Gina's Blog

When Buddy and I were out walking the other day we can across some relatively new arrivals (see below). What a wonderful time of year this is, and being “locked down” make me appreciate it even more.
We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the world, and these last weeks have made me appreciate it even more. I have even been inspired to get out into the garden and do some much needed clearing.
I confess I’m not a gardener in the true sense – more a bit of a hack and slasher.

So the satisfaction I have got from clearing out a lot of undergrowth has been very real. But the thing I am most proud of is having put together a petrol lawnmower from a kit! OK so it took me a while and I probably couldn’t (or wouldn’t ) do it again – but it works, as my newly cut lawn can testify to. Buddy has had great fun chasing it round the garden – he’s not a huge help to be honest. If he’s not chasing the lawnmower he is asleep on the grass.

All this activity has reminded me that sometimes positives can come out of challenging situations. I am aware how much more appreciative I am for my surroundings. I have learned new skills – how to work Zoom and putting together a lawnmower being two of them – the first has more lasting value I think. I have discovered that you can hold a coffee morning remotely, and that you can make a model of Jesus’ Triumphant entry into Jerusalem out of lego, and that the children/young people are great at helping with a service even when they are all in different places – thank you to all the children/young people for making our Easter service so fantastic.

And we have all learned that we can still be church, even if we have to do it differently. The companionship, fellowship and worship are still as real, if not more so, in these challenging times. It doesn’t matter if we Zoom or telephone, God is with us, and I think we have all had a real sense of this in new and very special ways this Eastertide.

That old chorus springs to mind

“Count your blessings name them one by one, Count your blessings see what God has done”

Wishing you all God’s blessings

I was out and about very early this morning trying to avoid too many dog walkers as Buddy and I did our allotted exercise.
What a beautiful morning it was, with the frost still lingering. It made me forget for a while all that is going on. It also reminded me how very important it is to find things to do that can take us away just for a while from all we read and hear on the media, all the anxiety and uncertainty of our current situation.
Things that allow us to just “be.” I’ve found that my prayer times are even more important now than ever, if nothing else to remind me that I am not alone in all this, and God is with us, and to reclaim for a while a sense of calm and perspective.

I am very aware however that we will all be missing not being able to physically come together to worship, and not to be able to socialise with each other.
Forget the cold in St Mary’s, or the leaks at St Petroc’s – we miss being in our churches and being together I know.
But the good news is we are discovering how to “do church” differently, and I for one am being dragged into the modern world of livestreaming, zoom and even Facebook!

So this Sunday at 9.40am we are going to try doing a live service, using zoom.
For those who haven’t used it before, its pretty easy – if I can use it so can you.
I attach some instructions to help. Invitations to the service with the meeting ID will follow.
The service will then be posted onto the website.
There is a Morning Prayer service sheet that is on the website and is what we will be using, so you can download your own copy.

For those who can’t use zoom, we will be holding a short service by teleconference immediately afterwards at 11am.
Again the number will follow and I would be grateful if you could try to get the message out to anyone you know who might not be on internet or have issues connecting to zoom.

Finally, we are developing our Facebook presence so we can reach out even further, and offer another means for people to keep in touch. We are also planning to hold bible studies on zoom – and even a zoom coffee morning! Yes, it can be done apparently.

So, a lot is going on. But at the heart is to keep us all connected together and connected to God. This Lent and Easter may seem a bit different, but Christ will still be at the heart of it and will be with each of us as we journey to the cross of Good Friday and then on to greet the risen Lord on Easter day.

I look forward to joining with as many of you as possible on Sunday by one means or another!

God bless
From Rev Gina and Buddy

Welcome to the first of my blogs. Like many of us I am having to adapt to a new way of life – particularly when it comes to communicating and keeping in touch. This means learning more about all the amazing gizmos and tools out there that you IT savvy people think of as second nature. Until a few days ago “Zoom” was the noise a fast car makes! Well now I know differently. Its going to be a while before I am comfortable with using all these tools, but this may be one positive from the current situation – that I am brought kicking and screaming into the 21^st century as far as IT goes.

Yesterday was a beautiful but strange day. Without church services to conduct, I decided to walk from St Petroc’s to St Mary’s, stopping at each to pray and hold a short service of morning prayer with just Buddy and I in attendance. It was a rather special but poignant time. I very much felt God’s presence and love in each if the churches, as I prayed for you all. It reminded me that God is with us wherever we are, and however we worship Him. As wonderful as coming together physically for worship is, we can still come together spiritually and for this to be a meaningful and real sense of communion with each other and God.

In my usual way I decided to try a different way home and went marching off across country, only to find myself under the A38 but with no way of getting to the other side! So back we trudged until I found the right way. A good metaphor for life sometimes – off we merrily go trusting our own instincts (you are right, I didn’t look at a map), and then we come up against a brick wall – or gate in my case. Now more than ever we need to ask God to guide us in the weeks ahead, to trust in Him and not rely totally on ourselves, and to help and support each other.

Enough from me – its another beautiful day, and I hope you can enjoy it too, though keeping safe!

God bless, and you are in my heart and I my prayers

From Rev Gina and Buddy