St John's logo

News and updates

Online Service!

Our online service is now available: click here. See our blog page for previous weeks services.

Dial-a-Sermon!

We have a number for those without internet access to dial and hear St John's sermon recordings. The number is 01946 550259.
Do you know someone who might appreciate it? If so, please spread the word, we hope that this means more people will be able to listen to God's Word being preached.

The number is charged at normal call charges from your provider. So, to take an example, if a person has free evening and weekend calls from a land line, it will be free to them at that time. Contact your phone provider if you are unsure about charges.

St John's Church and the new lockdown

1 November 2020

Like many others yesterday, I hung on for hours waiting for the Prime Minister's announcement. In the end I felt it was getting too late so I sent yesterday's email off to you before I heard official news about the lockdown.

So I'm writing now to update you. The Government rules, so far as church is concerned, are clear: from Thursday 5th November "places of worship will be closed." here's the link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november#weddings-civil-partnerships-religious-services-and-funerals

(The only thing we can continue in the church buildings is the Union course: this is an official university course, and St John's is registered as the site in which the course is delivered to our students; this means it is classed as one of the activities exempted from closure in our buildings.)

This closure is a difficult and unwelcome move for us. But we all recognize that the government has to act quickly to try to bring down the R number, and there is no reason why our gatherings should be exempt from that.

Some christians, and some churches, take the view that we should not allow the government to interfere in our worship of God. After all, doesn't Scripture say we should "not give up meeting together" (Hebrews 10:25)? Yes, indeed. But Scripture also says, "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities . . . whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted." (Romans 13:1-2).

You may want to come back at me with Acts 5:29 and say: Were Peter and the other apostles not rebelling against the authorities in Jerusalem when they said, "We must obey God rather than human beings"? Yes, they were, and they were right to do so! But notice what it was they were rebelling against. The High Priest (the main representative of the 'authorities') had said, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name [ie Jesus's name]" (Act 5:28). Our government is not forbidding us from speaking about Jesus, or proclaiming our faith. It is not saying Christians shouldn't meet. It is not targetting Christians or churches. Rather, it is issuing these instructions, and applying them to all gatherings of any kind, for the sake of the nation's health as a whole.

Our faith is not dependent on meeting together, although we should meet together when we can. The invitation each of us receives is a personal one from Jesus: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). Jesus still holds out that invitation to each one of us.

I have no hesitation in saying that we as Christians must share the burden with the rest of society; we must play our part in trying to slow down this virus; we must willingly follow the government rulings. It serves no good purpose for us as churches to act as if we had a 'spirit of entitlement'. If we love our neighbouring non-Christians and our community we will not want to be seen to be protecting our interests at their expense.

On a practical note, this means:
1) Our church meeting THIS Wednesday at 10.30am will go ahead as usual.
2) The Sunday and Wednesday 10.30am services after than will not happen for at least a month. We'll keep you posted!
3) We are postponing the zoom meeting we had planned for this evening - the one about reopening Sunday children's work. But the zoom prayer meeting will, of course, be happening at 8.30pm this evening as usual.

All this increases the need, but also gives us the opportunity, to put into practice what Si was showing us this morning from 1 John 3: "love one another as he commanded us" (v23).

Yours in Christ,
Fergus

Rev'd Fergus Pearson
Vicar, St John's Church, Hensingham

15 October 2020

Christianity Explored

What's the best news you've ever heard?

At this time when COVID-19 has brought the world to its knees Christianity Explored is your chance to find answers.

For more information click here.

Prayer letter from Eloise Marsland

12 September 2020 (Updated 11 October 2020)

A prayer letter from Eloise Marsland. Pray for her as she settles into being a ministry trainee in Sheffield, especially with the added complications of rising infection levels.

Prayer Letter October 2020
Prayer Letter September 2020

9 May 2020 (Updated 5 September)

Pre-church live worship 9.30am

Join our zoom session and sing with us in praise to God, with prayer also. Anyone can join; please place your mic on mute though! Because of sound delay you will only hear the leader sing and play but hopefully it will create a sense of singing together. Please feel free to join at 9.20am to say hello to others, hope to see you.

Meeting ID: 758 9806 9928
Password: sing
Click here to join zoom session

6 August 2020

We would like to recruit a female leader for CYFA, our 14-18s work. Could you serve in this way?

We are in great need of a female leader in order to keep running the group in September. We would like someone to join us who is a committed Christian and could help with leading the group, along with Si Walker and the two other team members. Responsibilities include: helping to organise sessions, contributing to some of the teaching (for which we can provide assistance if needed) and helping with pastoral care for the young people.

We meet on Sunday evenings, 6.30-8.30pm (although there may be more online meetings in the future, initially).

We would like to emphasise that there is no age requirement, and we would welcome interest from those who may not have done youth work for some years. Or you may not have done youth work before, but feel up for a new challenge.

For an informal conversation, please get in touch with Si Walker (contact details). The role is voluntary and subject to our safe recruitment policy and DBS, as laid out in our Safeguarding Policy.

24 March 2020. Updated 4 April

Prayer Meeting

In times of uncertainty, especially now that we have been told to stay at home, we have to draw strength from our heavenly Father. The best way to do this is to continue to meet up remotely and pray with one another. To this end, we are going to see if we can hold a prayer meeting via the online platform, Zoom. Everyone is welcome to join in, all you need is access to the zoom app (smartphone, iPad or laptop) and pray with us in the comfort of your own home. We plan to have a a prayer session every Sunday at 8:30 pm. If you are interested in joining us, please contact Fergus, Si or Nigel.

25 May 2018

Data protection privacy notice

The processing of personal data is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation, (the “GDPR”). This new data protection regulation is effective from 25th May 2018.

You can access our Privacy Notice from the Contact Us page.