Canon David Shaw The Rectory St Clement’s Church Office, Rue du Presbytère La Grande Route de Saint ClémentSt Clement JE2 6RB St Clement JE2 6QQTel: 851992 Tel: 745260Mobile: 07797 920316 E mail: stclementjersey@outlook.com

Rev Tracy Le C Bromley Tel: 857693 Rev Martin Dryden Tel: 874668

Facebook: St Clement Church Jersey Channel Islands – watch 10.30am service live and recorded Web site: www.stclementschurch.org.je

Treasurers and church bank account details:St Clement: Tricia Barry triciabarry@hotmail.com Acc: St Clement Church 40-25-34 84087488St Nicholas: Ian Bromley captainimb@aol.com Acc: St Nicholas Church 60-12-03 81510535

January 6th 2021

Dear friends of St Clement and St Nicholas,

If I didn’t see you in church on Sunday to greet you - Happy New Year ! Whilst most of the island churches are developing their online skills we are continuing to keep “live” worship going in St Clement and St Nicholas. I am very grateful to Martin for holding a combined service for St Nicolas and St Clement on the 27th. despite it coming so close to our Christmas services, it was one of just a few in Jersey. Very few churches had live services at Christmas but so long as the clergy and helpers are willing and we are not told to close we will carry on with as consistent or better package of spacing, sanitising, masks … than any supermarket. BUT as ever on the proviso that we encourage people to be careful about their health and only come to church if you feel it is right for you. Alternatively follow our worship at home via paper, e mail, Youtube ( 9am) or Facebook (10.30am) and do let us know if you know if someone has not received something , e mails seem to get lost at times and we now post on a Wednesday to have a decent chance of post arriving in time for a service to be read on a Sunday.

What follows is particularly for those of you who were unable to be with us for Christmas services to give you a flavour of a Christmas like no other and hopefully never again. Within the disruption and legal limits of just 20 congregation and 5 helpers inside and the same outside we developed a Christmas offering for the parish which made the most of the facilities and people’s gifts and time. In addition to the

variety of ways of enabling people to join in worship mentioned above we added two new ones at Christmas. Our four afternoons of Nativity Festival were deliberately kept quieter than we would normally have planned so no posters and I even told Mathew Price on a radio interview he wasn’t welcome as he didn’t live in the parish–

in the kindest sort of way of course ! Those who did come seemed to really appreciate the opportunity to sit and listen to a recorded Nativity service which Martin had produced based on the lovely Bible Society booklet we gave to every child we saw this Christmas. The carols, readings, artwork and prayers gave people the opportunity to enjoy the beautifully decorated church and worship quietly without people around them at a service. The vestry which we usually fill with vestments and hoovers was transformed into a lovely quiet space for people to hang lots of prayer stars on the golden tree and light candles. Many spent quite a while in there.

As you arrived at church for a service or the festival as well as sanitising and masks every child was given a bag with a Christingle kit to make their own which they enjoyed doing with lots of sweets, sticks, a candle and a satsuma with the red tape already on plus a mini torch and the lovely Bible Society nativity story booklet people sponsored. We wondered why we spent so long every year making 250 on the day before Christmas Eve- it is DIY in the future.

Pictured right are Mike and Dacia Kidman in the welcome shelter outside the church door with the blue Christingle kit bags and just a few of the 50 Christmas troughs the family made with help from Mike Smith on carpentry and raised around £500 for church funds.

Also popular was the revolving show of over 100 pictures by children from St Clement Primary School, many visited with their parents and enjoyed seeing their artwork blown up on the large screen inside or even larger on our new outside screen. This added our second new way of offering worship. From about 3.30pm it was getting dark enough for the new indoor camera to

stream a live video of the service in church on Christmas Eve or a direct feed of the images also being projected on the screen – so the artwork was blown up to 9 feet wide.

On Christmas Eve most of the 25 outside places were booked for each of the three later services- lots of coats gloves and even umbrellas for the hardy gang outside. The challenge was then to help the outside congregation feel linked to the inside. As well as camera feed and the sound system we had

to develop leading inside/ outside worship and by the final service we had me inside broadcasting questions to Martin outside to ask his congregation and him replying by mobile phone. As we were only just keeping within the 25 inside and 25 outside law any angels etc who were part of the outside helpers allowance, came down the aisle taking up some inside helpers allowance ( inside helpers had to go outside ! ) and out through the South door so the outside congregation saw them as well. Limited numbers also meant reusing people so I trebled up as a shepherd, king and rector all within a few minutes. As a previously very cold Angel Kim had reserved an actual inside seat for her final appearance she remarked it felt like she was flying Club Class for that service. At one service I counted an illegal 26 in church and then on the third recount realise that one of them was John Le F the model shepherd. Pictured right is Len the model shepherd.

Thank you to Val for the flowers and candles and everyone who helped with models, carparking and welcoming shivering outside to keep spaces for congregation inside. Sivano’s 4 and 8 day old lambs were with us for a whole week and some children visited several times.

As the real people left the church our nativity figures were moved into place resulting in a more realistic scene – below on next page - than I would have imagined as we had constructed them out of old duvets and wood from Trevor’s old sofa – it’s amazing what low lighting can do !

In all we held 11 services in the week of Christmas – the same as last year. Around 275 attended compared with over 1000 in a normal year and providing people were willing to be flexible and book on a different day or time or sit

outside then there was an opportunity for everyone regular and occasional to come to a service.

The booking system also showed how many looked at each service to see if there was room. Once people we keep in touch with on a weekly basis had booked their spaces all the rest of the seats were offered on the booking site. The most popular search by far was 3.30pm on Christmas Eve, at one point we had no searches for Christmas Day and 38 searches for 3.30pm. Once inside seats had run out, people gradually booked the extra Christingle on the Saturday and also the Tuesday which we added at the last minute -when the States reduced outside gatherings from 50 to 25 just hours before we were about to print the parish invitation.

Banishment ! Some very annoying people made online bookings and never turned up – 8 out of an allowed 20 on the Saturday so a stiff email was sent out via the booking system saying we appreciated people might need to cancel in such uncertain times but asking them to change bookings if no longer needed as Christmas Eve was totally full inside and out for four services. No shows risked

being banished from Christingles for Eternity ! The first booking change came within two minutes and several spaces were able to be reused.

We are certainly hoping for a more normal Christmas in 2021.

News apart from Christmas Services. The very sad news

came just before Christmas of the death of Rev Giles Bartleman the curate at St Mark’s. He had an underlying health condition and could not recover from a covid infection. He leaves a widow Emily and a young son Samuel. There is a lovely article of appreciation on Bailiwick Express Friends and family pay tribute to popular Anglican priest | Bailiwick Express. Click and follow the link . Formerly an accountant he has been serving his curacy at St Mark’s and was beginning to look for his first post. A collection for his widow and son has been set up by the deanery and any donations can be directed via the St Clement account ref “Giles”.

One of our Flying Angels Evelyn was less successful at flying than she was during our Christmas services and took a tumble on a New Year run, do speak to her about her taking up running in later years – very impressive - so please pray for her rather bruised face to return to normal.

As the hospital recruits a new lead Chaplain Tracy is under more pressure there and is taking a well earned rest next week- which is difficult to do on island, so please don’t contact her or if you spot her on a walk don’t tell her of any aches or pains !

Despite spending days locked in his study creating the technology we needed for Christmas presentations and services Martin continues to abound with energy and even managed to be in two places at once on Sunday as his online recorded service for Grouville was transmitted as he also preached in St Clement and St Nicholas.

My family are all well with Jonathan back in Portsmouth for a paramedic placement this week and Ally on all sorts of tiring shifts in A and E over Christmas and New year, so probably a little surprised to say the least when she came out of the front door of St Thomas’ to be faced with a crowd of people outside protesting about covid restrictions –a colleague tweeted about them and it hit the nationals. it’s a strange world !

Keep safe and well,David

Service of Holy Communion for St Clement & St Nicholas for January 3rd, 2021, please click the link to watch the service. https://youtu.be/5SoyWoX6Cwg

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST CLEMENTMORNING WORSHIP IN CHRISTMASTIDE

JANUARY 10TH, 2021

OPENING HYMN O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness https://youtu.be/LBEmXFkwcOE

O Worship the Lord In the beauty of holinessBow down before himHis glory proclaimWith gold obedienceAnd incense of lowlinessKneel and adore himThe Lord is his name.

Low at his feet layThy burden of carefulnessHigh on his heartHe will bear it for theeComfort thy sorrowsAnd answer thy prayerfulnessGuiding thy stepsAs may best for thee be.

Fear not to enterHis courts in the slendernessOf the poor wealth

Thou wouldst reckon as thineTruth in its beautyAnd love in its tendernessThese are the off’ringsTo lay on his shrine.

O worship the LordIn the beauty of holinessBow down before himHis glory proclaimWith gold obedienceAnd incense of lowlinessKneel and adore himThe Lord is his name

O God, make speed to save us. O Lord, make haste to help us.You laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands.

Blessed are you, Sovereign God, our light and our salvation, to you be glory and praise for ever.To dispel the darkness of our night you sent forth your Son, the firstborn of all creation, to be the Christ, the light of the world. Rejoicing in the mystery of the Word made flesh, we acclaim him Emmanuel, as all creation sings to you: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Blessed be God for ever.We to sit or kneel to confess our sinsYou were born for our salvation: Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. You came as Saviour to bring wholeness and peace: Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. You come to bring light into the darkness of our lives: Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy May God who loved the world so much that he sent his Son to be our Saviour forgive us our sins and make us holy to serve him in the world, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

We stand Blessed is the Lord, for he has heard the voice of our prayer; therefore shall our hearts dance for joy and in our song we will praise our God. Blessed are you, God of all glory, through your Son the Christ. His name is Jesus because he saves his people from their sinHe will be called Emmanuel: God is with us. Let us praise the Lord, the God of Israel: he has come to his people and set them free. He gave up the glory of heaven and took the form of a servant. The Word was made flesh and we beheld his glory. In humility he walked the path of obedience to die on the cross. God raised him to the highest place above and gave him the name above every name: Jesus Christ is Lord. So all beings in heaven and earth will fall at his feet, and proclaim to the glory of God: Jesus Christ is Lord. Today Christ is born: Alleluia. Today the Saviour comes: Alleluia. Today the angels sing on earth: Alleluia. Glory to God in the highest.

Be still, for the presence of the Lord https://youtu.be/Y5S_-zhHfDA

Be still for the presence of the LordThe Holy One , is hereCome, bow before him now With reverence and fearIn him no sin is foundWe stand on holy groundBe still for the presence of the LordThe Holy One, is here.

Be still, for the glory of the Lord Is shining all aroundHe burns with holy fireWith splendour he is crownedHow awesome is the sightOur radiant King of lightBe still for the glory of the LordIs shining all around.

Be still, for the power of the LordIs moving in this placeHe comes to cleanse and healTo minister his graceNo work too hard for himIn faith receive from himBe still for the power of the LordIs moving in this place.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, he has come to his people and set them free. Light has sprung up for the righteous and joyful gladness for those who are true-hearted. Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth.

The First Reading is taken from Genesis, Chapter 1, beginning to read at the first verse (Genesis 1 1-5)  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God

Crown him with many Crowns CA137ii https://youtu.be/FiJYgC_6AFc

Crown him with many crownsThe Lamb upon his throneHark how the heav’nly anthem drownsAll music but its own!Awake my soul and singOf him who died for thee,And hail him as thy matchless kingThrough all eternity.

Crown him the Lord of loveBehold his hands and sideThose wounds yet visible aboveIn beauty glorifiedNo angel in the skyCan fully bear that sightBut downward bends his burning eyeAt mysteries so bright.

Crown him the Lord of peaceWhose power a sceptre swaysFrom pole to pole that wars may ceaseAnd all be prayer and praiseHis reign shall know no endAnd round his pierced feetFair flowers of paradise extendTheir fragrance ever sweet.

Crown him the Lord of yearsThe potentate of time, Creator of the rolling spheresIneffably sublime.All hail redeemer, hailFor thou hast died for me,Thy praise shall never, never failThroughout eternity.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. For to us a child is born to us a Son is given. His name will be called Wonderful counsellor, mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth.

The Gospel Reading; Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark. (Mark 1 4-11)Glory to you, O Lord4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with[e] water, but he will baptize you with[f] the Holy Spirit.” 9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ

Reflection David: I would like to pick up on elements of Martin’s last sermon. The wise men are a rather strange element of Christmas yet despite the little we know about them the gifts keep on speaking to different generations. As Martin said the gold can symbolise the things people give up to God which might otherwise hold them back. It can be just gold, something of real worth offered to God and the Old Testament is full of details about what sacrifices people had to give and the offerings might not have been gold but were of real worth to a farming community. It was particularly encouraging after such a very strange year to receive the first draft of the 2020 accounts from Tricia for St Clement.

Thanks to the benefit of software and online banking and a lot of hard work Tricia has kept me informed throughout the covid events of the effect on the church finances. Gone were the normal assumptions of a number of baptism collections and all weddings were cancelled so no fees for them..Christmas attendance was around 25% of normal and churches were closed or numbers restricted by law or by people’s need to stay safe at home.

Jam sales normally nett about £5000 but with no outside fetes much of that income would be lost. It was going to be a real test of the finances and the onus would be very much on the congregations and direct supporters of St Clement and St Nicholas to keep the show on the road.

The response has been very encouraging. Full details are for another time but when we have so recently held the Gift Day it is good to give some feedback. As the number of services dropped to zero for a while cash collections were inevitably down from £22600 in 2019 to £15,724 last year so a not unexpected drop of around £7000. We encouraged people to give by standing order and these increased by just over £2000 and we had the best ever Gift Day as contributions increased by over £3,000 to a record £18,360.

So a drop of less than £1500 for the year as a whole which is an amazing result. Pam’s Jams shifted to telephone orders and achieved almost £2800 which was three times higher than I expected and most of the rest of the difference between that and a normal year’s fundraising was made up by the Kidman family ventures which ranged from demolishing garages to Christmas decorations.

Thanks to one off donations all other gaps in income have been filled. In a normal year it would be a good set of accounts , in the year that has passed it is amazing. The church is everyone so a thank you from everyone to each other for pulling together in such a strange year.When we think about those kings we tend to think of their finery. Our St Clement kings have splendid cloaks and one wore a splendid red turban . But in reality the kings are nothing before Jesus , so perhaps appropriate that their finery is in fact two old curtains that used to be either side of the altar and the turban I remember buying from a street trader whilst riding on an elephant upto Amber Fort in India – amazing value for a Kings outfit I thought as I tossed down some rupees – it is in fact thin fabric wrapped around newspaper but looks pretty good from a distance.

Perhaps the image on a stained glass window in Grouville Church which I saw in a post Christmas walk gives a more appropriate side to the giving. They clearly have fine clothes on but in that dirty stable they had removed their boots or

shoes and are clearly bare foot as they kneel down. They might be great kings, their gifts might look generous but compared with the baby they have come to bow down to they are humble servants. Jesus in that window is a mini muscle toned hunk so not quite the usual baby !

I entered into an online series of comments in the Times the other day. An article had described a billionaire lady of being the most generous in the world after she had given away a couple or so billion of her multi billion divorce settlement . To be fair to her she is also intending to give most of the rest away which like the Gate’s family could make a huge effect. . I sent in a message which I was pleased to see was liked more times than almost any other to say that the most generous women I met were the two ladies in Mombasa who had both lost their husbands to HIV and both adopted four more children each orphans of HIV and when I met them were raising money a bag of cement at a time to build a hostel for young girls coming to the city to work .

So may we give the little or the much we can afford like those kings in the Grouville window and at a time when we can be tempted to be self absorbed as individuals , church or island as we survive the crisis let’s look upwards and outwards. Which is perhaps where the frankincense comes in but that is for another day

The Creed: Let us declare our faith in God.We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love.We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high.We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Music before Prayers Fauré – Après un rêve (arranged for cello & piano) https://youtu.be/Xdjosc8HIhI

Prayers of Intercession

Prayers for the Church worldwide: Pray for Christians under persecution, worshipping in secret, fearing for their lives and without access to food/medical supplies. For the work of Open Doors, the Foundation for Peace and Reconciliation and the Barnabas Trust. Help us by the power of the Holy Spirit to be good neighbours to all in our community.

Prayers for the world: For healing and a just and peaceful way forward wherever there is oppression of minorities and anger has erupted into violence. For the US and the new government under Joe Biden.For a swift rollout of the Coronavirus vaccine globally, not just to the wealthiest nations. Give thanks for the vaccination programme now in place in Jersey. Pray for all the NHS staff and hospitals struggling in the UK to deal with the increasing numbers of the sick in need of hospitalisation. Pray for the well-being of all emergency workers.For scientists seeking answers to combat the South African coronavirus mutation.For prisoners and captives held in crowded and insanitary conditions. For those held unjustly and all on death row. For the work of Amnesty International.

Here at home: Pray for relatives and friends you have not seen for some time.Pray for all suffering from poor mental or physical health, those awaiting or recovering from operations and those suffering from loneliness or bereavement.Lord embrace us now- hold us in the palm of your hand. Inspire us to love others- seeing the face of Christ in all. Amen.

To us a child is born, to us a son is given; let us pray for the people he came to save. Wonderful Counsellor, you order all things with your wisdom: help the Church to reveal the mystery of your love and fill her with the Spirit of truth: Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.

Mighty God, the government is on your shoulders: guide the leaders of the nations and bring in your kingdom of justice and righteousness: Lord, in your mercy Hear our prayer.

Everlasting Father, you call us to live together in unity: protect by your mercy all your children, bless our families and renew our communities: Lord, in your mercy Hear our prayer. Prince of Peace,you bring reconciliation through the cross: by your healing power give to all who suffer your gift of wholeness and peace:  Lord, in your mercy Hear our prayer.

Let us commend the world, to which Christ came, to the mercy and protection of God. Amen.

The Collect for the First Sunday in Ephiphany (The Baptism of Christ) Eternal Father, who at the baptism of Jesus revealed him to be your Son, anointing him with the Holy Spirit: grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit, that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

The Lord’s Prayer Gathering our prayers and praises into one, let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses,as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Spirit of God https://youtu.be/ozWAspk5Zcg

Spirit of God, unseen as the windGentle as is the doveTeach us the truth and help us believeShow us the Saviour’s love.

You spoke to us long, long agoGave us the written word;We read it still, needing its truthThrough it God’s voice is heard. (Refrain)

Spirit of God, unseen as the windGentle as is the doveTeach us the truth and help us believeShow us the Saviour’s love.

Without your help we fail our LordWe cannot live his way.We need your power, we need your strengthFollowing Christ each day. (Refrain)

Spirit of God, unseen as the windGentle as is the doveTeach us the truth and help us believeShow us the Saviour’s love.

Blessing Christ the Son of God, born of Mary, fill you with his grace to trust his promises and obey his will; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

We say the Grace together The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.

Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord Thanks be to God.

Final Music Bach – Alla breve in D https://youtu.be/K7g8Lb9l0LU