray for Joe, but do not contact him at this time. Any pastoral concerns should be directed to our Superintendent Rev Alan Jenkins by email or telephone.
The Circuit has been appointed as our new Circuit Administrator – pray for Helen as she settles into her new role.
Remember in your prayers folk from across the circuit who are suffering from various health problems at this time, and those who care for them.
Remember any members and friends who have recently tested positive for Covid-19, or who are isolating, and those known to us who are NHS or other keyworkers.
Remember those newly ordained at Conference in your prayers, and remember all those ministers and their families who will be moving Circuit in the coming weeks.
Zoom Bible Study Groups:
Bible study sessions for everyone in the Circuit are held weekly on Tuesday’s and led by Ken. The Zoom meeting will open at 7.15pm for informal chat with Bible Study commencing at 7.30pm.
We began our new study on The Acts of the Apostles on Tuesday 13th July. We will meet each Tuesday in September.
If you would like to join in this study please send an email to thearkhighwoods@gmail.com for more details, homework(!) and a Zoom link.
Invitation from The Ark:
We will be hosting a monthly service mid-week morning Reflections Service on Zoom on the SECOND Wednesday of each month. Anyone from the circuit wishing to join is very much welcome to do so, but you will first need to email thearkhighwoods@gmail.com for a Zoom invite.
Audio CD’s, and DVD’s, are being made available to anyone unable to view the online service. If you know of someone who would benefit from this please let a Minister or pastoral leader know.
For more information about these activities, or to tell us about your news from around the circuit for inclusion next time, please contact colchester.methodists@gmail.com
Be sure to keep yourselves safe and well.
Let someone know if you are struggling, if you need a chat, or just some shopping. Do contact your pastoral leader, or send someone an email: you may be in isolation, but you are not alone.
