Our Anniversary Exhibition was due to be staged in church this weekend but, due to coronavirus restrictions, we decided to create a “virtual” version.
The exhibition is now open and the link to the Exhibition Galleries is HERE.
Our video service of worship for Sunday, 18th October 2020, may be found on YouTube HERE.
N.B. This recording will not be available until shortly before 11:00 on Sunday – prior to this, it will show the video as being unavailable and “private”.
Order of Service: HERE
The video and those of previous weeks’ services may be found on the Recordings of Services page of this website.
October 2020:
Covid-19 (last updated on 13th May 2020)
We wish to continue offering pastoral support to all members of the congregation. Any member of the congregation may contact their Elder if they, or someone they know, may need help in connection with a pastoral need or a practical need – we are here to support each other and do what we can for our communities. Any member of the Secretarial Team may be contacted if your Pastoral Elder is not available.
DO LET US KNOW IF YOU NEED ANY HELP.
We continue to pray for those who are having health difficulties or who have responsibility for taking decisions in relation to this difficult situation.
The evening discussion service led by Rev’d Arlington Trotman was very much appreciated by all those who were able to attend.
You may read a report of the discussions HERE.
Sunday, 6th September 2020, marked the 150th anniversary of our church building on the corner of Goldsmith Street and Chaucer Street in Nottingham.
Plans we had put in place to celebrate together with visiting church friends and civic dignitaries have had to be put on hold as a consequence of restrictins and guidance resulting from the current pandemic, but we celebrated online with a special service of thanksgiving led by our minister, Rev’d Chris Ford. The preacher was Rev’d Geoffrey Clark, Moderator of the East Midlands Synod of the URC.
The video of our service may be found on YouTube HERE.
Order of Service: HERE
By popular request…
The Ukuleles of St. Andrew’s with Castle Gate United Reformed Church, Nottingham
share their video of “We’ll meet again”
This rendition and the video was made under self-isolating conditions in May 2020 during the week of the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
Friday, 8th May, was the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
Out member, Ruth N, shared recollections of her experiences on VE Day with our members through our eNewsletter and, with her permission, the article is reproduced here:
“It is almost impossible to find words to describe the feeling – the War had ended. It was joyous beyond belief…
With my sister Margaret and friends, we walked in the evening from our home in Sherwood to the Arboretum. We joined a long line of people doing the Conga all around the Arboretum grounds and then the line snaked down the road all the way to the Market Square and you just went with the flow. There were such vast numbers of people we had to hold hands to make sure we could keep together.
The Market Square was literally heaving with people singing and dancing. Such a great outpouring of relief – Church bells were ringing again, having been silenced during the war as they were to have been our warning sign that an invasion on our shores had begun – fortunately never needed. There were lights everywhere – no black-out restrictions. People were smoking their “ciggies” after dark OUTSIDE.”
Ruth, who was 15 at the time of V.E. Day, said it was difficult to describe the experience but it is one of those moments that you carry in your heart.
Our member, Maggie B, works in the NHS. She contributed the following article for our weekly “eNewsletter” shared on 9th April 2020 and gave permission for it to be shared on the website.
She writes:
[I have been asked] to say a few words about my experience of the current situation, in the belief that my experience is more interesting! This is not a word I’d use to describe the situation, not least because every time I hear it I think of the phrase “may you live in interesting times” – the provenance of which I’ll leave to you to decide!
Over my past few shifts, I have been variously: scared; tired; fed up; horrified; joyous; bemused; uncomfortable. To be honest, we have been quite lucky at work as we are one of the so-called ‘clean’ wards – we still admit patients of our own speciality (and some others too) and if any of our patients develop Covid-19 they are moved to one of the respiratory wards. The hospital is unrecognisable, purely because everything we did know has changed and most specialty wards have now become respiratory wards. We have new ways of working, and every time I walk into work something else has changed. But we still go back to our fundamentals – each patient is here for a reason, and we need to make sure that they are safe, pain-free, comfortable and well-looked-after whilst they are with us, even if we do have to wear facemasks and end up repeating ourselves frequently.
We still manage to laugh, not only with the patients but with the staff too, but unfortunately our jokes are not suitable to be repeated. (I’m not sure which is worse – NHS humour or military humour. Answers on a postcard please!) We are also aware how fortunate we are – we may be having to go to work, and potentially risk our health, but we are also able to see and be with other people, and our opportunity for actual social interaction is immense. We do practice social distancing as much as we are able, and we do remind others when necessary, but it’s quite tricky to help a patient mobilise to the bathroom if you are 2 metres away from them.
If you were to ask me what you could do to help, then I would say you are already doing it. Stay at home, go out as infrequently as possible and stay as far away from others when you do. I may sound like a broken record, but this is a nasty disease and the consequences are horrible, and too often heart-breaking.
Take care,
Maggie
Our website has a new look and a new virtual home!
In order to continue looking good and being easy to navigate on mobile devices, the website has a new overall appearance, but the content is essentially the same.
As always, we will be glad of your feedback and encouragement.
In his letter to members in our weekly eNewsletter, our minister included a prayer, having in mind all those who have lost loved ones unexpectedly, those who are in hospital, those recovering at home and those who are feeling anxious, lonely and afraid.
“Almighty and Eternal God, whose love and care is close to each one of us, especially in our time of need, we hold before you all who are desperately ill at this time, all in Intensive Care Units, all recovering on the wards, all at home having beaten the virus, but still sore and anxious. We pray for all those who are starting to feel ill and are desperately worried about what awaits them in the days ahead. In the name of Jesus, who brought healing to the sick and hope to the downhearted, we ask for your healing for all in need, for your patience, for your inner peace and your strength and encouragement, that they may be made well and returned to the love of their families.
Eternal God, we pray too for all those who have lost loved ones, who are facing the aching reality of deep grief and sorrow and who, at the moment, cannot honour their loved ones in the way they would wish. We pray that you will comfort them with the knowledge that their loved ones are in your eternal love and care; that you will bring them new hope and new possibilities and the determination just to carry on.
Eternal God, we pray for all those who are working day and night to nurse and to tend the sick. We give thanks for the skill and dedication of doctors, nurses, managers, cleaners, delivery drivers, engineers and designers, those in government and in positions of authority, all who are working so hard to develop and bring new ways of healing to those in greatest need. Please keep them safe when they are in harm’s way and strengthen and encourage them when they become tired and disillusioned.
Eternal God, above all, we pray that this current crisis will pass quickly and that a way can be found to beat it once and for all. We pray that you will watch over all our loved ones, wherever they are and that you will keep them safe and well. We pray that we may all be reunited in love and friendship very soon. We offer you our prayers, in the knowledge that it is impossible to pray earnestly and for nothing to happen. And to you, Eternal God, be all honour, glory and praise, now and for ever. Amen.