Sunday 31st January 2021 (The Fourth Sunday of Epiphany)

St. Edmund’s remains closed for this Sunday. However Mass will be live steamed at 9 AM from Walsingham here:

Monday 1^st February 2021

The Society, in conjunction with the Church Union and with the support of Forward in Faith, urges you to participate in the Prayer for the Nation initiative from Monday 1 February in response to a request from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. As many of us as possible should unite at 6pm each day to say the Angelus and offer intercessions for the souls of the departed, for the bereaved, for the vulnerable and for those charged with their care. We hope that this short prayer booklet helps you do that: https://www.churchunion.co.uk/…/Praying_for_the_Nation… Other resources for use inside our church buildings or at home are available here: https://churchunion.co.uk/fullposts.php?id=174#PrayerForTheNation

Tuesday 2^nd February 2021 (Candlemas)

Tuesday this week will will celebrate The Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Candlemas). Mass will be lives treamed at 8PM from Walsingham.

Wednesday 17^th February 2021 (Ash Wednesday)

Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent.

The Society, in conjunction with the See of Fulham and supported by Forward in Faith, is delighted to release A Covenant With God: A Journey through Lent 2021. Through this devotional booklet, Fr Philip Barnes reflects on the Old Testament readings from the Lenten Sunday Masses. For further details, please see: https://www.sswsh.com/fullposts.php?id=303

#LiveLent

Have a blessed week and please stay safe.

Sunday 24th January 2021 (Third Sunday of Epiphany/Third Sunday of Ordinary Time)

The Gospel reading for this Sunday, and a homily from the Bishop of Ebbsfleet, can be downloaded here:

21.01.24-3rd-sunday-of-otDownload

If you want to watch a service this Sunday, Mass will be lives streamed from the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham (Anglican) at 9 AM. The Mass can be watched on the Shrine’s Vimeo Channel (https://vimeo.com/shrineolw) or on Facebook

God’s blessing be upon you this week. Stay safe, and stay at home.

Whilst St. Edmund’s is Closed

As I am sure everyone is already aware, the Covid-19 Tier system has now ended, and we are back into a full lock-down across England. What we can and can’t do in this current lock-down can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home. Places of worship are allowed to stay open; however, along with many other churches in the Dudley area, St. Edmund’s has made the decision to close. There are a number of resources available in order for us to keep up-to-date with the Bible readings and prayers every day.

The Bishop of Ebbsfleet’s calendar has the gospel readings for every day of the year. The document can be downloaded here:

2021-ebbsfleet-calendar-pubd-bklt-version-1Download

Bishop Jonathan’s calendar can be used in conjunction with the Praying at Home Booklet published by the Church Union; this document can be downloaded here:

Click to access Resources_FINAL.pdf

There are also a number of ways of watching services on-line. The Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham (Anglican) live streams the Mass every Sunday at 9 AM; the Mass can be watched at this link:

https://vimeo.com/shrineolw

The Benefice Zoom service can also be access at 11 AM.

The up-to-date guidance from the Church of England can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2021-01/COVID%2019%20Permitted%20Activities%20v3.1.pdf

Bishop Philip North has released a new video, it can be watched here:

Please stay safe, and keep tuned to this website for further updates.

LOCKDOWN UPDATE

Latest update from Jon Harcourt:

With the horrific rise of Covid infections and so many dying each day from the Virus, we have decided that following the service at St Edmunds this Sunday 10^th January, the church will be closed until it is considered safe to reopen.

Our celebrant on this day will be Canon Darren Smith.

The strict rules we have had in place at St Edmunds still apply:

Masks/face coverings worn at all times; Sanitise your hands on entering/leaving church;

Into church and straight to your pew – no engagement with others;

At Communion please only leave your pew when there is space behind the black/yellow distance lines;

Back to your pew safely;

After the service please do not mingle or hang around – leave the church immediately.

Update on the latest Covid situation

A message from Jon Harcourt:

All,

Following the guidelines issued by the government and further clarification, churches are being allowed to open for communal worship.

We at St Edmunds will be open as usual this Wednesday 6^th January for Celebrate the Epiphany at 12.15pm, with Fr John Oakes presiding.

Sundays as usual 11a.m,  with Fr Darren Smith this week.

HOWEVER, to do this we must follow the strict guidelines on social distancing we announced last Sunday:

Masks/face coverings worn at all times; sanitise your hands entering/leaving church;

Into church and straight to your pew – no engagement with others;

For Communion please only leave the pew when there is a space behind the black/yellow distance lines;

Back to your pew safely;

After the service please do not mingle or hang around, but leave the church immediately.

These measures are necessary, and we all must be aware that the care for ourselves and others makes these restrictions necessary, and we will review the situation at all times. 

We fully understand if you feel that for the moment you will not be able to travel on buses or join with us for our services: take care – stay safe

God be with you till we meet again.

Jon.

Sunday 3rd January 2021 (Second Sunday of Christmas) & Wednesday 6th January 2021 (Epiphany)

Merry Christmas everybody, and a Happy New Year.

The other churches in the Benefice will be closed this Sunday due to snow. At the time of writing St. Edmund’s will still be open on Sunday for the 11 AM service, but please keep checking this website for further updates. Services for this week are as follows:

11 AM Sunday – Morning Service

12:15 PM Wednesday – Mass (Epiphany). Epiphany is a Principal Feast, and it is important that we attend Mass on Wednesday if we can.

Dudley (along with the rest of the Black Country) has now moved into Tier 4. We are only allowed to leave our homes if we have a reasonable excuse. We cannot mix with anyone indoors who are outside of our homes or support bubble. We can only mix with one other person outside. When coming into church please remember to wear a mask, and to sanitize your hands before you enter. For more information on what we can and cannot do in Tier 4 please look here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tier-4-stay-at-home. The Church of England guidance can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2020-12/COVID%2019%20Permitted%20Activities%20under%20Tier%20System%2021.12.20%20v3.pdf

The Bishop of Ebbsfleet has released his liturgical calendar for 2021. For more information, and the prayer written by Pope Francis which the bishop is asking us to pray, please click here:

2021-ebbsfleet-calendar-pubd-bklt-versionDownload

Many of The Society Bishops have made Christmas messages. It is still the season of Christmas, so it is not too late to watch them. There are too many to post on this website, to watch them all you would need to visit The Society’s Facebook page. Bishop Philip North’s message is on YouTube, and can be watched at this link:

Please keep safe this week, especially with the snow and being in a Tier 4 area.