Church Life in Lockdown
Earlier today the Mayor of London called on the Government to close all places of worship in London. We are waiting to see what this means for St Martin’s. Please check on our Facebook page and website for updates. We are encouraging people to see online as our primary way of being together till the heat of the pandemic has passed. But for some, for technical or personal reasons, online just doesn’t work. If you are joining in us in church, as before: please wear a face covering at all times inside church; maintain 2m distancing; sign in using Track and Trace; make regular use of the hand sanitiser provided; and when possible print your order of service at home or have it on your phone. To join us for live-stream services please use our Facebook page. The church will be closed for Private Prayer during this lockdown.
Fortnightly Children’s Church/Sunday 17 January, 4-5pm for children aged 4-12 on Zoom. For more information email ben.sheridan@smitf.org.
Theology Reading Group/today 6pm. Click here to register. This month the book is ‘Jack’ by Marilynne Robinson.
Baptisms and Confirmations with Bishop Sarah. This has been postponed due to lockdown. If you haven’t been baptised or confirmed yet, please speak to Sally sally.hitchiner@smitf.org for more information.
New Being With Groups starting in January & February. Are you exploring the Christian faith for the first time or in a while? Do you have a friend or a colleague who is? If so, Revd Dr Sam Wells and Revd Sally Hitchiner have developed a new course based around the theology at St Martin’s to help people who would like to begin or restart their journey of faith. This course is open to those who are new to the idea of faith and those who have been members of our congregation for a long time, with an opportunity to be in a group journeying at a pace that suits you. Groups will be led by Sam, Sally, Jonathan, Catherine, Richard, Harry, and Christian. Please speak to other congregation members who have done the recent groups or email sian.conway@smitf.org.
Phone Prayer/Mondays, 3.30-4.15pm. Call Christian on 07846195972 or for more information please email christian.saguyan@smitf.org.
Tawney Dialogue/Monday 11 January, 7.30pm. Hosted by Christians on the Left, Sam Wells alongside David Lammy MP will be discussing ‘In this world of polar-opposites, divisions and binary choices, are we cultivating community or harming harmony?’ Click here to register.
Bread for the World/Wednesday 13 January, 6.30pm. We very much look forward to welcoming back Revd Clare Herbert who will be sharing material from her new book Towards a Theology of Same-Sex Marriage: Squaring the Circle. All welcome! Join us online or in church (see notice on church life in lockdown above).
Sam Wells and Presiding Bishop Michael Curry/Thursday 14 January, 6pm. Sam Wells and Presiding Bishop Michael Curry will be in conversation to discuss how to improvise on the kingdom. Click here to register.
Faith Companions are groups of 3-4 congregation members who commit to making contact with each other once a week through the pandemic. If you are not in a faith companions group and would like to be contact sian.conway@smitf.org.
Media and Wider Ministry
A revised version of Jonathan Evens’ Epiphany sermon has been published by Artlyst. Jonathan’s article explores themes from the National Gallery’s ‘Sensing the Unseen’ experience and Heart and Soul’s ‘Black Jesus’ programme. Click here to read.
Parts of our Sunday 10am Eucharist will be filmed by BBC London including an interview with Sam Wells on how churches are adapting to lockdown. This will be aired on Sunday evening’s BBC London news.
