New Arrangements for COVID-19
St Mark’s Parish Council has met to discern how we might best care for those within, and beyond the parish, in the face of the Coronavirus epidemic.
Worship
We livestream our worship service via Zoom videoconferencing on Sunday morning at 10:00 AM. Morning Prayer is also held via Zoom at 8:00 AM on the other days. Please email yarravilleanglicanparish@gmail.com for further connection details. For any without the possibility of using Zoom linking in by phone, landline included, can also occur.
Prayer
We will look at how best to keep each other in prayer and seek to gather an online, phone, or by other means, group of people who will intercede for people, our world and the parish. It may or may not be linked to Morning Prayer.
Bible Studies and other groups
Our bible study breaks during school holiday time, which we are now in. We will look to resume when term is due to begin, again using Zoom. There are some other groups that meet monthly and we will up date this site in these regards.
Pastoral Care
We are beginning keeping in contact via phone, Facetime, or other means during this week.
Please also feel free to contact the parish if we con be of help in any way to you, or someone you know, and we will do all we can.
In this regard it was felt that it was best for the Locum Priest, David Atkinson, to be the contact point in terms of the needs any of us might have ourselves or should we wish to pass on the name of someone else in need.
David
The Rev’d. David Atkinson
Locum Priest
St. Mark’s Spotswood
0412 351 369
davidatkinson513@gmail.com
Worship
We livestream our worship service via Zoom videoconferencing on Sunday morning at 10:00 AM. Morning Prayer is also held via Zoom at 8:00 AM on the other days. Please email yarravilleanglicanparish@gmail.com for further connection details. For any without the possibility of using Zoom linking in by phone, landline included, can also occur.
Prayer
We will look at how best to keep each other in prayer and seek to gather an online, phone, or by other means, group of people who will intercede for people, our world and the parish. It may or may not be linked to Morning Prayer.
Bible Studies and other groups
Our bible study breaks during school holiday time, which we are now in. We will look to resume when term is due to begin, again using Zoom. There are some other groups that meet monthly and we will up date this site in these regards.
Pastoral Care
We are beginning keeping in contact via phone, Facetime, or other means during this week.
Please also feel free to contact the parish if we con be of help in any way to you, or someone you know, and we will do all we can.
In this regard it was felt that it was best for the Locum Priest, David Atkinson, to be the contact point in terms of the needs any of us might have ourselves or should we wish to pass on the name of someone else in need.
David
The Rev’d. David Atkinson
Locum Priest
St. Mark’s Spotswood
0412 351 369
davidatkinson513@gmail.com
Last Saturday, the 22nd of March, The Archbishop of Melbourne, The Most Rev’d. Philip Freier wrote:
“Dear Friends,
I am writing to you to ask that you advise members of your parish or other ministries that effective from Monday, 23 March 2020, regular public services and parish organised group activities are suspended within the Diocese of Melbourne. That means you should not hold regular public services of worship from that date or facilitate gatherings for parish activities that are not on the church premises. Baptisms, weddings and funerals can proceed with immediate family members for the time being so long as they comply with the government imposed restrictions.
It is important to say, at the same time, that this is not a closure of ministry. The need for Christian ministry is only likely to be heightened over the new weeks and months but it will need to happen in new forms. I hope that our churches can remain open for prayer and contemplation within the current restrictions but can imagine that further tightening of these restrictions may also close that option off. We are fortunate to have a range of digital opportunities open to us and more will be said in coming days about opportunities for you to be trained in their use…
It is certain that there will be profound disappointment that services of worship during Holy
Week and Easter will not be able to proceed with the usual expectations.”
You may be aware that some other Anglican dioceses had already made this move, as well as some parishes within this diocese. It is not limited to the Anglican Church by any means.
Archbishop Freier further said:
“It is important that we hold together at this time the importance of local context and the advice we are receiving from health and government authorities. There will be many situations where questions that arise in one place cannot be answered with the same response that arises from another context. I am very conscious of the responsibility that we have to elderly, disabled and other vulnerable groups. Many vulnerable people will be self-isolating and you will need to be conscious of this in your pastoral ministry. For some a home visit will not be welcome at this time, for others it may be welcomed as a lifeline.”
“Dear Friends,
I am writing to you to ask that you advise members of your parish or other ministries that effective from Monday, 23 March 2020, regular public services and parish organised group activities are suspended within the Diocese of Melbourne. That means you should not hold regular public services of worship from that date or facilitate gatherings for parish activities that are not on the church premises. Baptisms, weddings and funerals can proceed with immediate family members for the time being so long as they comply with the government imposed restrictions.
It is important to say, at the same time, that this is not a closure of ministry. The need for Christian ministry is only likely to be heightened over the new weeks and months but it will need to happen in new forms. I hope that our churches can remain open for prayer and contemplation within the current restrictions but can imagine that further tightening of these restrictions may also close that option off. We are fortunate to have a range of digital opportunities open to us and more will be said in coming days about opportunities for you to be trained in their use…
It is certain that there will be profound disappointment that services of worship during Holy
Week and Easter will not be able to proceed with the usual expectations.”
You may be aware that some other Anglican dioceses had already made this move, as well as some parishes within this diocese. It is not limited to the Anglican Church by any means.
Archbishop Freier further said:
“It is important that we hold together at this time the importance of local context and the advice we are receiving from health and government authorities. There will be many situations where questions that arise in one place cannot be answered with the same response that arises from another context. I am very conscious of the responsibility that we have to elderly, disabled and other vulnerable groups. Many vulnerable people will be self-isolating and you will need to be conscious of this in your pastoral ministry. For some a home visit will not be welcome at this time, for others it may be welcomed as a lifeline.”