The Parish Churches of Walton and Trimley
Benefice of Walton and Trimley (Felixstowe)
Rev Paul & Rev Chris will be hosting this seven week course starting Tuesday evenings in February via Zoom. It does not matter if you have been to church or ages, or new to all this faith stuff, you would be most welcome to come.
To book your place or find out more, please email Rev Paul.
Dear friends,
We are fast approaching Christmas so I thought I would update you with our planning for Sunday services moving forward into the new year.
As you may know, we are operating Zoom services only until the end of the year with the addition of our seasonal services, some of which will be streamed via Youtube.
Starting on January 3rd we will be having ‘in person’ church services once again. As before, you will need to book in advance and numbers will be limited. There will be an online form available nearer the time. Services initially will alternate between Walton & Trimley Churches, starting with Walton on the 3rd. All services will be at 10am.
For those that still do not wish to come in a service in person we will also be streaming the service online. This will be via Youtube and full links will be provided. You will be able to click on the link and view the service on a tablet, phone or laptop. After the services we will all join together for a Zoom coffee morning and once again a link will be provided. This will start at 11am for those who want to join in both for those who have viewed the service online or been in church.
This pattern will continue until lent, when things will be reviewed again depending on the Covid-19 restrictions. It is hoped that we can once again work towards having a service in each church, every Sunday at 10am. This could be in time for lent, but realistically maybe in time for Easter Sunday.
The Sunday Service via Felixstowe radio will continue as normal, 5pm every Sunday.
If you need any help with accessing the services please do ask.. we are here to help. Thank you for your patience during this very strange and tough year. We have learnt new technology and continue to try and adapt to every changing circumstances.
Rev Paul
Pictured is Rev Paul & Rachel receiving ‘bags of love’ made by the Mothers’ Union and given out at our Pop Up shops today.
The Mothers’ Union meets every third Tuesday at 2.30pm in the church when Covid-19 restrictions allow. Everybody is welcome; men, women, married or not. The focus is on supporting family life.
The leader is Wendy Fellingham.
Both of our churches are now open for private prayer on Wednesdays 10.30am-1pm.
Please feel free to come in, light a candle and use our beautiful churches for reflection. Thanks to all who have made this possible.
As with everyone else, we have had to cancel all our fundraising and community events this year due to Covid-19. This has meant our churches have lost significant income. In addition, St Mary’s Walton has lost all income it normally generates through the letting of it’s halls.
Of course we want to have events again as soon as possible and are thankful we can have services again, even if limited. We are also open for funerals, weddings and Christenings. We want to be here for everyone when people need the church.
If you feel you can support us financially, We have created online giving pages.
Please follow the links below.
We have now received the guidelines from the Church of England in preparation for opening our churches for worship and I met with the church wardens and office manager that same day to go through them and devise a plan.
Firstly, some good news. The easing of restrictions has meant that we can start to wind the clock at St Marys church from this weekend! It has been much missed by local residents and it will be lovely to hear it ring again.
Secondly, good news but complicated. We are opening our churches for public worship from 12th July. However, the guidelines from the government and national church are very clear that during this phase of our return to ministry things will be different so that we can minimise as much risk as possible. Restrictions will include:
– Family ‘bubbles’ being seated together but 2m apart from others.
-Short acts of worship that will mirror the content of our Zoom services.
-We will not be able to offer tea/coffee and people will be directed in and out of the church by a steward.
-We will not be able to sing hymns.
-Because there is a limit on the number of people we can hold, and for ‘track and trace’ purposes, you will be required to book a space online or telephone the office if you are unable to get online.
There are lots more things that we will put into place over the next few days and these will be communicated this weekend.
We plan to begin by opening St Marys Walton for worship on Sunday 12th July at 9am for Morning Worship and online/telephone booking for this will begin on Monday. We will then alternate, with St Martin’s Trimley, hosting the service the week after.
I do understand that many people may well decide that they do not want to return to worship in our churches yet or could be shielding. For this reason, we will be keeping our 10am Zoom service going for the foreseeable future and the 5pm ‘Sunday Service’ via Felixstowe Radio with Rev Chris.
I will keep you updated with any further developments as and when it happens. Please be patient with us if you try to contact the office or Rev Paul as you may not get an immediate response. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes to ensure that our return to the buildings are done safely.
Please continue to pray for our Zoom meetings in July and for all those involved in opening our churches once again. Full details will be released in the Connect this weekend.
Rev Paul