46 The Fort

Rochester

Kent ME1 2FE

Revsuebrewer@gmail.com

07930 49232301634 923836

9 December 2020

Dear Friends

Greetings to you all from St Matthew’s Church.

I hope you are all safe and well. You will have seen in the press how high the incidence of Coronavirus is at the moment in Medway. As permitted within the tier 3 guidelines, St Matthews Church remains open for services and for private prayer on Wednesdays – but please exercise caution. Take care not to socialise when you are in church, and to follow all the protocols. Not just masks, sanitiser and distance, but also minimising the amount of time you spend indoors with people not in your household, washing your hands frequently and not venturing out at all if you have any symptoms. If you think you might have the virus, then arrange a test. There is absolutely no pressure to come to church if you are vulnerable or feel unsafe – the details at the end of this letter will enable you to worship from the comfort and safety of your own home if you prefer.

Church opening hoursWe will be worshipping at St Matthews every Sunday at 10.30am according to Covid guidelines, with restricted seating, social distancing and face coverings. St Matthews will also continue to be open on Wednesdays between 10am and 12 noon for private prayer. We are really grateful to Markham for his lovely playing on Wednesdays and on Sundays.

St Matthews Poinsettias for Christmas

We decorate the Church at Christmas with poinsettia plants donated in memory of a loved one. We have room for more, if you would like to bring one along. We have plenty of ceramic pots, so we suggest you buy your plant in a plastic pot.

Rochester Cathedral – 9 lessons and Carols

We are so sad that the restrictions on singing mean that most churches will be able to hold their traditional service of Lessons and Carols this year. Professional choirs, however, can sing if safely distanced. If you would like to follow the traditional 9 Lessons and Carols from Rochester Cathedral it will be broadcast on the Rochester Cathedral website and facebook page at 7pm on Monday 21st December, and Tuesday 22nd December. Traditional Christmas choral music (including excerpts from ‘The Messiah’), congregational carols to join in at home, and the readings that tell the story of the incarnation.

Follow this link for a taster: https://vimeo.com/488557430/e6c63b98ef

At Home in Advent

For families with children Christmas 2020 is in the bag! - If you can’t make it to the Crib service on Christmas Eve, you can still collect a bag of goodies to use at home with your children.

‘Christmas in a bag’ contains tiny items that you can use to tell the Christmas story – together with a crib sheet (!) of how to use them, as well as a Christmas story booklet and a craft item to colour and make for your Christmas tree.

We would love children from our church family to have these bags as a gift from us. The bags can be collected from church at or before the services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, or contact Sue Brewer for delivery/ collection beforehand.

For adults, the ‘At Home in Advent’ reflections continue on the ‘St Matthews Church, Borstal’ facebook page each evening.

Advent in the Community

Christmas Trail for Advent

designed by Rochester Cathedral, featuring 12 downloadable sections of the Nativity story, carols and prayers for Christmas via the very modern medium of QR codes in café and restaurant windows. Scan the QR code, and part of the Christmas story will download to your phone as you wander in Rochester. No.12 will be directly outside the Cathedral where, if the Cathedral is open, you can go in to visit the Nativity scene and pray or light a candle for a loved one.

The Cathedral has its two beautiful ‘Molly Wisdom Hospice’ Christmas trees and dedications can be written on stars and left in buckets at the door.

(A helpful map is available in church – the first QR code is at ‘Playopolis’ near Star Hill. )

A Virtual Advent Calendar

Low calorie, rich in Christian symbolism and for all ages…

The Rochester Cathedral Advent Calendar is now up and running – find it at https://www.rochestercathedral.org/advent-calendar

Church of England video

This lovely video has been produced by the Church of England to lift our spirits this Christmas:

Christmas 2020 | Comfort and Joy | The Church of England - YouTube

Angels of Hope

These are our "Angels of Hope".

These are knitted angels wearing a rainbow - the idea being you display an Angel in your window or as part of your Christmas decorations - or both - and remind ourselves that there are still heroes in this strange world and that no matter what, the Lord is always with us. Each angel is £4 with £2 of the sale going to the NHS and the other half going to the church. If you would like an angel then there is a selection available from the back of the church when it is open for Quiet Prayer or you can contact Jac Bradshaw (07957558390) and she will take your order and deliver the angel to you.

See pages below for church services and readings over the next few weeks.

Take care and keep in touch. Every blessing

Sue Brewer

Useful links:

The Church of England Resourceshttps://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-churches

Rochester Cathedral Resourceshttps://www.rochestercathedral.org/worship-online

Diocese of Rochester Resourceshttps://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-churches

St Matthew’s websitehttps://stmatthewsborstal.com/

Collect for 3rd Sunday of Advent:

God for whom we watch and wait,you sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son:give us courage to speak the truth,to hunger for justice,and to suffer for the cause of right,with Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Church services – 13 th December 2020 - Third Sunday in Advent

The Church of England offers a range of online resources every week on their website:https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/church-online

Rochester Cathedral online worship page: https://www.rochestercathedral.org/worship-online The following services are streamed this week on the Cathedral’s website and facebook page:

Sunday - 9.45am Choral Mattins or 3.15pm Evensong

St Justus live stream:http://www.stjustus.org

… on TV and radio…

Radio 4 ‘Sunday Worship’ 8.10am ‘Cities of promise – a place in the heart’

BBC 1 11.30am ‘Sunday Worship’ for the third Sunday of Advent – from Royal Holloway, University of London

1.15pm Songs of Praise. Christmas from Norfolk

Radio 3 – Choral evensong 3pm live from Durham Cathedral

… and for those who don’t have internet access…

Don’t forget the Church of England phone line – completely FREE OF CHARGE – ‘Daily Hope’. 0800 804 8044which includes seasonal advent reflections.

As you pray at home, here are the bible readings for the next week:

Wednesday 9th Dec Isaiah 40: 25 - end Matthew 11: 28 - end

Thursday 10th Dec Isaiah 41: 13-20 Matthew 11: 11-15

Friday 11th Dec Isaiah 48: 17-19 Matthew 11: 16 - 19

Saturday 12th Dec Ecclesiasticus 48: 1-4, 9-11 Matthew 17: 10-13

Sunday 13th Dec Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8- end John 1: 6-8, 19-28 (3rd Sunday of Advent)

Monday 14th Dec Numbers 24: 2-7, 15-17 Matthew 21: 23-27

Tuesday 15th Dec Zephaniah 3: 1-2, 9-13 Matthew 21: 28-32

Wednesday 16th Dec Isaiah 45: 6b-8, 18 Luke 7: 18b – 23