COVID-19 Update 25/3 aM
As of yesterday evening, St John's Church building will be closed following advice from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. We will be continuing to live stream services from the comfort of our own homes the 9:30am and 11:30am services, and holding a 6pm prayer meeting on Zoom. All links will be on available on stjohnscrawley.com/live.
We will be sharing communion together this Sunday at the 11:30, so come to the stream prepared with bread and wine (or similar!).
We are relaunching Alpha today, held on Zoom - details available here: stjohnscrawley.com/alpha. And of course midweek groups are continuing over Zoom - contact your group leader for more information.
COVID-19 Update 19/3 PM
SUNDAY 9:30am, 11:30am & 6pm LIVE LINK
We are going to be live streaming the 9:30am, 11:30am and 6pm services, this will be hosted on YouTube which you can watch on Sunday by following this link: https://www.stjohnscrawley.com/live. We will continue to have a time of worship, sermon and prayer, and we hope you can join!
On Sunday 22nd March the Archbishops have called for a day of prayer with all worshipers praying and lighting a candle at 7pm, we would love for you to get involved at home and join us for our 6pm service.
KIDS
Reninca will be sending out a pack today by post for Sunday worship. This includes crafts, colouring and a Bible story with some ideas of things to do based on the plan for Sunday, had we been meeting. Reninca will send this by post for however long as is possible, then will send by email each week.
The church service on Sunday will be video streamed and live complete with kids song and kids slot :) so do watch if you can!
PASTORAL CARE
Due to Cov-19 people are facing unprecedented fear and anxiety and are becoming increasingly isolated. We as a church feel the urgency to offer practical, emotional and spiritual support in an intentional and intensive way and we need your help to achieve this.
A pastoral supporter will be in touch with every member of the congregation over the coming days, meanwhile if you need any help or support of any nature, then do contact the parish office on 01293 522692, or email connect@stjohnscrawley.
GROUPS & ALPHA
Groups will now be going ahead on Zoom! This will be starting with South Group tonight, so look out for an email from Jimmy with a link to join. There will be a time of prayer together, so please join in if you can.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Be visible in your communities, offering support if you are able.
Open House and The Easter Team have reached out to us for support, particularly in delivering food parcels. We would love to support them as much as we can - if you would like to be involved, contact ross@stjohnscrawley.com who is organising the logistics behind this.
We have been working together to plan the way forward and would love for you to join our vision during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
LOVE JESUS - Enable community worship and prayer
LOVE CHURCH - Intentional and intensive pastoral care for the church community
LOVE PEOPLE - Minimise the risk of infection
COVID-19 Update 17/3 Pm
Our Response
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic and recent statement from Archbishops of Canterbury and York, there will not be any services in St John’s Church for the foreseeable future. However we are thinking creatively about how we continue to worship and pray as community, and there will be an opportunity to engage online for the 9:30am, 11:30am and 6pm services this Sunday.
We have been working together to plan the way forward and have come up with 4 criteria for our strategy for dealing with Covid-19.
LOVE JESUS - Enable community worship and prayer
LOVE CHURCH - Intentional and intensive pastoral care for the church community
LOVE PEOPLE - Minimise the risk of infection
LOVE CRAWLEY - Be visible and serve the town centre
In order to minimise the risk of infection, Groups and Alpha will not meet (see this morning's update for a detailed list of groups now not meeting).
We are still church at this time, despite not being in the building! We have had to think inventively and be intentional to pastorally care for the whole family, remaining together each in our different communities and as one church.
What You Can Do
Be visible in your communities, offering support if you are able.
Open House and The Easter Team have reached out to us for support, particularly in delivering food parcels. We would love to support them as much as we can - if you would like to be involved, contact ross@stjohnscrawley.com who is organising the logistics behind this.
Covid-19 UPDATE 17/03 AM
St John’s Crawley is the local church for the town centre. If you feel isolated or are struggling at this time and would like to reach out for support, prayer or someone to talk to, we’d love to help. The church is open daily for quiet reflection and prayer, or if you would prefer to speak to someone, just give us a call.
Midweek groups
Midweek groups are postponed until further notice, including Central, South and North groups, Alpha, worship team, Friday youth, The Bridge Cafe, Turning Point, Midweek Eucharists, Lent lunches, young adults party, newcomers evening, young adults at the pub, parenting course, marriage course.
Daily morning and evening prayer will continue in the church. Smaller groups will aim to continue using online video conference call software - contact your group leader for more information.
Easter
Easter services will be reduced, with Holy Week Eucharists and Agape meal services being cancelled. Baptisms will no longer happen on Easter Sunday.
Sundays
We are reviewing which of our Sunday services will go ahead this weekend, with a preliminary decision released as soon as possible. A final confirmation with all the information given will be released by 7pm on Saturday evening.
Prayer
St John's church will be open from 6am-8pm every day for prayer and reflection. Come and light a candle, engage with prayer spaces and pray for our nation.
Get Involved
The Easter Team need volunteers to support the distribution of food parcels to those in desperate need at this time. If you would like to help, email ross@stjohnscrawley.com
Covid-19 Update 14/3
Dear wonderful St John's family,
Thank you so much for all those who have sent us words of encouragement at these uncertain times for this world, nation and town. Our vision is to Love Jesus, Love Church, Love People and Love Crawley. None more so than at this time do we need to press into these four parts of our vision. Psalm 121 tells us where our help comes from and Leviticus tells us how we might respond to self-isolation. Faith and wisdom together.
This is an email just to clarify our current position for Sunday Services that will ALL go ahead tomorrow. We will be meeting as a staff team on Monday to plan for the future weeks and during this season we will seek to send an update on Saturday so that we can all make informed decisions as close to Sunday as possible. In making our informed decisions we have followed the advice of the Church of England and Public Health. We continue to pray, step out in faith and use wisdom in making our decisions. Please see the changes below to practices and to the general advice to help you make your decisions. We are looking forward to tomorrow where we gather as the people of God for his glory.
St Johns Crawley precautions
While our Sunday services & other ministries continue to take place, we feel we need to make a few changes to follow best practice guidelines. Here are some of the things that will be different:
Handing washing: We would encourage everyone to wash hands regularly when together. It would be good to have a habit of washing our hands on arrival. There are three sinks in the hall and two sinks in church. Kids Church will follow the same principles.
Cleaning: We will be paying close attention to cleaning door handles, work surfaces & places of regular contact.
Disinfectant: We are asking all hall users to spend extra time disinfecting after using the hall, by wiping down door handles, work surfaces & tables they use with disinfectant spray & disposable clothes after every session.
Church and Hall: If we discovered that we have had someone with Coronavirus in the building, we would need to take immediate steps. This will require a deep clean, and not use the building until this is complete, which may disrupt services.
Refreshments: Tea and coffee after the 9.30am can only be consumed if you come into the kitchen and make your own. Likewise, at the 11.30am and 6pm – coffee will be made up in the flasks but you will be asked to serve yourself. There will be disposable cups available in the hall and in the church.
Communion: We have already sent out new guidelines for the 8am and 9.30am. There will be no communion at 11.30am and 6pm until further notice.
Physical Contact: To avoid the risk of spreading the virus through physical contact, our teams will be welcoming you with big smiles and waves. And we are asking everyone to avoid handshakes & hugs until further notice. Prayer ministry will be offered at the 11.30am and 6pm services, however there will be no laying on of hands.
General Advice
May I take this opportunity to remind you of the advice we have been given as a nation:
If you have been in contact with someone with Coronavirus and you are feeling unwell with a cough, difficulty breathing or fever, stay at home and use the NHS 111 online coronavirus service or call NHS 111.
Self isolate for 14 days if you have travelled from an affected area, whether you have symptoms or not.
Wash your hands more often than usual, for 20 seconds using soap and hot water, particularly after coughing, sneezing and blowing your nose, or after being in public areas where other people are doing so. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available.
To reduce the spread of germs when you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue, or your sleeve (not your hands) if you don't have a tissue, and throw the tissue away immediately. Then wash your hands or use a hand sanitising gel.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean.
Clean and disinfect regularly touched objects and surfaces using your regular cleaning products to reduce the risk of passing the infection on to other people.
Stay at home if you have coronavirus symptoms
Stay at home for seven days if you have either:
a high temperature
a new, continuous cough
Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.
You do not need to contact 111 to tell them you're staying at home.
Further information
For further information on Coronavirus (COVID-19) here are some resources:
Church of England Guidelines
https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-churches
National Health Service (NHS)
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
Government response
https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response
Government action plan
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-action-plan