Welcome to St John’s Hyde Park
We are delighted that you have chosen to join our community today. A special welcome to the friends and family of Georgina Elsey, who was ordained yesterday at St Paul’s Cathedral and who begins her ministry among us as a deacon this morning. You can download an order of service on the Welcome page of the website if you prefer not to use a preprinted copy : www.stjohs-hydepark.com.
We want everyone worshipping at St John’s this morning to be as safe a place as possible and to minimise the risks of catching Covid-19, guidelines have been drafted and sent out by e-mail. They are also on display in the porch and on our website at https://tinyurl.com/y2v4jzgm. In compliance with government guidance, we are required to have an informal community behaviour agreement and the guidelines will constitute this In summary, please observe the following:
If you are displaying any of the Covid-19 symptoms – high temperature, continuous cough or a change in your normal sense of taste & smell – please do not come into church but self-isolate and arrange for a test.
Please sanitise your hands when you enter the building. A volunteer is on duty with sanitiser just inside the main glass doors or you can wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soapy water in the toilets. If washing your hands, please use a paper towel to operate the taps.
If you have not already given us your contact details electronically, please do so now. This information will be held for 21 days and only used in what we anticipate will be an unlikely outbreak of Covid-19 which could be traced to someone attending St John’s.
Seats have been set out in clusters of 2, 3, 4 and 5 chairs. Please sit in a cluster appropriate for the size of your household, filling the church from the front.
Orders of service have been printed in advance and placed on the chairs on Sunday morning by a member of staff masked and gloved. Please take your order of service away with you at the end of the service.
At the collection, a member of staff masked and gloved will circulate with a collection plate. Place your cash or Gift Aid envelope in the plate but please do not touch it.
When exchanging the peace, please remain within your household cluster. Feel free to smile or wave at those in other households but do not make any physical contact with anyone outside of your household.
For communion, please remain standing at your seat. Lower your face mask by unhooking the loop around one ear, after which your hands will be sanitised. The clergy will bring the bread to you and place a wafer in your hand. If you prefer to receive a blessing instead, cross your hands over your chest. After you have consumed the bread, reattach your face mask in place over your mouth and nose.
At the end of the service, please remain in your seats until directed to leave the church by a member of staff. It will be tempting to socialise outside, but please remember that you can only do so with your own household or in a group of no more than six people – and then keeping 2 metres’ distance between each of you.
At present we regret that we are unable to offer hospitality after the service.
Children and Young Families
We are delighted to have so many families with young children as members of our congregation. At present, there is no Kids’ Club so children will stay with their households at all times throughout the service and afterwards when leaving the church. Please do bring along with you anything that your children may need during the service as we are unable to make pew bags, soft toys, books or any other items available.
Toilets with changing facilities are available near the entrance of the church but remember to wipe down all surfaces you have touched before going back into church. If for any reason your child becomes restless or upset during the service, please feel free to use the forecourt as a breakout space.
Each week there is a children’s story and activity on the children’s page on our website: https://www.stjohns-hydepark.com/children. Big children as well as smaller ones will find it interesting.
Coming to church on Sunday?
https://www.stjohns-hydepark.com/ordersofservice
To help us plan, if you are reading the electronic version of these notices in advance of Sunday and intend to come to church, please click on the link above. So far we have comfortably seated everyone who has come to church each Sunday, but it is helpful to know in advance if you are attending.
Hearing the Service
St John’s has an Induction Loop System so if you have a hearing aid, please switch it to the ’T’ setting.
Congratulations Revd Georgina Elsey!
This morning we formally welcome our new assistant curate, The Revd Georgina Elsey. Georgina starts her ministry among us as a deacon, having been ordained yesterday afternoon by the Bishop of London in St Paul’s Cathedral. There will be a special welcome liturgy after the Gloria and an opportunity to celebrate Georgina’s ordination with a special socially distanced glass of fizz on the forecourt after the service. Georgina follows in the footprints of previous deacons, assisting at the Eucharists and in the pastoral care and leadership of the parish.
This Morning’s Music
Covid guidance has been relaxed so that we can now have more than one singer and we are very pleased to welcome a guest choir for this morning’s service of Emma Jones, Holly-Marie Bingham, Ted Black and Ed Jowle, who will be singing an adapted version of our usual Glastonbury mass setting accompanied by Ruth Stockdale, Alex Birchall & Bryony James.
Following this morning’s service we have a special mini-concert featuring our Director of Music, Robert Greenhill, on the organ, kindly sponsored by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Ten Minutes with Betty
Coming up to the 5th anniversary of the new life of Betty I thought I would give air to some of the pipes you have missed because of the limitations on volume due to Covid-19. Born 1865 and revived 2015, today’s potpourri of music shows her off as being an instrument that can encompass a great range of styles of music throughout the centuries.
Dialogue - F Couperin 17th century
Prelude in C Minor - J S Bach 17th century
Flute Piece - T Thorley 18th century
Toccata - L Boellmann 19th century
Psalm prelude set 1 no 2 - H Howells 20th century
Litanies - J Alain 20th century
You will notice over the next few weeks that her pedal section will be lying in the north isle due to recent water damage to the ceiling now being addressed.
This Morning’s Hospitality
To mark Georgina’s ordination, we will have a socially distanced Covid-compliant fellowship time on the forecourt after the service. Please gather in groups of no more than six around one of the bistro tables on the forecourt. A member of staff, masked and gloved, will hand out specially prepared packs containing a flute and packet of crisps. Members of staff, masked and gloved, will then circulate, filling your flute, but only once! For those who prefer a non-alcoholic alternative, packets with apple juice and crisps are also available. When you have finished, please put your glass and any rubbish back in the plastic bag to be collected and dealt with Covid-compliantly. Please do not move between groups and remember to stay socially distanced!
Rainy Day Appeal
Target : £40,000
Raised: £40,000!!
A huge thank you to so many who have contributed to raising the £40,000 both before and during Covid! What a fantastic achievement to complete our appeal! These funds will be used to make repayments on the loan we took out from the diocese of London in 2017 which enabled us to finish the high level repairs to the gutters and masonry.
Keep Calm! Keep Alert! Keep Giving!
We continue to give thanks for the financial commitment of so many of you in making weekly or monthly contributions electronically or in the collection plate. Now that the church has reopened for public worship, collections have likewise resumed although it is safer to make your donations electronically directly to our bank account. Our details are:
Name: PCC St Johns Hyde Park
Bank: HSBC
Sort Code: 40-11-58
Account #: 80108251
Donations given electronically still qualify for Gift Aid as your name will appear alongside your donation. If you have any questions about giving, please speak to Bryan Sollenberger.
Harvest Festival Supporting Age UK
This year we are asking for contributions of food to donate to Age UK at our harvest festival service on Sunday 4th October. Please bring small and easy to open packets and tins, as this helps with the weight distribution and access. In particular, Age UK have asked for small tins of stewed beef. There will be a collection point at the back of church. This will support their food hub at St. John’s in delivering food parcels to their most vulnerable clients throughout Westminster each week. For more information and a list of donation suggestions, see ageuk.org.uk/westminster/our-services/coronavirus-covid-19/. We will also have a bucket collection to support the Paddington Food Bank.
Popup Theatre Comes to St Johns
Thursday, 8th October, 7.30pm
There / Where / Here: Three allegories of modern communication
A woman gets stuck in the past talking to a machine. A child leaves a message not knowing if it will be heard. Three people try to decide if they want to see the future. Are any of them aware of what is happening in the present? Come and join us outside the church for an evening of socially distanced theatre for the local community.
Tickets: Adult £10 / Child £5
Tuesday: Quiz Night, 8pm
Our quiz maestro Damon Greeney returns with more tantalising teasers to test your intellectual elasticity (on Zoom).
Join the Quiz
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82511356513?pwd=L0tobG1Ua2lxVkQ3bGcvRkRxNG9FQT09
Meeting ID: 825 1135 6513
Passcode: 993225
Wednesday Club
Wednesday Club is not meeting this week but will meet again next week.
Domestic Abuse
During these weeks of close proximity, the necessity to stay indoors with little opportunity to get some space can cause pressure and stress which we might normally handle quite comfortably. Relationships can get difficult at times for the best of us. Should you find things getting too much or out of hand and feel that you have been or may become a victim of abuse, help is available. Please ring 999 followed by 55. This will notify the police of the nature of your call. Don’t suffer in silence!
St John’s Book Club
The lockdown doesn’t mean you still can’t enjoy a good book! St John’s Book Club is currently reading The Offing, by Benjamin Myers and will meet via Zoom to discuss it on 26th October at 8pm. For further information about the book club, drop a line to parishadmin@stjohns-hydepark.com.
