BH Bulletin - Wednesday 25th March 2020

Thought for the Day

​​Deuteronomy 6:6-9
6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 
7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 
8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 
9 Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates.
 
These are challenging times for all of us, but for those of us with children there is the added complexity of homeschooling for the next few weeks. But while the normal routine of things has gone out of the window we are exploring new fun ways of doing things. Personally I’ve really enjoyed being involved with and seeing more of what and how our children learn. Yet in all of this it can be easy to forget what God wants us to teach our children more than anything else.
 
In Deuteronomy 6, Moses is preparing the people of Israel for their crossing into the promised land. At this exciting and anxious time Moses commands the parents to take responsibility for their children’s spiritual life. Whether they are at home, walking around, going to sleep or waking up, there isn’t a time when Christian parents are limited to sharing what God has done in the past and what it to means to follow Christ, to share the good news of His grace. You may feel unsure how to do it best, in which case it’s best to start simple. The biggest way to seeing success in this area is if we are ourselves delighting in these things in our own hearts (v.6).
 
At the moment God has provided families with lots of opportunities to sit at home together, exercise together and spend time in one another’s company. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if one of the outcomes of this time was families who grew in their time of family devotions together. Don’t just wait for the church to do it all! God has placed you in the privileged position of teaching your children the immeasurable treasures they have in Christ. 
Tim
Pray for families to engage creatively with the Bible using things to remind them of God, such as reading, talking and art.
Let’s pray that family devotions will become more established through this time and beyond.

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Prayer Meeting Wed 25th March
The prayer meeting scheduled for today Wed 25th March will not be taking place.  We are aiming for it to be on Wed 1st April and are hoping that people can join us online. If you can't then materials to help us pray will be available.

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Emily Whiffin and Charis Marshall
Emily and Charis were  going to Tanzania last week with the Christian charity GO MAD (go make a difference).​ Unfortunately this has had to be postponed but they are hoping to go later in the year. Details to follow

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 A message from Phil Moon
Corona Affects Everything!
Corona will affect our AGM, elections to Deanery Synod, the General Synod, PCC meetings and so on. Here is a potted information sheet of how it will affect us:
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 1.PCC and Deanery Synod Elections

• The Churchwardens who were elected in 2019 (ie Geoff and Mark) will continue to hold office until 31 January 2021 (unless we have an APCM and their successor is admitted to office earlier than that).
•  Deanery Synod representatives who were elected in 2017 (or those appointed since then to fill casual vacancies) will continue to hold office until 30 November 2020. 
• Lay members of the PCC who are due to retire at the 2020 APCM will continue to hold office until that APCM actually takes place.

 
2.Annual Parochial Church Meeting (AGM)

• This was to be held before the end of May, but now needs to take place before 31st October 2020, but given some technicalities, in all likelihood that should be before mid- October, assuming that Corona lets us do this.

 
3.General Synod Elections 

• As matters stand, elections to the General Synod will still take place this year, in the late summer/early autumn, and lay Deanery Synod members elected in 2017 will be those who will vote for the new General Synod Lay members. Further details about this will follow nearer the time. 

 

1. Physical PCC meetings

• These will not be taking place. However PCCs are being encouraged to continue to hold meetings using video or telephone conferencing facilities such as Skype or Zoom.
• The Standing Committee  will meet in this manner on Monday 6th April and consider whether BH needs a full PCC meeting in this manner before the next scheduled one on 19th May.

Phil Moon
23 March 2020