Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) falls on 17^th February this year and there will be a Mass in church (also streamed on Zoom) at 8.00 pm that evening. For those who attend, the giving of ashes will take place, but in a slightly different way to usual.

Parish Lent Groups

This year our Lent groups will take place online via zoom. On Tuesday evenings at 8:15 we will be looking at sister Wendy Beckett’s short book on prayer. Apart from being very well known because of her programmes about art on television, Sister Wendy lived an enclosed life of prayer near a convent in a remote part of Norfolk for many years. Her book is the fruits of the insights she gained, and it is at the same time very readable and very profound. It is not necessary to have a copy of this book to be part of the group but each week there will be suggested pages to read if you would like to come better prepared for the discussion. If you would like a copy of this book please let Fr. Patrick or Irena know. On Thursday evenings Holy Innocents will be running an online series in which various people, including two former Pastoral Assistants in our group of parishes, will speak about the religious life. Further details will follow next week.

Lent Appeal

The 2021 Diocese of London Lent Appeal will focus on youth violence which is sadly very prevalent in London. It typically involves young people, some as young as 10, hurting peers who are unrelated to them and who they may or may not know well.

Obviously we cannot raise money in the usual way through soup donations, so if you would like to support this work please put any cash or cheques (payable to Holy Trinity PCC) in a separate envelope marked Lent Appeal and leave them in the collection plate at church or send them to the Vicarage. Thank you.

For details of the charities benefitting go to www.london.anglican.org/lentappeal2021

As you probably know the government is advising people to stay at home, and the Mayor of London has asked places of worship to close and has declared a major incident due to the severity of the pandemic in our city.

At present a decision on whether to close for public worship is made at the parish level, and the Bishop of London has written to all clergy saying that she would support whatever decision seemed right for each parish. Our partner parish Holy Innocents has decided to close to public worship and put all the services online, but after consultation with our churchwardens and PCC lay vice-chair, Holy Trinity will, for the time being, remain open for public worship. However, given that our Sunday and Tuesday services will continue to be available on zoom, I am asking everyone to think very carefully indeed about the risks involved before deciding to attend in person. If you do decide to attend, please ensure you wear a face covering which covers your nose as well as your mouth (unless medically exempt), sanitise your hands immediately on entry to the church, and maintain social distancing at all times.

In order to further minimise the risk of infection transmission, there can no longer be any singing during the Mass, the service will be shortened slightly to reduce the amount of time people spend in the church building, and a main door of the church will be open throughout the service to increase ventilation. This last measure will obviously result in the church being colder than usual.

Carols on the Green

In light of the governent announcement on 19th December we have sadly taken the decision to cancel this event.

Christmas Masses

Christmas Eve 6.00 pm and 11.30 pm

Christmas Day 10.00am

Please note we have to limit capacity in the church due to the pandemic. The Christmas Eve 11.30 pm Mass is likely to be very popular, so if you can come to the 6.00 pm instead that would make social distancing easier.

HAPPY AND PEACEFUL CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE

Dear All,

The government has allowed public worship to resume from 2nd December 2020 subject to a number of safety measures to prevent to the spread of COVID-19. At Holy Trinity this means:

• Hand sanitiser will be available on entry to the church and people required to use it as they come in
• Communion in one kind only can happen, and must be received in the hand. The celebrant and the communicant must take great care that their hands do not touch. There can be no sharing of the chalice at the moment.
• Wearing of face-coverings is mandatory for those who do not have a medical exemption.
• If you are at extra risk and ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’ a decision to attend so is yours alone.
• There can be no congregational singing.
• There can be no serving of refreshments after Mass.
• One toilet only will be open for use.
• To comply with the government’s track and trace scheme a record of names will be kept of those who attend. No one will be barred from entry who refuses to give their name.
• The service will be ‘livestreamed’ on Zoom as before. The only people visible to the camera will be the celebrant and readers / intercessors.
• Seats are marked out with two metres distance between them. People of the same household or support bubble can sit together, but people of different households or bubbles must socially distance. People should only sit in designated places and leave certain marked benches completely clear. The extra chairs at the back of church must not be moved from where they have been placed.
• Congregational movement around the church will be limited to entry and exit, use of the toilet, and people getting up to read/lead intercessions. Physical sharing of the peace cannot take place. Communion will be administered in place, with the priest moving around.
•  Single use service sheets will be available.
• There will be a plate at the entrance for the collection.
• Sharing of the peace can be done verbally, but we ask people to stay in their places.

Very importantly, please do not attend in person if you are self-isolating or think you are suffering from any coronavirus symptoms.

Sunday 15th December.           Lighting of the Advent Window at 6.30 pm

Monday 16^th December          Carol Service at 7.30 pm

Friday 20^th December             Carols on the Green at 7.00 pm

Christmas Eve 24^th                  4.00 pm Children’s Crib Service

Christmas Eve 24^th                       11.30 pm Midnight Mass with carols

Christmas Day 25^th                 10.00 am Family Mass with carols