The Christian Community of St Giles-on-the-Hill, Norwich
Sunday 2nd May 2021
Fifth Sunday of Easter
We are now back in church for Mass. The service today is at 10.30am.
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God. As we gather in worship today let us renew our faith in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who dwells in us and whose love is perfected in us.
The Easter candle remains in the Sanctuary until Pentecost Sunday, marking the fifty days of the Easter season which cover the resurrection appearances. The candle has a prominent place, reminding us that Christ is the light of the world and that, in that light, Jesus is alive today.
As we meet at St Giles for Mass at 10.30am this morning it is our aim to keep people safe from Covid infection. Please remember the following…..
– Only sit in the area that has a white card on the pew or in the seats that are within the aisles. If you are in a bubble you can sit together.
– Do not enter church until 15 minutes before each Mass. We are working at having people inside for as little time as possible.
– Please ‘no mingling’ in church after the Mass. Try and take your ‘catch-ups’ outside into the fresh air.
– Remember to keep social distancing when you go to speak to your friends in the pews before the Mass. Some people get too close to others, probably to hear what is being said, but you do need to keep a distance. Thank you.
We are continuing to include below the details of the Sung Mass which we would have been celebrating today in normal times. You may like to look up the readings and the hymns below and reflect on the opening sentences of the Mass.
Today our hymns would have been from the New English Hymnal. You can click on the titles of the individual hymns to hear recordings. Thank you to our organist Ian Graydon for supplying these links. Details of each hymn (except the recessional hymn on the sheet) are also available on line at Hymnary.org.
The picture above, taken on 14th April last year by Raymond Scott, shows the early blooming of the wisteria in our churchyard. Be sure to check out the progress of the wisteria this year.
Introit Hymn 114 Now is eternal life
Collect
Almighty God,
who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ
have overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life:
grant that, as by your grace going before us
you put into our minds good desires,
so by your continual help
we may bring them to good effect;
through Jesus Christ our risen Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
First Reading Acts 8:26-end
Psalm 22 25-31
Second Reading 1 John 4:7-end
Gospel acclamation Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Cantors I am the first and the last, says the Lord, and the living one;
I was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore
All Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Priest Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John
All Glory to you, O Lord
Gospel John 15:1-8
Priest This is the gospel of the Lord
All Praise to you, O Christ
Sermon
Creed
Intercessions
Offertory Hymn 101 The Lamb’s high banquet we await
Communion Hymn 272 All for Jesus! All for Jesus!
Post Communion Prayer
Eternal God,
whose Son Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life:
grant us to walk in his way,
to rejoice in his truth,
and to share his risen life;
who is alive and reigns, now and for ever.
Regina coeli
Joy to thee, O Queen of Heaven, alleluia!
He whom thou wast meet to bear, alleluia!
As he promised, hath arisen, alleluia!
Pour for us to God thy prayer, alleluia!
Priest Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia!
All For the Lord is risen indeed, alleluia!
Recessional Hymn on sheet The happy birds Te Deum sing (the complete text for all verses can be downloaded here)
Next Sunday’s readings: Acts 10:44-end; Psalm 98; 1 John 5:1-6; John 15:9-17
Rector Canon Darren Thornton (part-time) also UEA Chaplain (day off Monday) 01603 623724 Click to email
Churchwardens Rowena Atkinson (01603 455729) Bob Emsell (01603 439632)
Newsletter & Traidcraft Kate Baldry (01362 695503) Click to email
ST GILES NOTICES
From Fr Darren
Barbara Harper celebrates her 100th Birthday this week! All of us at St Giles send our love to Barbara, who has been part of the church family for a long time (although recently she has been housebound). Our prayers and thoughts go to you, Barbara, the oldest member of our church family at St Giles!
The funeral of Jonathan Trench will take place on Monday 10 May at 1.30pm in St Peter Mancroft, but sadly numbers will be limited because of Coronavirus restrictions. Gill has written to say “I am really glad that both Bob and Rowena are able to come to the service, to represent the people of St Giles, a church which Jonathan loved so very much. The funeral will be live-streamed on YouTube, and you can find the direct link by clicking here. Alternatively you can go to the St Peter Mancroft website home page and then scroll down the Welcome letter to click on the YouTube channel link. The funeral link is in the ‘Upcoming Live Streams’ section lower down the YouTube page.
“I’ve received so many cards of sympathy from old friends at St Giles, and I really appreciate these, and all the prayer which is coming our way. Unutterably sad times for me and Jonathan’s family, but a time full of blessings, too.”
Masses at St Giles are back to our normal routine with Said Mass on Tuesday at 12 noon and Friday 10.00am, and Said Parish Mass on Sundays at 10.30.am.
If you have a message or a note or an item for Fr Darren, please do write it down and leave it in the post tray. He will always collect everything when everyone has gone home. Even better would be to send your message via email (click here) as you will get a much quicker response. Thank you.
Church opening times for private prayer
The Churchwardens will open the church for private prayer on Tuesdays and Saturdays, mid-morning to lunchtime, and Carol Cullum has kindly agreed to open on Thursdays from 11.00 to 12.00.
DATES FOR MAY
Sunday 9 May 10.30am Said Mass Homily Fr Peter Varney
Monday 10 May 1.30pm Funeral of Jonathan Trench at St Peter Mancroft – see above for details. There will be a live stream of the service at this link.
Thursday 13 May 7.00pm St Stephen’s Church Deanery Ascension Day Service – click here for details
Sunday 16 May 10.30am Said Mass Homily Fr David Roper Mass followed by short PCC Meeting (socially distanced)
Sunday 30 May 10.30am Said Mass for Trinity Sunday followed by very short APCM (socially distanced). Raffle drawn today.
Thursday 3 June 6.00pm Corpus Christi Day Mass at Norwich Cathedral Preacher – Canon Darren Thornton. All are welcome.
We are looking forward to continuing to meet in church under the Government roadmap rules. Our own provisional roadmap for St Giles has been published on a separate page online here and can be downloaded by clicking here.
From Monday 21st June provisionally all the Covid restrictions in church will be lifted.
Tuesday 22 June 12 noon Said Mass as pre-Covid from this service onwards
Sunday 27 June 10.30am Sung Parish Mass BACK TO NORMAL SUNDAY
Bells will ring again today! We will sing! Wine after Mass to share some JOY in what has been a horrid time.
Remember the lockdown poster on our outside notice board….. “Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy!” (Isaiah 35:2)
FURTHER DATES
Sunday 15th August 10.30am Sung Mass for the Festival of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary followed by a glass of wine
Saturday 4th September 11.00am – 2.00pm St Giles Fete
Sunday 5th September 10.30am St Giles Patronal Festival Mass followed by a glass of wine
Friday 10th September Heritage Open Days begin
Saturday 11th September Norfolk Churches Trust Cycle Ride / Walk
Sunday 12th September 10.30am Harvest Festival Mass followed by Bring and Share Lunch
Tuesday 28 September 7.30pm PCC Standing Committee
Thursday 21 October 7.00pm PCC Meeting
Sunday 31 October 10.30am All Saints Sunday Sung Mass
Tuesday 2 November 12 noon All Souls Day Said Mass
Saturday 20th November 11.00am – 1pm Christmas Stalls
Sunday 21st November 10.30am Festival Mass for Christ The King followed by more wine!!
AND A DATE FOR 2022!
The Wisteria Concert will be back with the Sine Nomine Choir on Saturday 7 May 2022 at 7.30pm. This concert had to be cancelled in 2020 and we are very pleased to be able to give you advance notice of this rebooking.
OTHER NOTICES
FUNDRAISING
Our Bumper Raffle As we seek to raise some much-needed funds for the Church our Easter Raffle will now be drawn on Trinity Sunday (30th May). As from Easter Sunday until then, please do bring some extra cash along to church to purchase some raffle tickets. We have over 30 raffle prizes. Tickets will be £2 a strip. Please do buy as many as possible. You have to be in it to win it!
TRAIDCRAFT We hope that the Traidcraft Stall will be back soon but in the meantime all you need to do is email or phone Kate (contact details above) with your order and she can deliver to St Giles or your home – in Norwich or Dereham or any place in between! Kate has the usual stock of most food items and the new range of cards. St Giles will receive 10% of the value of Craft and Card orders and 5% of food orders from the range online. Please do enquire if you are interested in Craft items and Cards from previous catalogues – many are still available at reduced prices and some are half-price.
ONLINE RESOURCES
St Giles weekly newsletter will continue to be available for you to view online by clicking here. You can also receive your own copy in your email as soon as it goes live by signing up to receive the posts in your email. Scroll to the bottom of this page, type or paste your email address in the ‘Follow’ box, and click ‘Follow’. Alternatively you can email John to add your name to the list. Either way, you will then receive an email from WordPress asking you to confirm that you want to receive the updates. Click on the ‘Confirm Follow’ button in the email. It will open a WordPress page in your browser with the details of your setup, but you can simply close the page. (It is there just in case you want to change any of the settings listed.)
St Giles Twitter page shares our news and photos day by day. Our particular thanks to Hakan for maintaining and updating this service.
The Facebook pages of Norwich City Churches and Norwich East Deanery are frequently updated including news from St Giles.
Now we are in Easter we are back to using our regular service book for Mass at St Giles which can be downloaded here.
The Norwich Diocese prayer calendar for May is available on line here and you can save it on your computer, tablet or phone.
The Norwich East Deanery prayer calendar for February to June can be viewed and downloaded here.
The Church of England streams an online service nationally at 9.00am on Sundays. Click here for details – the page also lists a range of other helpful resources. Today’s service from the University of Wolverhampton explores transformative conversations with students and staff, alongside music and prayer. The sermon is given by Sarah Schofield, Lead Chaplain for the University of Wolverhampton’s Multifaith Chaplaincy and a priest in the Diocese of Lichfield, and the order of service can be downloaded here. The Church of England’s online weekly services since 22nd March last year are all archived to listen to here.
Worship at Norwich Cathedral is available via online streaming. It is also possible to attend services in person. Click here for current details. The Cathedral YouTube channel offers recordings of many previous services and other events, including organ recitals.
The most recent Sunday Hope podcast, for Easter Day, can be heard here, together with the complete Sunday Hope archive since 22nd March 2020 last year. Sadly the podcast on Easter Day was also the last. The Diocese say “We hope you have enjoyed listening to the series and encourage you to check our Local Live Streams page to find a church live stream or use the Church of England’s Daily Hope phone line for anyone who does not have access to the internet.”
St George’s Tombland have a Facebook page with many interesting comments and links, including how to access their 10.30am Sunday Mass today on Zoom.
For an online Anglo-Catholic Mass it is worth checking the Walsingham Anglican shrine church, St Mary’s, Bourne Street and St John The Divine, Kennington, amongst many others available. Facebook carries the daily Shrine Prayers from the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, and there is a useful online Guide to the Shrine prayers incorporating the Rosary.
The current eNews from the Diocese of Norwich includes the appointment of the new Bishop of Lynn, The Venerable Dr Jane Steen, currently Archdeacon of Southwark. As usual a wide variety of other news items are also included – definitely an interesting read! You can see past issues of eNews (usually a fortnightly publication) here, where you can also sign up to receive each new issue in your email box.
St Giles Charities 2021 Our monthly charities during 2021 are: January – The Church Urban Fund; February – Norwich Samaritans; March – Water Aid; April – The John Aves Education Project in Dheisheh / Bethlehem; May – Christian Aid; June – Médecins Sans Frontières; July – The Magdalene Group; August – The Children’s Society; September – The Church Army; October – The Leprosy Mission; November – The Matthew Project; December – The West Pottergate Community.
Charities have had a particularly difficult time during the Covid-19 epidemic. Please do continue your support!
Our 2021 Church Motto text is…… ‘Be kind to yourself’!
From Fr Darren
From Fr Darren