For those who aren't aware, this Monday's public briefing coupled with updated guidance from the Methodist Church meant that all activities on church premises had to stop. The only exception to that rule are churches who have what is deemed 'essential activities' such as a food bank or homeless shelter. That doesn't apply to our church. You can read all the latest 'dos and don'ts' from the Methodist Church here https://www.methodist.org.uk/coronavirus/ .

Although we can no longer record in church, we will continue to produce a weekly service that will be posted up on the church website and Facebook page. This will appear late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. We will also look to record shorter but more regular devotional videos particularly as we move towards the end of Lent. These will be left up to watch for as long as we can before we need the space - probably 7-14 days. We would encourage you to watch the weekly service as close to our regular Sunday morning 10.45 slot as possible and to leave comments so that we can have the sense of being a connected community.

You might also want to click on to the Bicester Christians Connect Facebook page on Friday at 8pm where Dennis Niziol will be broadcasting live, singing and sharing news from the churches.

We are also looking at connecting those who are on the internet through social conferencing. This will enable small groups to 'meet' such as a Bible Study, youth mentoring session or steward's meeting or a larger number of people to get together such as inviting all who want to come together at 3pm on a particular day over tea and biscuits. To this end I invite you to download an app called 'Zoom' to your preferred device. It's free and will enable us to create any of the possibilities mentioned above, up to 100 people. Please ring or email Steve Mann if you are unsure of how to go about this.

There are also plenty of devotional resources on the internet and we shall endeavour to pass on details of good material when we find it. Here, for example, is a site producing daily activities for families to share in together https://engageworship.org/engage-at-home-daily-family-praye… .

The question then remains how to best connect those of our church community who aren't sufficiently confident with the internet or don't have it. We will continue to develop ideas for this group but in the meantime it is important for all of us to keep picking up the phone and ringing those we think might be feeling particularly socially isolated. Please let us know if you are aware of any need.

And finally, a prayer from the 'simple guide on how you can support food banks' section of the Methodist Church's coronavirus guidance webpage.

Loving God,
In your very being
you exist in relationship,
living in service
and love with yourself,
and with us.
In reflection of this you call us into community,
that in knowing one another,
listening to one another,
and serving one another,
we might encounter you.
Through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ,
when you encountered a hungry crowd,
or a family in need of healing,
or a group isolated from society,
you responded with action,
feeding,
resurrecting,
welcoming.
Open our eyes to the needs of those around us,
especially as we encounter new challenges.
Help us to turn to one another in love,
responding in action,
in service of your hope.
Amen.