Day 112 after (loose) Lockdown
On Day 112 since Lockdown started St Mary’s issue the latest edition of their News Update, topics addressed include:
- Reopening the Church.
- Alex & Marguerite McCann returning to Cambodia.
- Belonging is Having Your Voice Heard.
- Light Relief.
- A prayer.
It also provides listings of services and contacts but first, about reopening…
Re-opening the Church & Continuation of Online Services
The church is now open weekdays between 9 am and 1 pm for private prayer but sadly it will not be practical to resume Sunday services in church at present. The need to ensure the 2 metres distancing would severely limit the number of people who could attend, and a survey by the church wardens revealed that many regular attenders did not feel safe returning to church at the current time.
It seems sensible, therefore, to continue with online services for the time being. However, if government guidance changes this situation will, of course, be reviewed.
How to Access Sunday Services Online
A reminder that the links to all the services being broadcast using the Zoom Application will be circulated by our church administrator, Janine, a few days before each service. She will also attach any Orders of Service which may be needed to enable you to join in the responses. If you are not already on this circulation list, please contact Janine on [email protected].
Alex and Marguerite McCann
It was very interesting to hear Alex and Marguerite McCann talk in June about their work in Cambodia with the Overseas Missionary Fellowship. They are currently on home assignment and have now received clearance to return to Cambodia in August. However, the restrictions of Covid 19 mean that the arrangements they have to follow are incredibly complex and also very costly. Their latest newsletter is posted below. Please continue to hold them in your prayers.
McCann’s Prayer News Bulletin
Dear Praying Friends, July 2020
We are pleased to let you know that we heard yesterday that we had the clearances we need to return to Cambodia. In normal times returning to Cambodia would have been quite a straightforward procedure, but not at the moment. Firstly, we now need to find an airline that is flying into Phnom Penh. Unfortunately, most of the websites we have been looking at seem to have been showing flights that do not actually exist. We also need to book with a carrier that will connect through to Phnom Penh, since flying with more than one carrier may mean going through immigration in transit in order to get to our connecting flight which may not be possible. It looks like Singaporean Airlines will get us there, but they cost substantially more than some other airlines.
Visas
Secondly, we need to get new visas. Normally this would not have been a problem since we could get a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to hand over on arrival in Phnom Penh to get new visas then. At the moment, the visa on arrival service is not operating, nor is the online visa service, so we need to get new visas from the embassy here. Since the ministry isn’t issuing letters which authorize our NGO visas at the moment, we need to get business visas. These cost money, don’t last as long and we will need to leave the country at a later date in order to change back over to NGO visas. Fortunately, the staff at the Cambodian embassy in London have been very helpful and we hope to meet with them next week to get the visas sorted out.
Tough Entry Requirements
If this was not complicated enough, Cambodia now has what the Independent newspaper recently called “the toughest entry requirements of any country in the world”. Upon arrival we will need to provide a $12000 deposit ($3000 each) to cover actual and potential costs due to Covid-19. We will have to have a Covid test on arrival and then stay in a hotel until we get the results. If they are negative, we are then quarantined in our house for 14 days, after which we will have to get another test. If that is negative, we will then get our deposit back, minus the $1200 or so that we will have had to spend on tests etc.
The costs dramatically increase if someone on our flight has Covid-19 and if one of us has it, then all that deposit money will go on medical expenses. We don’t have $12,000, but OMF Cambodia has agreed to “lend” us the money. Not only that, we need to have medical certificates and a doctor’s letter confirming that we are Covid-free no more than 72 hours before departure.
Precision essential
The things that are required in this certificate and doctor’s letter are very precise. People have been turned away and sent back to the UK because the immigration people didn’t like the certificate because the result said “not detected” instead of “negative”. Since we are not key workers, or experiencing any symptoms, we are not entitled to Covid tests on the NHS and it would take too long to get the results anyway. We are going to have to pay roughly £250-£320 each to guarantee getting the test results and the doctor’s letter back in time to travel.
Expensive
As you can see, none of this is straightforward and it is all very expensive. We estimate that we will have incurred extra travel and medical costs of roughly $10,000 as a result of the impact of the Covid-19 all so we can come back to the UK and be locked down for four months and not be able to see anyone. This Home Assignment is not one that we will forget in a hurry. However, as God has said repeatedly to Alex over the last year, He is not in the business of giving out time machines so we have to trust we have been where God has wanted us to be and stop wishing we had stayed in Phnom Penh. Also, there are many people who have had it worse and none of us have had died or got sick, so we should be thankful for that.
We are also thankful that we have got clearance to return to Cambodia. Alex will definitely be continuing to teach at Phnom Penh Bible School, but it is still unclear what Marguerite will be doing since we have still yet to hear from the field what is going on with her previous role. Please pray that God, having given us the patience and grace we need to get clearances to return, would now give us the patience and grace that we need to deal with all the issues that we face actually getting back into Cambodia.
With love,
Alex, Marguerite, Elizabeth and Ben
Belonging is having your voice heard’
I have been deeply moved by various articles in the media recently which have shone a spotlight onto the discrimination which is still being experienced by black and minority ethnic (BAME) people in Britain. One such article which made a particular impression on me was the Church Times’ coverage of a speech given by K Augustine Tanner-Ihm, winner of the 2020 Theology Slam. He recently completed his ordination training but was turned down for a position as curate because:
“the demographic of the parish is monochrome white working class where you might feel uncomfortable.”
This situation highlights the issue of what is termed ‘structural racism’. Reni Eddo-Lodge, in her Sunday Times’ bestseller ‘Why I’m no longer talking to White People About Race’, defines structural racism as:
“dozens, or hundreds, or thousands of people with the same biases joining together to make up one organisation, and acting accordingly.”
It’s not just about personal prejudice but about the collective effects of bias. It doesn’t manifest itself in overt racist comments but,
“in the flick of a wrist that tosses a CV in the bin because the applicant has a foreign sounding name.”
Sadly, it seems, the Church is not doing much better than the rest of society on this front. K Augustine Tanner-Ihm urges the church to work towards a:
“radical new Christian inclusion. Accessibility is being able to get into the building. Diversity is getting invited to the table. Inclusion is having a voice at the table. But belonging is having your voice heard at the table.” (emphasis mine).
I am encouraged by the fact that senior church leaders are committed to making the church more inclusive. But we all have a part to play in challenging structural racism. The first step might be to educate ourselves about the experiences of BAME people and the underlying issues which have led to the recent protests. There are many great black writers on the subject, including Reni Eddo-Lodge above.
As Tanner-Ihm says:
“I hope that we might be challenged by the Spirit of God to reflect on our unconscionable postures, our disinterest, and our tuning out.”
After all, the 4th Mark of Mission of the Anglican Church is to seek to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of any kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation.
A Little Light Relief……….
From the notices:
Tonight’s sermon: What is hell? Come early and listen to our choir practice.
This afternoon there will be a meeting at the north and south ends of the church. Children will be baptised at both ends.
This being Easter Sunday we will ask Mrs Richards to come forward and lay an egg at the altar.
For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
A Prayer
Keep us, good Lord, under the shadow of your mercy in this time of uncertainty and distress.
Sustain and support the anxious and fearful, and lift up all who are brought low;
That we may rejoice in your comfort knowing that nothing can separate us from your love in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Services & Other Dates
All events are at St Mary’s unless stated otherwise. Kids’ Church is our new form of Sunday school for children. Note, no Evening Prayer Service during winter months.
| Every Sunday | 9:50 am | Communion Service via Zoom * |
| Sunday 12th July | 9:15 am | Messy Church via Zoom |
| Sunday 26th July | 9:15 am | Praise on 4 via Zoom |
| Sunday 9th August | 9:15 am | Messy Church via Zoom |
| Sunday 23rd August | 9:15 am | Praise on 4 via Zoom |
The Communion services are recorded and are available to watch later in the day on the church website (see streamed services).
Contacts
- Priest in Charge:
Revd Dr Mandy Elmes, 1 Church Close, CO6 3JZ
email: [email protected]
tel: 01206 240906. - Assistant Curate:
Revd Anne Mason
email: [email protected]. - Church Wardens:
Sue Day—01206 241040;
Ron Seymour—01206 273579. - Lay Readers:
Richard Chadborn—01206 240541;
Michael Foster—01206 241022;
Joy Budden—01206 241871. - Parish Evangelist
Ron Seymour—01206 272579. - 3 Parish Families’ Worker:
Jo Jeffery—07853 586683. - Church Administrator:
Church Office Hours — weekdays 9 am—1 pm
Janine Wilde — 01206 243683,
email: [email protected]. - Newsletter Editor:
Liz Dixon—01206 243683
email: [email protected]. - Hire our hall:
Nicole Long—01206 240443. - Website:
Stmaryswestbergholt.co.uk. - Follow us on Facebook:
facebook.com/stmaryswestbergholt.