Services
Sunday 31st May, Pentecost
| 9.30 am | Services page | Eucharist from Great Gaddesden Church for the Berkhamsted Team Ministry | (JR) |
The broadcast will begin shortly after 9.20 am on the Services page and the Eucharist itself at 9.30 am.
Tuesday 2nd June
| 10.30 am | Zoom | Café Zoom – Tuesday morning Coffee and Cake | (see below) |
Wednesday 3rd June
| 10.00 am | Services page | Midweek Communion from Great Gaddesden Church for the Berkhamsted Team Ministry | (JR) |
| 7.55 pm | Zoom | Midweek Discussion Group | (see below) |
Sunday 7th June, Trinity Sunday
| 9.30 am | Services page | Eucharist for the Berkhamsted Team Ministry | (JR) |
Notices
Coronavirus
Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, there will be no formal acts of worship at our three Parish Churches for the foreseeable future. All our churches will now stay closed until further notice. There will be a broadcast Eucharist service at 9.30am on a Sunday and a new midweek Communion at 10.00am on a Wednesday for all the Berkhamsted Team Ministry.
Last Sunday’s Technical Problems
We’re sorry that last Sunday’s live stream of the Eucharist from Great Gaddesden Church suffered from technical glitches, at least for some people. After much investigation we found two things that went wrong. First, on Sunday morning there were problems locally with a couple of internet service providers (one of them a big name). Secondly, those ISP difficulties exacerbated a growing problem in the way that Facebook makes available its live video stream in circumstances such as ours. So we’ve decided to move away from Facebook as the originator of the video stream and instead make more use of Vimeo. This should address this issue and result in some extra advantages: recordings of services will now be reliably available after they are first broadcast; you will not need to agree to Facebook’s tracking cookies for you to watch the services; the sound issues that some people had should be resolved; and you may even notice an improvement in video quality – but only if you have a fast enough internet connection!
We decided to expand our use of Vimeo in this way because in addition to its technical attractions it is ad-free and also free from the blandishments and tracking habits of social media. Unfortunately these qualities aren’t cost free, and the church’s expenses have consequently increased. We ask you please to bear that in mind in your regular giving.
Of course, we can’t guarantee that there won’t be future problems with internet service providers. But we can hope that the consequences of any such problems won’t be as disruptive as they were last Sunday.
zoom Meetings
Several meetings are now being held on the Zoom video conferencing platform. Details of two of them are below. Here’s some general guidance about this technology, which many people in the village are now getting familiar with.
Joining instructions for each meeting will come by email from the person who’s hosting it. You’ll need a computer, tablet or smartphone with working microphone, speakers/headphones and camera to participate fully. If you’re using a tablet or smartphone and haven’t used Zoom before you can get ready ahead of time by downloading the Zoom Cloud Meetings app from the App Store (for iPads and iPhones) or Google Play (for Android tablets and phones). If you’re using a desktop or laptop, the software will download automatically when you join your first Zoom meeting, or is also available for manual download in advance here (choose Zoom Client for Meetings).
Café Zoom
Tuesday morning’s Coffee and Cake sessions are back – but online! We will be getting together virtually by Zoom on Tuesday from 10:30am to 12:00noon. Contact Barbara Sheard at barbara@sheard.com, preferably a day or so beforehand, to ask for joining details for this week’s Café Zoom. You’ll need to make your own coffee…and bring your own cake!
Midweek Discussion Group on Zoom
The Midweek Discussion Group’s Lent sessions were cut short by the Covid-19 lockdown. However, Anthony Archer is organising a new series over the next few weeks which will be held via Zoom. There will be two dates to start with and they will be continued if there is support for them.
The sessions will start with a general welcome chat to hear how everyone is getting on, then some discussion centred around a Bible passage with a short time of prayer at the end. Everyone will be considered to be fully present if they have signed in, but there is no need to say or share anything. You can spend the whole time ‘mute’ if you wish!
To start with the group will probably be quite small but there will be an opportunity to invite others. There will need to be the usual protocols about confidentiality, as anything shared must be respected as being confidential to the group. If you would like to invite “outsiders” then please contact Anthony first.
The first sessions have already been held, and now you are very welcome to join the next which will be:
- 3 June Acts 2:1-21 (Pentecost)
- 10 June Matthew 28:16-20 & 2 Corinthians 13:11-13
- 17 June Acts 11:19-30
Sign in will be at 19.55 hrs.
Please contact Anthony Archer on anthony.archer@bridgewaterassociates.co.uk and he will send the Zoom details and be happy to answer any questions.
Regular Giving
Please remember that the church continues to function even with the buildings closed, so we do ask that you continue with your regular financial giving to support the ministry. If you normally give weekly in church, you may like to consider paying direct through your bank account. Click or tap here to visit the Donate Page to find out more.
Do you need any Financial Help?
If you, or anyone you know, is in financial difficulty, the Vicar has access to a hardship fund. Please feel free to contact him in the strictest of confidence on 01442 214898 or at vicar@littlegaddesdenchurch.org.uk
New Videos
Two new videos have been released on the Front Page of the website this week.
Eucharist for St Augustine: a chance to catch up on this week’s Midweek Communion, first broadcast at 10:00am on Wednesday 27 May 2020.
And Anthony Archer, Reader, shares his Thought for The Day for 28 May 2020: