But Moses replied, “… I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them.”

(Numbers 11:29)

First of all thank you to all those who have been praying for Gordon Warren our preacher from last Sunday who had a heart attack on Tuesday. The latest is that the heart operation has now been postponed until tomorrow (Friday), so please keep praying. More details in the prayer requests below.

Secondly, thank you to everyone who filled in the questionnaire about St. Luke's during lockdown. It's really helpful to have people's thoughts and views on how things are going and you can read more about the responses in the weekly focus below.

Thirdly, this Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, the day we remember the birth of the church as Jesus sent God's Holy Spirit on his church. It is the Spirit that empowers and enables us to live our lives for Christ and to play our part as part of the church. That's why it is great that we can pray for each other in times of need and why it is wonderful that so many have made contributions to our Sunday service and engaged with the questionnaire. We all need to be encouraged by each other.

With that in mind let's see whether we can have more contributions than ever before as it is Pentecost Sunday! We are hoping to have a virtual choir for the last hymn on Sunday and it would be great to have a really big number of people video themselves saying the opening prayer as suggested below and pictures of Pentecost from the children.

This week's email includes:

• Join in this Sunday - videos and pictures to contribute...
  
• Last Sunday - links to last week's sermon by Gordon Warren
• Weekly Focus: Some results from the questionnaire
• Prayer Requests
• Notices in Brief: Thy kingdom Come, PCC meeting, Zoom after the service
  
• Links of the Week: St. Lawrence College Prayer Space video, How Christian businesses are responding to Coronavirus, a Tearfund Video on a positive vision for how society might change as a result of the lockdown

Join in this Sunday: It's Pentecost Sunday.

• It would be great to have: pictures from children of the Holy Spirit or the events of Pentecost (thanks to Amber Thompson for the example above).
  
• Short video clips of people sharing how God has been working in their lives during this time of Lockdown. Perhaps an answer to prayer or a Bible verse that has particularly helped you?
  
• It would also be great to have a number of people reading the following prayer for our opener (please read at a slow and steady pace):
  

Come, Holy Spirit,

Fill the hearts of your faithful people,

And kindle in us the fire of your love;

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Please send videos and pictures by reply to this email, wetransfer.com or Whatsapp (07769 871520).

Don't forget to join us on YouTube this Sunday (the video should be available from 6am on Sunday). This week we feature a sermon from the Bishop of Dover.

Last Sunday: If you missed Last Sunday's talk, Nehemiah's Prayer  (Nehemiah 1:1-11), then you can  listen or watch here .

We had responses from 34 households for our questionnaire on church in lockdown, which represents 80 people. The questionnaire asked about people's views on these weekly emails, the online services, the phone contact network and Zoom meetings amongst other things. I'll just share some of the results on the online service here, but if you would like to read more then you can read the full report here.

The chart above shows when people say they normally watch the service. It's surprising how many watch at different times to the normal service, although 10:30am is still the most popular and the vast majority watch it on a Sunday morning. However, earlier in the morning seems popular!

Extrapolating from the questionnaire we reckon that on average 179 people watch the services online each week, which is a 50% increase on normal attendance. The most prominent reasons given for what was helpful or encouraging about our online services were:

•  They like seeing different people helping as part of the service
•  Connection to community and worshipping together
•  Feels like being in church on Sunday
• Convenient to watch

People could also see a lot of positive reasons to continue some form of online service after lockdown:

• Potential outreach to community, sharing testimonies etc.
• Available and encouraging for those not physically able to attend church
  
• Can still watch when you cannot attend one week for different reasons
• Enables people to check out church anonymously before attending
• Accessible to those who would find coming to church intimidating
• Accessible to those who live further away / have moved away

As you can see there is a lot to continue to think through and pray about as we plan ahead.

Be assured I will do my best to check that people are happy for the requests to be shared before including them.

• For Gordon Warren. His operation to clear the stents in his heart has now been postponed until tomorrow (Friday) as his kidney function is improving and better kidney function will help with the success of the operation.
  
•  For Chantal Swallow's dad that he will be comfortable and not in too much pain after returning home from hospital
  
•  For Nathan Court, please keep on praying as he receives treatment.
•  For Joy Smithers, as she continues her recovery in hospital in Deal.
•  For Mitch Styles that he will be relieved from his severe anxiety.
•  For Shirley Crabb who is in a lot of pain, because of the delayed operation on her hip.
•  Give thanks that Audrey's sister, Evelyn is now home from hospital, but pray that she will have the care she needs. Please pray as well for Keith her cousin who is supporting her.
•  For teachers, parents and children as some children begin to go back to school from this week and as plans are put in place to enable more to do so.
•  For continuing wisdom for all those in government planning the easing of the lockdown.
•  For those still ill with Covid-19 and the medical staff continuing to treat them.

Diocesan Prayer for this Year's Novena (the period between Ascension Day and Pentecost):

Oh merciful God, and full of grace,
as we come into your presence
may we remove,
like outdoor clothes
all pretence, all show,
all arrogance;
may our inner self be revealed,
humble, honest, open
and longing to be changed
by Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Thy Kingdom Come Prayers: I know many people have been using the Thy Kingdom Come prayer resources available on the website in their prayers. it has also been great to meet with a few each day for our online Zoom prayer meeting. You can still join us for this for one or more of the last three days by clicking on the button below:

PCC Meeting: Although we are not meeting in church at the moment, there is still work that needs to be done in planning and overseeing the life of the church. Please pray for the work of our PCC as we discuss and decide issues by email and some of us meet on Zoom on Monday evening.

Zoom after the service: It's great to meet and catch up after the service on Sundays. Do join us if you can at 11:30am. Just click the button below:

St. Lawrence College Prayer Space

Above is a YouTube video demonstrating the St. Lawrence College prayer space. It might spark some ideas for use with encouraging your own children to pray. Our very own Eleanor Dawson is also featured!

Reboot - Tearfund

According to our survey, one of the questions people are asking at this time is: "What is God teaching us at this time?" The link from Tearfund includes a video and reading material on how they are hoping the present crisis may help to reshape society for the better. 

Christian Businesses respond to Covid-19

This is an interesting article from the Jubilee Centre, which interviews Christian Business people about how they are coping with the challenges of the present situation in a Christian way.

Don't forget to join us on YouTube this Sunday (Video should be available from 6am on Sunday).

Yours in Christ,

Paul.