From the Vicar's Desk

From the Vicar's Desk - 19 February

Whenever the rainbow is in the clouds ...

Remember the Covenant

First, a heartfelt "thank you" to the crane driver who took this photo yesterday. I'm sorry I can't credit you by name, but it's so amazing I couldn't resist: especially as our Old Testament reading this coming Sunday is of God and Noah talking about the rainbow as the everlasting covenant established between the Creator and all creation to confirm and ensure that God's love is creative not destructive and (to pick up on Paul's letter to the Romans) that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord". Whichever way we look at it, God's love for us is assured.

Lent: A journey of prayer

Each week in Lent, throughout the week, we will be sharing reflections, prayers and other resources for our shared Journey of Prayer here on our website.

Prayer Laboratory

The Prayer Laboratory will be taking place each Sunday in Lent at 4pm and there will be different breakout rooms with a choice of creative and interactive prayers for all the senses. Some prayer activities will require some resources - but this week all you need is an item of food from your cupboard! Read more here ...

Heart Garlands

We had a very encouraging 'turn out' to our two Ash Wednesday services this week. At the earlier service, we spoke about Sharing God's Love, using heart shaped objects around us. Liz shared her artistic talents to produce a video and guide for us on how to make a heart garland with recycled materials. We are being encouraged to engage with this during Lent, as a symbol of our love for all God's creation. How many hearts we can collectively make between now and Easter??

Sunday Evening Service

Throughout Lent, as well as Morning Prayer and the main Sunday service, we are holding a service of Night Prayer which you can download here. The service will be held on Zoom and you can join by clicking here here just before the service starts at 6.30pm

Covid-19 Vaccine

As you no doubt know, all those over 70 and those on the clinically vulnerable list should have been invited to have their Covid job by now. If you are in one of those groups, or know someone who is, who has not yet been vaccinated I would like to encourage you to make an appointment by clicking here or ringing 119.

Constructing the church building

If you're interested in dundry stone, how mortar cures and the deviation / settlement of SMR you might be interested to read more ...

Standing Orders request

Thank you to all those who have set up standing orders in the last few months: it is great to know that we have such a committed group of people seeking to maintain the church and build the kingdom. To all those who have a standing order, we have a little problem ... many of the donations come in without your name attached so we don't know if we're missing out on additional Gift Aid funds. Can I ask if you have a standing order set up for SMR please click here to provide some information to help us out. Thank you.

Send on / Contact me

Please forward this email on those who might be interested in SMR and contact me here (rather than using reply please)

With my best wishes

Dan

Canon D F Tyndall

Vicar, St Mary Redcliffe

0776 929 6220

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Sermon on Sunday,10th August 2025

By matthew.buckmaster • August 10, 2025

Preached by the Revd Laura Verrall-Kelly, Associate Vicar

Interregnum Information

By Laura.Verrall-Kelly • August 7, 2025

Keeping You Updated During the Interregnum As I prepare to go on maternity leave at the end of August, I want to share some important updates regarding our Sunday Services and communication during the Interregnum period. We’ve taken time to consider what is sustainable and meaningful in this season of transition, and while some of the changes have been difficult, they are intended to ensure we can continue to worship together well. Service Changes 8am BCP Eucharist We’ve made the difficult decision to pause this service during the vacancy, following a PCC vote (with 3 votes against). This is due to the limited availability of clergy to cover two Eucharist services on a Sunday. We’re grateful that this decision has allowed us to secure strong cover for the other services. If you’re looking for an early service, the Cathedral offers Morning Prayer at 7.40am and BCP Eucharist at 8am. This change to the 8am will happen from the beginning of October. Mattins & Evensong These will continue with support from a growing team of Lay Leaders. If you're interested in helping lead, please speak to Simon Goodman. Please note: bespoke online orders of service will no longer be produced weekly. Instead, we will use a standard booklet and hymn book in church. Online viewers will receive a standard order of service plus a document with Bible readings and hymns. 10.30am Sung Eucharist Some small changes are being made to simplify things for visiting clergy: Notices will be read by a Church Warden, Duty Warden or Church Representative Communion distribution will return to queue formation A Gradual Hymn will replace the Responsorial Psalm - there is simply not the resource to produce a weekly or termly Psalm hand out in church. We’ll use a standard “Eucharist during the Vacancy” order of service (in booklet form), with hymn books provided in church. As with other services, online resources will mirror this setup. These changes to the 10.30am will happen from the 17th August. Christingle Service Due to the scale of this service and the planning it requires, we’ve made the difficult decision to pause it this year. Without full-time clergy to oversee preparations and lead the service, we don’t believe we can deliver it safely or well. We know this will be disappointing, but this service will be back. Ongoing Communication Thanks to Chris Duncan and Sam Love, we will continue to send out a weekly email during the Interregnum. I’m very grateful to both of them for stepping up to support in this way. We know some of these decisions may not affect everyone, while others may feel them more deeply. We don’t expect universal agreement, and that’s okay — your questions and thoughts are welcome and valued. All we ask is that feedback is offered with kindness and respect for those who have worked hard to make these plans in a short space of time. Thank you for being part of this community and for your ongoing support as we navigate this together.