January Advance This is the regular publication containing news of events and our church life. You could help by sending content to advance@stjohnsurcipswich.org.uk Also if you have both a printer and nearby members that a print a copy that would be their only means of reading it. Ensuring you avoid any possible contamination in doing so by using disposable gloves for all stages including posting it through the door. Here is a version with coloured pictures & cover for reading on line or printing

Covid -19 latest news: From Sunday 27th December we will be closed until further notice. More Here on What is happening Weekly A live half hour Zoom Service at 10:30 Sunday

Please Note at least until the end of 2020 we are unable to hire out any rooms due to covid-19 restrictions.

Letter from William Glasse Dear all, This is not official in any way but a personal invitation to as many as are interested to join me via phone (including landline) smartphone or computer, in my study at home for a few thoughts, Bible Readings and prayers each Sunday evening at 7:00 pm during the period of our forced absence from Church. There are many online resources available from the URC and Methodist Churches and elsewhere and all will be excellent. What I am offering is something for those who want to hear a familiar voice and (where technology permits) see a familiar face. Please pass this to as many people as you think may like it within our churches. If you like to listen, please Join the meeting just before 7 – I will open it from 6:55 but say nothing until my clock strikes at 7:00 – it will end at about 7:30 or before. In order to access this there are three ways: 1) Find me on Facebook and follow the event link there that I will set up shortly – I am William Glasse – happy accept new friends 2) Click the following link which will open your internet browser – you can continue to join the meeting there (you do not have to download the Teams app unless you want to) Join Microsoft Teams Meeting 3) Dial the following number on a phone: 020 3443 6294 - When asked for the conference ID use your keypad to type 878 173 346 # You will be asked to record your name – but no need unless you want to – and then type # again I hope you find this helpful if you decide to join. Join the meeting just before 7:00 – I will open it from 6:55 but say nothing until my clock strikes at 7:00 – it will end at about 7:30 or before. Wishing you every blessing, William.

Opening for Christmas Day Service The church is open at 10:30 until 11:15 before we close the church again for the necessary cleaning required. • The idea is to avoid too many people arriving at once. You must stay outside St John’s until called forward and stay two metres apart from others waiting to enter. • You must not enter the building if you have any of the symptoms of Covid 19 or feel unwell. • There is only a disabled toilet facility available . • You will need to have a face-covering on at all times, from just before entering the church, until you are outside again. • There will be a one way system to ensure social distancing of two metres is possible. This will be marked by arrows. • You will enter the left hand doors and turn left to enter the sanctuary (there will be hand sanitiser available). • As required by Government for church premises, we will ask you to sign a form to say you agree to our keeping your details; once signed, we will keep that whilst we are operating the church in this way. We will then take your details: See example of the Form below which says we will only keep a note of the date and time of any visit for 21 days. This is to provide the necessary details for NHS Track and Trace, and whilst not compulsory, the elders would urge you to provide this information. There is QR Code to read for your phone. • A steward will direct you to a seat which will be socially distanced from others. • No singing is allowed. • You will leave the sanctuary via Room 1 as guided by a steward. • There will be no conversation possible with others until you have left and are outside the building and you are strongly discouraged from meeting on the footway outside the church. Despite all the above, we would really love to see you if you can visit safely. If you wish to know more about a Risk Assessment please email the Church Secretary From the Elders of St John’s Consent form for places of worship To support the NHS Test and Trace programme, we are taking contact details (name and telephone number) for all visitors, as well as recording times entering and leaving St John’s URC Ipswich. We do have a QR Code to scan. In line with guidance issued by the Department for Health and Social Care, we will keep your details safely and in compliance with GDPR legislation. We will keep your visit details for 21 days before securely disposing of or deleting them. We will only share your details with NHS Test and Trace, if asked, if it is needed to help stop the spread of Coronavirus. We will not use your details for any other purposes or pass them on to anyone else. Thank you for your understanding. If you agree to providing your information for this reason, please complete the following form: Name Tel. No Signature Date

Doing New Things Half full or half empty? Looking forward towards 2021 it is easy to be pessimistic. Covid continues to send shock waves, and at the time of writing, the new Covid strain is putting even more strain on our communities. The economy is contracting, and people are losing their jobs. Even though the government has had to borrow to get us through these difficult times, at some stage the debts have to be repaid. Those who depend on the interest of their savings find their investments bring in next to nothing. Brexit causes huge uncertainty, whether or not it is a good idea (and the country is still divided over that!). There is some hope with the new immunisation programme, but then realism comes with talk that it will take to the end of 2021 before we reach that critical ‘herd immunity’. Until then, the NHS will be under significant pressure and most believe we will be in a third lockdown (or Tier 4) by early January, at the latest. With the general pessimism in our community and country, it is easy to believe that our glasses are half empty. 'See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19 It takes faith to look at the signs of the times and see that something more is happening, that what we see – however real and painful and distressing they may be – is only part of the picture. That God is working in and through and despite all that we see and feel and experience. 2021 might bring many a shock; it might bring many a problem. But 2021 might also be a time of God working his purpose out, weaved through the distress and pain. And if we continue to be faithful to God, in both words and actions, we as a church and as individuals might find that there is more. Perhaps by God’s grace, our glasses aren’t just full, they are overflowing. Whatever may happen, I wonder what God has in store for us? David

Welcome to St John’s URC Cowper Street Ipswich