Despite the strange situation we find ourselves in this year, we are still able to do many of our Christmas Services. These will be hosted as follows:

• Advent Carols

  13^th December 2020 at 17:30 for 1 hour

  These will be sung by the choir in St Mary's Church, Launceston.

  Please note: Due to Government COVID restrictions, we are not allowed to have congregational singing. Places will also be limited due to strict social distancing. See below for details of our pre-recorded Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols if you are unable to find a place in church on Sunday for the service. All people attending services must wear face masks and follow COVID guidelines. Thank you for your cooperation in this.





• Holy Communion

  20^th December 2020 at 10:30 for 1 hour

  This is a service of Holy Communion on the Sunday before Christmas in St Mary's Church, Launcston.

  Please note: Due to Government COVID restrictions, we are not allowed to have congregational singing. Places will also be limited due to strict social distancing. All people attending services must wear face masks and follow COVID guidelines. Thank you for your cooperation in this.





• Midnight Mass

  24^th December 2020 at 23:30 for 1 hour

  This is a Holy Communion service on Christmas Eve. It will be hosted in St Mary's Church, Launceston.

  Please note: Due to Government COVID restrictions, we are not allowed to have congregational singing. Places will also be limited due to strict social distancing. All people attending services must wear face masks and follow COVID guidelines. Thank you for your cooperation in this.





• Annual Fesitval of Nine Lessons and Carols

  This year we are pre-recording our much loved Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, to ensure that everyone is able to enjoy this beautiful service. A link will shortly be available on our Youtube channel - watch this space for details!

In the run up to Christmas lots of knitted sheep will start popping up in shop windows all around the town and we challenge you to spot them and find out their names.

There’s an activity sheet with more details of this event, which is free to enter, which can be picked up from the Tourist Office or The Christian Book Shop from 7^th December. Once completed and returned there is a gift for each participant.

This sheep trail will tell parts of the Christmas Nativity Story and includes searching for sheep in shop windows. There is also a colouring sheet which can be brought to St Stephens Church on 23^rd December where families are invited to a ‘crib service’ at 3pm.

For more information please contact Revd Nicki Farr at revnfarr@icloud.com

You can download the Advent Story Booklet here.

The people of Beirut need our help now, they can’t wait

The Bishop of Truro, the Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, has urged everybody to consider giving to a fund set up to help people whose lives have been devastated by the explosion in Beirut.

To read the full article, and to donate to this desperate cause, please click here.

Please read carefully the latest update on COVID-19 guidance from Turo Diocese, taking guidance from the Church of England.

The Government has changed its advice and now recommends that face coverings should be worn in enclosed public areas, including places of worship.

The Church of England has in the light of this produced a new guidance paper on face coverings.

We strongly advise that face coverings should be worn by all those attending a place of worship, including ministers, worshippers, staff, volunteers, contractors and visitors, where there may be other people present; remembering that they are mainly intended to protect other people, not the wearer, from coronavirus COVID-19 and that they are not a replacement for physical distancing and regular hand washing.

We therefore respectfully request that if you are visiting or worshipping in any of our buildings, that you follow this guidance and use a face covering as you are able, in order to protect others, and to receive protection in return. We are thankful to all of our visitors for their understanding and cooperation with the changing COVID-19 guidelines.

MOBILE TESTING STATIONS IN CORNWALL

UPDATED INFORMATION

Testing will start in the following locations in Camborne and Launceston from Tuesday 30th June until further notice. The sites will operate from 10:30am to 4pm unless detailed otherwise by the national testing website (details below).

Camborne - Camborne College Car Park, Church Road, Pool, TR15 3FH
Launceston - Launceston Rugby Football Club, Polson Bridge, Launceston, PL15 9QR

The following testing site is already deployed as follows:

St Austell - St Austell Information Service, 39 Penwinnick Road, St Austell, Cornwall. PL25 5DR
This site is open from 10:30am to 3:30pm, and will be in use until further notice.

The Mobile Testing Units are set up by the Department of Health and Social Care but the sites are managed by members of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, so people will see military personnel in attendance.

Who can apply for testing?

These mobile testing centres are for people who have coronavirus-like symptoms to test if they currently have the virus. Everyone over the age of five with symptoms may apply.

How to book your test

The test can be booked online at the following address:
https://www.gov.uk/apply-coronavirus-test

If there is no access to the internet, please ring 119.

We are delighted to announce that as of Monday, 22^nd June 2020, following the Government's decision to allow churches to open their doors for private prayer, some of our buildings will be reopening. It is important that all visitors follow the systems put out by each church, to ensure we can remain open for all to enjoy private prayer. Each church will have slightly different systems for keeping us safe, due to the ancient fabric of our churches.

A huge thank you to all the volunteers working so hard to keep our churches open in line with Government guidelines.

When we know more about a return to services in church, we will post more information here.

St Mary Magdalene Church

St Mary's will open with a clearly marked, roped off one-way system, and with hand sanitiser provided. All hymn books, kneelers, cushions and paper resources have had to be removed to avoid contamination. The doors will be propped open to minimise transfer via surfaces.

The church will be available for private prayer on Mondays between 9am and 12pm, and on Thursdays between 12pm and 4pm. Entry will be via the main door, and exit will be through the back door, near the font. This will bring you out at the back of the Parish Hall rooms, opposite The Bell.

We look forward to welcoming you back into St Mary's.

St Stephen's Church

St Stephen's will be open on Wednesdays between 10am and 12pm, and on Sundays between 2pm and 4pm. As you enter, please be mindful of others who may be leaving, and allow them to come out before you go in.

Some parts will be roped off. The votive candles will not be accessible to the public, but, open request, they can be lit on behalf of someone. There will be an attendent to sanitise the pews when they are vacated.

St Thomas' Church

St Thomas' will be open on Tuesdays and Fridays, between 10am and 4pm.

Christ the Cornerstone Church

Christ the Cornerstone will not be reopening at this stage. We apologise for the impact of this decision.

"Non-synod" happened virtually this year, with Synod members meeting online instead. Only the legal business was missing, so it felt like a real Synod.

Items under discussion:

• Implications of Covid19 and how we move forward in faith as the summer season approaches, investing in the future and listening for what God is saying to the church today.
• Feedback from General Synod (February 2020), including becoming a carbon neutral church by 2030, and engaging under 16s and more minority groups.
• Bishop Philip's latest paper, "Towards a Narrative Theology for Strategy and Diocesan Mission - see the full report below.

Read the full Diocesan Synod report and catch up with everything that is happening across Truro Diocese.

Isaiah 43: 18-19:

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Read the full report here.

Ascension to Pentecost: 21st May – 31st May

Thy Kingdom Come is a worldwide prayer movement that invites Christians around the world to pray from Ascension to Pentecost. Since its launch by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in 2016, Christians from 172 countries and 65 denominations have taken part in praying for friends and family to come to faith in Jesus Christ.

• To commit to praying for ten days with Thy Kingdom Come, please click here
• You can find the preparation resources here
• You can find the Day 1 (Thursday 21^st May) resources here
• You can find the Day 2 (Friday 22^nd May) resources here
• You can find the Day 3 (Saturday 23^rd May) resources here
• You can find the Day 4 (Sunday 24^th May) resources here
• You can find the Day 5 (Monday 25^th May) resources here
• You can find the Day 6 (Tuesday 26^th May) resources here
• You can find the Day 7 (Wednesday 27^th May) resources here
• You can find the Day 8 (Thursday 28^th May) resources here
• You can find the Day 9 (Friday 29^th May) resources here
• You can find the Day 10 (Saturday 30^th May) resources here
• You can find the Day 11 (Sunday 31^th May) resources here

Thus our prayer is simply this: that we become an ever more hopeful, confident church that seeks the mind, heart and will of God for Cornwall, for the communities he calls us to serve, and for the wide world beyond these shores.

Bishop Phillip of Truro outlines our exciting future plans regarding mission and ministry across Cornwall.

Read the full paper here