Sunday services

This Sunday we are aiming to do another facebook watch party of the service at 10.30am and this will also be available on the website here: https://stmaryofbethany.org.uk/Groups/258475/Services.aspx

Church services suspended until further notice 

The Church of England has advised us to suspend all our services and groups until further notice. Our Sunday and weekday services, homegroups and other daytime and evening groups and events are all suspended, and all one-off events are cancelled. We will be making resources available via our website to help you continue to worship together with the whole SMOB community. Our office is closed to personal callers but is still available by phone or email.

Buddies for those self-isolating  

if you are self-isolating please let us know via the Office email address, and tell us whether someone in your home is ill or it’s just precautionary. We are linking up people who are self-isolating with buddies who can stay in touch and provide practical help, shopping, etc. If you can help, let us know too. 

Electoral roll update 2020

We are currently updating our electoral roll (church membership list). If you consider yourself a member of SMOB, you should be on the roll – if you are not sure whether or not you are, do check with the office. If you have recently joined SMOB (have attended regularly for at least six months), are 16 or over and baptised, you can join – you will need to log in or create a user and click the tap called 'Electoral roll' and fill out the form.
Any questions, or if you would like a paper form, please speak to Jess and Sharon.

Online help

We’ve all been learning a huge amount in a short time about meeting up online. If you’re struggling to keep up, we can help! Some people have lost their log-in details for their SMOB website accounts; if this is you, email office@stmaryofbethany.org.uk and we can reset them. Here are some simple instructions on how to download and use Zoom. (We are using Zoom for Morning Prayer Mon-Fri 9-9.30am and other groups.)  You don't need a zoom account to join a meeting and you don't have to download the program either.

April prayer diary 

A link to the April prayer diary can be found here.

This week on our blog 

Sarah on what God’s doing in this time, Mark on what the staff team’s up to and much, much more! Check out the Vicar’s blog on the SMOB website. We will also update Facebook and Twitter to flag up new content. 

Spring Harvest Home

 With all the major Christian festivals this year cancelled, the good news is that Spring Harvest are making all their content available free from 13-17 April. Visit https://springharvest.org/spring-harvest-home/ for all the details – there will be material for all ages. Spring Harvest is an excellent Christian festival with something for everyone. 

Join us for morning prayer Monday - Friday 

We are praying together at 8.55am each morning on Zoom. A link is posted to Facebook beforehand if you would like to join us in prayer. Here are some instructions on how to download and use Zoom. You don't need a zoom account to join a meeting and you don't have to download the program either.

Giving via the plate

Obviously you cannot physically give money to SMOB via the plate collection or using our card reader for the time being. If you normally give this way, please could you consider either saving your money to give us when we’re back in church, or making a bank transfer using the details on our website, and letting us know you are doing this via the office, or direct to our Treasurer Nick Mendham? This will really help us to plan our finances and continue SMOB’s fantastic ministry during this extraordinary time.

Woking Foodbank collection  

we will be collecting in April - watch this space for arrangements

Building consultation

Thank you to everyone who took part in our buildings consultation in March, by looking at the boards in church, viewing the presentations online, coming to our consultation sessions on 8 March and filling in a feedback form. Our plans received a very big ‘thumbs up’ from the congregation and our neighbours. There is no particular reason why the current restrictions should mean that our plans cannot go ahead on schedule. If you have any questions please contact John Brooks or Mark Wallace. A copy of the building project plans are online here Members Area of the Church web site under the heading 'Building Project'. 

Raise money for the Church, for free, with your online shopping! 

Thank you to everyone who has signed up! Using a free and easy app, you can collect FREE donations for us every time you shop online at many retailers, with Easy Fundraising. It’s a really easy way to help us raise funds and we’d really appreciate your help so please register to support us at: https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/stmaryofbethany/ – It’s fundraising for FREE! You can also download the app here.