In our parish, we keep our Crib and some of the decorations up until the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Candlemas on 2 February. We thus follow the medieval custom, not the Victorian custom of twelve nights and definitely not the modern secular custom of a Boxing Day clear out. Christmas in mediaeval … Continue reading Christmas Decorations
Prayer for the Blessing of Houses
It is traditional to recall the coming of the Magi by the 'chalking' of houses, asking for God's blessing for the coming year. Before the announcement of the 3rd National Lockdown I was planning to visit those who were happy for me to do so, but under present circumstances this is not possible to justify. … Continue reading Prayer for the Blessing of Houses
3rd National Lockdown
You may have heard the Prime Minister's announcement yesterday evening, Monday 4th January 2021, during which Her Majesty’s Government has instructed us, once again, to ‘stay at home’ unless we have a reasonable excuse to leave our homes. However, it seems from information published on the Government’s website after the Ministerial Broadcast that places of … Continue reading 3rd National Lockdown
Leicester in Tier 4
Following the governments decision to put Leicester in Tier 4 I revised the risk assessment for St Andrew's. We are still able to worship in the same way as in Tier 3 (socially distanced, no hospitality, no congregational singing, communion in one kind etc) but I think it is important to take even greater care … Continue reading Leicester in Tier 4
GAUDETE!
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.Indeed, the Lord is near. (Phil 4: 4-5) Today's service offered a reminder that even in this weird year there is reason to rejoice in the coming of Our Lord, and that one of the blessings in 2020 has been an increased awareness of the small joys … Continue reading GAUDETE!
Livestreaming Services versus Real Life
During the 2nd National Lockdown I live-streamed 2 services per week on the Parish Facebook page. The quality was questionable, the sound was abysmal and it happened with minimal resources: my phone, a stand and no Wifi anywhere. Luckily no cats participated. As we start worshipping publicly again today I am inclined to stop broadcasting … Continue reading Livestreaming Services versus Real Life
Christmas at St Andrew’s 2020
Christmas 2020 will obviously be different than in previous years, but it looks like that we will be able to worship in a meaningful way together, albeit without the usual carol singing, mince pies and jolly drinks in church after services. Within the likely framework of restrictions we are going to have the following services … Continue reading Christmas at St Andrew’s 2020
Collective Worship after 2nd National Lockdown
The Prime Minister has announced in the House of Commons that collective worship can resume in England on Thursday 3rd December 2020. Apparently the previous restrictions around social distancing, cleaning, hygiene, hospitality and congregational singing continue to apply. Details will be published via the Church of England Website in due course. Therefore we will start … Continue reading Collective Worship after 2nd National Lockdown
New Lockdown for England
From Thursday 5 November churches are closed again for public worship. There are few exceptions, namely for private prayer, funerals and for live-streaming services. Hence the last public service at St Andrew's for November will be the Requiem for All Souls on Wednesday, 4 November at 12.45pm. Following this the church will be closed for … Continue reading New Lockdown for England
Weekly Sunday Parish Mass from 25th October
Over the past few weeks we have been trying hard to worship in such a way that everybody is safe and that we are compliant with the government and the national church regulations and recommendations. One advantage of having such a large church building is that we can host a fairly large number of people … Continue reading Weekly Sunday Parish Mass from 25th October
