Benefice Church During Covid-19

In these challenging times we hope this page will offer spiritual nourishment and avenues for practical care. Although public gatherings for worship are currently suspended due to the Covid-19 virus, we will now be having services online and opportunities for virtual gatherings for prayer.

Online Services & Virtual Gatherings

Sunday 7th March 2021   

This Sunday’s Service is online at 10.30 am   

You can watch live on YouTube   

or join by Zoom
The Zoom login link is here 

with Meeting ID:839 3750 3753  Password: 585531 

The Zoom is open from 10.20 am and please join by 10.30am at the latest   

The service sheet can be downloaded here   

 

Past services - still available to view
Sunday 19th July, 6th Sunday after Trinity:     Service link

Sunday 12th July, 5th Sunday after Trinity:    Service link

Sunday 5th July, 4th Sunday after Trinity:     Service link

Sunday 28th June, Ss Peter & Paul:    Service link

Sunday 21st June, 2nd Sunday after Trinity:     Service Link    

Sunday 14th June, 1st Sunday after Trinity:     Service Link   Service Sheet for Trinity 1

Sunday 7th June, Trinity Sunday: Link to Service.          Service Sheet for Trinity Sunday

Sunday 31st May, Pentecost: Link to Service.      Service Sheet for Pentecost

Sunday 24th May: Link to Service.    Service Sheet for Easter 7

Sunday 17th May: Link to Service.        Service Sheet for Easter 6

Holy Week: Still Available to view

 

Downloadable Holy Week resources and Covid Prayer resources that you can print at home and use for your own meditation and prayer. Covid Prayer & Holy Week Resources

Every Week

 

  • Lent Groups – Listening Lent: Tuesdays at 7.45pm, starting February 23rd. An invitation to listen to God, one another and the world. Every Tuesday evening we will meet on zoom to reflect on a reading, listen to lockdown experiences, and have an opportunity to share together in smaller breakout groups, finishing with a simple service of compline (evening prayer). Finishes at 9pm. All very welcome.

    Join Zoom Meeting:
    Meeting ID: 865 8751 8966
    Passcode: 248619
  •  Thursday Eucharist @ 9am. You will be able to join this using Zoom. A link for the service will be sent in an email the day before. If you would like to be added to the mailing list email highburypartnership@googlemail.com. 
Helpful Information about Zoom
What is Zoom and how do I use it anyway?

Zoom is an online video conferencing application. It allows groups of people to gather for meetings using a computer, a tablet, or a smartphone. It even allows people to call in with any kind of phone and participate in gatherings. ​ A Zoom meeting needs to be hosted by someone, usually the meeting’s organizer. They are the “host” and have some control over the meeting, like sending out invitations to join the meeting.

​

Joining A Zoom Meeting ​ There are several ways to join a Zoom meeting. ​

1) You can join using a link provided in an email. Click the link and your computer’s browser will automatically prompt you to download the Zoom app. You must allow this to join the meeting. ​ NOTE: in order to participate in a Zoom meeting, your computer must have a microphone and speakers. To allow others to see you, you will need a webcam, which most laptops have but not desktop computers. External webcams connected to a computer work fine as well. You don’t need a camera to use Zoom and see what is on the screen. A camera only allows others to see you. ​

2) You can join with a smartphone. It is similar to joining with a computer; you need the Zoom app to join. The steps are similar to joining with a computer. ​

 

Let’s look at joining a meeting on a computer: ​

Start by clicking the link in the meeting invitation. Your computer’s default browser will automatically try to launch the Zoom software. ​ If the software is not already on your computer, the browser will automatically download the app. Follow all the prompts to install it (just click where it tells you to click). If it asks you to “Run” a file, click yes or run. You will join the meeting as soon as the software installs. This should only take a few seconds. If the software is already on the computer, you will be asked to “launch” the Zoom app. ​ Before entering the meeting you will be asked to join audio. Click “Join with Computer Audio.”

Virtual Groups

Lent Groups – Listening Lent: Tuesdays at 7.45pm. An invitation to listen to God, one another and the world. Every Tuesday evening we will meet on zoom to reflect on a reading, listen to lockdown experiences, and have an opportunity to share together in smaller breakout groups, finishing with a simple service of compline (evening prayer). Finishes at 9pm. All very welcome.

Join Zoom Meeting:
Meeting ID: 865 8751 8966
Passcode: 248619

 

Virtual Book Group – The Benefice Book Group is alive and well and ‘met’ recently. The next meeting by Zoom is at 8pm on Thursday 11th February. We’ll be discussing Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens.

Everyone is very welcome. It’s an informal group – still getting to grips with the technology! Do get reading, and please contact Rob via highburypartnership@googlemail.com if you’d like to join the next discussion. Bring your own tea!

 

Lockdown 3 Community Art Project

Following on from our Lockdown 1 project when members of Cotham congregation and friends made textile squares which are now hanging as an exhibition in the church, Sara has proposed a new focus for Lockdown 3 art projects, with a specific invitation to our wider community to join the project – do invite family, friends and neighbours to join. 

The subject would be EARTH WIND FIRE WATER, which gives plenty of scope for interpretation at the present time! It could be biblical, ecological, scientific, artistic, philosophical or light-hearted and entirely up to you…

You may wish to choose just one of the elements or as many as four. This time the 12-inch square could be created using any medium e.g. textiles or any description, paint, drawing, collage, words on canvas, print, photography, mixed medium and anything else you can think of as long as it’s not dangerous and is suitable for the subject matter and place.

THE WORK HAS TO BE PRESENTED ON A 12-INCH SQUARE CANVAS AS BEFORE.

It only remains to be said that your skills and expertise are not being judged – this is just an opportunity to be creative, have fun and diversion and share the outcome whatever it is with our community beginning at Cotham Church.

Please contact Sara Metelerkamp for more details: Email: sara@sara-easby.com

Pastoral Support

  • Call or email the office if you would like a phone call or to let us know if you need support. 0117 973 3395, highburypartnership@gmail.com
  • Prayer list. Firstly, please know you are all being prayed for daily. Those on our intercessions list will be circulated with our weekly email newsletter. If you would like to pray with someone over the phone, or wish your prayer request to remain anonymous, please email highburypartnership@gmail.com and one of our clergy will be in touch. 
  • Phone a friend. Whilst we can’t be together in person, we can call, WhatsApp or even write a good old fashioned letter, let’s be in good touch with each other and beat social isolation.
  • Bristol Sanctuary Offer a mental health service in partnership with the NHS that would normally provide a safe physical place for people to come to for a few hours in the evening if they are struggling emotionally. Whilst currently not seeing people face-to-face they are offering telephone support seven nights a week from 4-10pm. Call 01179542952 or 07709295661 from 4pm
  • Oasis Trust Friendship Phone Line, if you fancy a chat Oasis have opened a special Friendship phone line during Covid-19. Open M-F, 11-3pm: 020 7921 4272.
  • MIND resources. Mental health charity MIND have created an excellent set of resources for coping with all that Covid-19 is meaning for our mental health, particularly in coping with social distancing, anxiety and depression. Click here for more information. 

 

Online Resources – new resources added

  • Pray As You Go App – a wonderful 10 minute led daily prayer meditation, with music, scripture, space to pray and reflect. Highly recommended. Download here for computer, or search for the App on your tablet/smartphone.
  • Daily Meditation (via email) from the Centre for Contemplation by Fr Richard Rohr. A short centering email meditation, offering helpful perspective and spiritual resources for our current situation. Visit www.cac.org to sign up for the daily email. 
  • A Prayer for Sleep – an 18 minute guided prayer for when you are finding sleep hard, from Spiritual Director Julian Maddock. Link here.
  • Insight Timer: a smartphone app to support a spiritual practice, with meditations and prayers lead by people from all religious traditions
  • Sacred Space: screen-based prayer, with options for prayer in this time of pandemic.
  • The BBC’s Daily Service and Sunday Worship 

 

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Whether you are well-established in the Christian faith, feeling called to a new expression of your faith, or teetering on the edge of any faith, we hope you will find resources, inspiration and good company here with us.

Cotham Parish Church is a registered charity in England & Wales (no. 1132307)