Making Mission Possible 2021 

It’s not too late to donate to Making Mission Possible to support our Mission Partners.  Details of how to give can be found here.  Please make your donation before Sunday 7th November 2021 to enable us to distribute funds to our Mission Partners as soon as possible after the event.  Thank you! 

Update on Sunday services – two services from 21 Nov 

From Sunday 21 November we will be running both a 9.15am traditional and 11am contemporary service for an initial four weeks. If you can help with any aspect of our services: music, tech, welcoming/stewarding, coffee, children’s or youth work, please talk to the person doing that role at a service, or contact the Office.

• Our children’s and youth groups will continue at 11am.
• We will serve coffee in between the services but not after the 11am, until we have enough helpers.
• We will live-stream one service each week – watch this space for details.
• Sunday services will be back at 10.30am for 19 and 26 December and 2 January, with no children’s or youth groups on 26 Dec or 2 Jan.
• We will review these arrangements before Christmas and hope to continue in the New Year if we can. 

Alongside our physical Church services, our services will continue to be streamed online via Youtube, which is easier to manage for our tech team and more accessible for people who don't like to use Facebook. Some people have struggled to find the services; if this is the case then it will help you to subscribe to the St Mary of Bethany feed - this will make our content appear more prominently. For one-to-one tech help, email us here.

Our annual Memorial Service is on Sunday 7th November at 3pm

At this service we remember people who have died, whether recently or in the past, and you can light a candle to remember them. If you would like to have your loved one’s name read out in the service, please contact the Office.

The clocks go back 30 October

Don't forget to change your clock so you're not an hour early on Sunday!

Tidying up the Church from this week

Now the church is used much more for various group activities, both in the week and on a Sunday, we would like to smarten our look a bit more. To this end we will be doing some "tidying up" of items which are currently lying around in the church building. We will begin this process in half term week, and any items which might belong to someone that are not labelled or claimed will be available on a 'lost property' table on Sundays over the following few weeks. Please let me know if you think there are items in church which may belong to you so they are not lost in this process. Thanks. Sarah email:  sarah.macdonald@stmaryofbethany.org.uk 

Thinking about confirmation? 

There is a local confirmation service at Christ Church Woking 6.30pm Sunday 28 November. If you are interested in being confirmed, please contact Mark, Bekah, Sarah or Dave. 

Covid measures including face coverings 

The staff team and wardens keep our Covid measures under review and have looked again at our approach to face masks. The government advice continues to be that people wear face coverings in crowded public spaces, including church services. We continue to advise everyone to wear a mask during our services; a range of exemptions apply and we do not insist on it. Our stewards have disposable masks at the door if you leave home without one. We continue to ventilate our large worship space well (so you may want to wrap up as the weather turns colder), we operate with a reduced seating capacity and we ask that you sanitise your hands on arrival.
 
Churches have a range of approaches to the current situation. We feel it is important that everyone who wants to attend church in person, or any of our activities, feels safe to do so, and we want to relax the restrictions at the speed of the slowest. Some of you find this frustrating; please bear with us and consider others. All NHS premises continue to enforce mask wearing strictly, as do some local entertainment venues. Covid rates are currently rising in Woking.
 
For smaller meetings in the church building, we are leaving it up to the organiser of the meeting to agree with those attending whether they will wear masks or not.
 
If you have any questions or concerns, please speak to any of our clergy or staff team, or Colin Hickman and Sarah Macdonald our church wardens. 

Recycling of masks 

Now that wearing face masks is an everyday part of life, we would like to encourage all our members to consider recycling their old disposable face masks - this can be done locally at Morrisons and Wilko.

Invite deliveries 

As we start thinking about our Christmas card/invite deliveries we would like to ask for some feedback from those who have delivered cards in our Parish previously. Please respond to our questions via the office.

• Are there any particular connections members of SMoB have within our parish?
• Are there any new developments/businesses/organisations etc.?
• Are there any areas of our parish that we’re really not very connected with / blocks of flats etc.?
• Any other feedback/ideas.

We think it would be ideal if everyone in our congregation could deliver to their road/surrounding area, if able. If you would like to reserve your area for each time we deliver our Christmas/Invites out, please do let us know that too!

Ministry opportunities

Thank you to those who have come forward to help with a few of our ministries. Families, Children and Youth Ministries are recruiting volunteers for a diverse range of activities and groups at St Mary of Bethany.
 
Young Families

• Tina is hoping to reopen Bethany Babes, with appropriate consideration given for Covid19 measures, at the end of September.  She is grateful for those members of the existing team who are able to continue supporting this ministry but in order to be able to offer the parents and carers the support and relationships that they really value, she needs to recruit some new team members.  Currently the need is for at least 1 person for Tuesdays and 2 for Wednesdays.  Team will need to be available from 9.45am until 12.00pm during term time.  The roles will involve safer recruitment.  If you would like to support this ministry but are unable to commit to a full morning, it would be helpful to have team members who are able to come and welcome and register our parents and children this would involve being there from 9.45am until 10.30am.   If you would to discuss these roles please contact Tina.   Tina.thomas@Stmaryofbethany.org.uk
   

Children

• FNC is looking for some more leaders or helpers each week. Fridays 6.45pm – 8.45pm. This is a fantastic opportunity to work with enthusiastic 7-11 year olds and be part of a fun team.
• For Fun Club, Kate would like another helper each week. This would enable me to increase numbers from 12 children each week. So I am looking for another 3 helpers.

If you are interested, please contact Kate: kate.clarke@stmaryofbethany.org.uk
 
Youth
Dave is looking to recruit new leaders for:

• Pathfinders – 2 helpers monthly  on Sundays - currently 10.20am – 11.45am.
• Sunday evenings – 3 leaders from 4.45pm – 6.30pm twice per month.
• FX Friday evenings – 2 leaders who can commit to 2 Friday evenings per month in term times from 8.15pm – 10.15pm.

Safe recruitment will be required.
For info go to smob.uk/youth
If you are interested, please contact Dave: Dave.doran@stmaryofbethany.org.uk

Buildings management 
Each activity comes with set up and set down. Some have a small amount of work, however, sessions such as Bethany Babes and FNC/FX have a far more significant furniture/resources set up and pack down. So, whilst each team needs volunteers there is still more need for assistance in these areas too. If you can offer to help Monday, Wednesday or Friday, please let us know as we would value your help.

AV & projection training with Sarah

Sarah Tapp is calling anyone who is interested to join her in a training session, led by the tech team, to serve in AV and projection. Anyone can join us for training although currently there are no women at all serving in AV and only one serving in projection!  
We did put this notice out pre-Covid and several people did sign up.  Please let the office or Sarah know if you are interested (or still interested) and we will arrange a date for training.

Prayer

We are still praying together at 9am on Wednesdays via Zoom. You can join us by following this link.
The October Prayer diary is out now! Download your copy from here. You can download a copy of the Diocesan Calendar of Prayer here.
SMOB has started a prayer list. We will pray for everyone on the list each Sunday in our intercessions, and during the week in Morning Prayer. You can add someone by first name, full name or just an initial; you don't need to give us any details. We will pray for people for three weeks and then ask whether they need to continue. To add someone to the list, please contact the Church Office.

Upcoming events 

10th Anniversary of Woking Street Angels concert: will take place at Woking United Reformed Church on the evening of Saturday 13th November. Doors will open at 7:15 pm and the concert will start at 7:30 pm. The concert will comprise mostly light music, there will be a number of acts, both vocal and instrumental, including one featuring Sophie, the daughter Lorna Chopra, from St Mary of Bethany.  Tickets are £6 each to be paid electronically on the door, tickets need to be reserved here: https://tickets.myiknowchurch.co.uk/gb/MTIzNC0zNg/t
 

Friary Brass Band: The Salvation Army are holding a brass band concert for their annual appeal to support the work of the Salvation Army Social Service centres. Saturday 13 November, 7.30pm at Woking Salvation Army, GU21 3BE. Tickets must be purchased in advance by calling 01483761951

Remembering & Celebrating Lives Affected by the Pandemic with Woking People of Faith: Peace Garden, Monument Road, Woking, GU21 5LW. Saturday 20th November, 3pm - 4pm

HOTS training: Woking Healing is offering HOTS (Healing on the Streets) training to people who would like to join their team. The team currently offers prayer to passersby in the town centre on the first Saturday of the month. This is a vibrant faith filled team and being part of it is a great way to stretch your faith. The training will take place at New Life Church in Old Woking on Saturday 27th November. You will need a reference from your church leader to join the team. To find out more or to sign up, please contact Andrew on 07479 988726 or email: info@wokinghealing.org.

Cards for good causes: Charity Christmas card shop, supporting local and national charities. Open Monday - Saturday until 18 December, 10am-4pm at St Nicolas' Community Centre, GU2 4AW.  

WPOF Festive Winter Shortbread Cookalong Saturday 4th December, 3pm- 4pm via Zoom. Join as we make shortbread together in the comfort of our own kitchens.  The simple recipe is easily adaptable for vegans or those who are gluten intolerant. The full recipe will be sent out with the Zoom link once you have registered your attendance to: administrator@wpof.org.uk