Churches reopening?

Church opening?

There has been some talk in the media about churches opening on June 15th. I need to clarify what this means. It is NOT business as usual. It means we can open for individual supervised private prayer. If someone goes into church, they have to be watched, and everywhere they have touched needs to be cleaned carefully when they leave. So, while it would be lovely to return to normal, this is a long way off. I will let people know when returning to church becomes possible.

Edith

Sunday 7th June 2020

Trinity Sunday

You can find all of our latest information, Edith's reflection for this Sunday, our Thursday "Worship for all Generations" and much more by clicking on the following link to our facebook page - Leesfield Parish

We do seem to be in rather uncertain times. Back in March, when the lockdown was first announced, though things became difficult quite suddenly, it was fairly clear what was needed, how we were expected to act. Since the beginning of the easing of the lockdown it does seem less clear. Not helped by the rather public breaking of the rules by some, we do have less certainty. Many are desperate for life to return to normal, whatever that means, and it is clear that life won’t return to what it was for quite some time. We want to meet family and friends again, we’d like to travel, to shop as we did before ….. But there is still a great deal of fear around, and confusion over how to proceed. After weeks at home, many are reluctant to go out and about again. There is worry over schools reopening, and how that is to be managed. The legacy of the past three months or so will be huge. Some relationships have been put under great strain, many people’s financial futures will have been made uncertain, children’s learning will have been affected and their social lives upset. Many people will have been affected in different ways. As a community, it is important that we recognise that we are all different. Some will have stories they need to tell, much to share, and that may not all be easy. As we come together, little by little, it is important that we are gentle with ourselves and with each other. 
Edith

Our first hymn for today is "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind"

The Bible reading for today -

Some time ago, as they walked to school, one of my grandsons (Isaac) said to his mum “So, is Jesus his own dad then?” I never heard the reply – though it may have been along the lines of “ask grandma”. This innocent question does rather sum up the difficulty we have with the doctrine of the Trinity. Today is Trinity Sunday, and Trinity Sunday is possibly the Sunday that preachers least like to preach on.  At this stage in the church’s year, we have had the drama of holy week, the desolation of the crucifixion, the elation of the resurrection, the puzzle of the Ascension and then, last Sunday we commemorated the coming of the Spirit. Now all that is behind us and we move on to today when we restate our ideas on the nature of God. We have talked, prayed and sung about the son, Jesus, and of the final moments of his life on this earth. Of his rising from, his conquering of the power of the grave and hence the promise of eternal life. And of his leaving this place to return to the father at the Ascension. At the Ascension Christ told his disciples that he would ask the Father to send “another comforter” And so followed the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. God is composed of Father, Son and Holy Spirit – three elements making up one God.  And it is important that we are clear that we are not talking about three Gods. The three aspects of God are moving, interweaving. While we 
might talk of the Father, Son and Spirit these are indivisible, inseparable aspects of the nature of God. We talk of each aspect as separate but that is just a way of coping with the complexity of the thing. Human minds are limited – we have to accept that we can’t understand or explain everything! In today’s Gospel passage, which is known as the great commission, Jesus gives his disciples their instructions, tells them what is to happen now. In that short passage he gives them three tasks. The first is to make disciples. Just as Jesus called his the fishermen by the Sea of Galilee and trained them up so they learned to understand his Kingdom message, so his followers ever since have the responsibility of calling men, women and children to follow him and train them to understand his message and follow his way. Sadly, this has sometimes been used as an excuse for intolerance, or even persecution, of those of other faiths. The second task is to baptise, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is not an optional extra for followers of Jesus. Baptism is the public, physical and visible way in which someone is marked out with the holy name. The third task is to teach. Christians are to learn about the faith and to pass that learning on. So, a short Gospel passage with huge content. Three tasks for every Christian to have in mind always. But note that these tasks are topped and tailed as it were with promises at the beginning and end of the passage.  The reason we are to do these things is because he already has all authority, and the promise that sustains us in these tasks is that he is with us always and forever. 
Edith

Our second hymn is "Holy, Holy, Holy"

Today's Prayers -

And our final hymn today is "Tell out my Soul"

Mid-week Joy 3rd June 2020

Mid-week Joy

Welcome again to our mid-week celebration of all the great things happening in Leesfield Parish and beyond.

Our Sunday service details will be here at the weekend, but there's so much more we would love to share with you in the meantime. 

The theme for this Thursday's Worship for all Generations is "Fruit of the Spirit" , and you can join us on our facebook page by clicking on the following link - Leesfield Parish

This week's musical item is from our friends Joanne & Steve from Dearne Big Band, who performed for us at a fundraiser a few years ago. As well as helping us out with the music for the Churches Together online service for Pentecost, they've been entertaining their neighbours as part of the weekly "Clap for Carers". They were definitely not misbehavin' (at a time when quite a few other people may have been) - to watch please click on the following link - Ain't misbehavin'

Here's a calendar filled with daily activities - have a Joyful June! 

We managed to celebrate Pentecost together in a Churches Together in Lees and District joint service - ifyou missed it you can still watch on the blog page for the 31st May.

Our Sunday Schools also celebrated by sharing some photos of earlier Whit Walks. A few are shown below, but to see more just click on this link to the Sunday School Facebook page - St Thomas Leesfield Sunday School

RACE FOR LIFE AT HOME
Harvest Queen Annie and her retinue and Sunday School friends are still going ahead with the Race for Life in aid of Cancer Research, but at home between now and the end of June.

Everyone is doing their own type of “Race for Life” with the Yates family, who are currently shielding, walking round their field for 5k. Amy, who has recently taken up running, plans on running 5k a day for 14 (her age) days. Chrissie Whitehead is currently practising for her 10k and others including Annie have also decided to do 10k as they can complete it over a few days around the beautiful countryside in our area. Anyone who wishes to join them please message this page and we'll forward your message to Karen.
PLEASE SPONSOR THEM online with the link below. THANK YOU. St Thomas Leesfield Sunday School Race for Life 

Hope you had fun doing the Leesfield Parish Photo Quiz - the answers are below.

And if you were wondering what photo 8 was about - here's how it happened - The teddy bear accident

Our final item for today involves both nature and music. Thank you Beryl for sending it in!

See you at the weekend!