Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We hope that you are keeping well and safe. As lockdown continues and the weather gets colder, we are undoubtedly facing different challenges than we did in the Summer when the weather was warmer. We are thankful that the vaccination roll-out continues and hope and pray that all those that need it will receive it soon.
We send you our encouragement and please know that you continue to be in our prayers.
Vaccination Drive
Recent research carried out by the UK Household Longitudinal Study found that up to 72% of UK Minority Ethnic (UKME) people were unlikely to take the vaccine. In another recent study carried out by the Royal Society of Public Health, the figure is 57%.
We ask clergy wherever possible to encourage people to disregard the misinformation and conspiracy theories surrounding the vaccine and encourage them to take it when they are offered.
Today we issued a video presented by Bishop Karowei Dorgu and Archdeacon Rosemarie Mallett urging those in the UKME community to take the vaccine. Please watch it here and share. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wtcvdDbIWg Attached too is the press release that was sent out with it. Here is a link to the press release on our website https://southwark.anglican.org/news/press-releases/2021/diocese-of-southwark-leading-black-clergy-urge-uk-minority-ethnic-community-to-take-vaccine
Please tell people, who may be hesitant, about the online forums organised by Kingston MEACC and Woolwich MEACC.
Kingston
Monday 25 Janurary, 7.30pm to 8.30pm A local GP will speak to us and respond to questions and concerns. Contact [email protected] for further details.
Woolwich
Thursday 28 January, 7.30pm to 9.30pm and aims to address and answer the concerns of the UKME communities about the COVID19 vaccine and whether it is safe to receive it.
Leading Epidemiologist, Dr Tolullah Oni will be answering questions. She is an urban epidemiologist at the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge and an expert on viruses as they affect the UKME communities. The forum will be held on Zoom and the link will be sent to everyone who has registered. Please share this important information widely.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/covid19-vaccine-forum-with-dr-tolullah-oni-tickets-136791197153
As many of you are aware, the Bishop of Woolwich, Bishop Karowei, is a medical doctor. He and his wife Dr Mosun Dorgu, will be panellists at an online event on Wednesday 27 January, 7.00pm to 9.00pm, entitled COVID & Vaccines Facts vs Fiction, organised by the Medical Association of Nigerians Across Great Britain. It will be held on online. To register visit https://tinyurl.com/covidvaccinehour or contact [email protected] Leaflet is also attached.
Vaccination Centres – Request from NHS England
NHS England are keen to profile and support the set-up of vaccine locations within communities that are outside of the usual healthcare setting. If your place of worship is already in discussions locally to enable vaccinations, please email [email protected]. Additionally, if you would like to put forward your place of worship as a possible vaccination location, please email [email protected] as soon as possible who will help to facilitate local discussions. Vaccination locations will need to meet certain criteria including; access to car parking, space to allow for social distancing, heating, lighting and wifi access.
Bereavement
Sadly, it is likely that the nation will tragically reach 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 as soon as next week. Bishop Christopher’s Officer for Clergy Bereavement, Yvonne Tulloch, who runs the bereavement signposting website At a Loss, has described this as a ‘tsunami of grief’. There is much that we as the church can do to support the masses of people who are grieving right now. Running the Bereavement Journey course, or becoming a Bereavement Friendly Church are things parishes can start now, involving the pastoral skills of members of the congregation. Support and mentoring for this can be found on the Loss and Hope website: https://www.lossandhope.org/, which is also run by Yvonne Tulloch to equip churches of all denominations across the country. The Bereavement Journey course itself can be found here: https://thebereavementjourney.org.
Liturgical Resources for Candlemas
The Bishop’s Advisory group for Liturgy have produced the attached liturgy for the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple which we hope will be a useful resource to parishes and will adapt well to online worship. Candlemas Liturgy
Advice for services during Lent, Holy Week and Easter
Please see attached document and link below for all the relevant information. The Very Revd Andrew Nunn has written a digest of the guidance which will help you make sense of it. See attached LHWE 2021 Guidance Digest
APCMs
Bishop Christopher provided an instrument last year extending the time frame for the 2020 APCM for initially 6, and then 12 months. It is not possible to go beyond the one year window of this provision, and the Registrar and the Archdeacons have been working on a new instrument that will permit the APCM and Annual Meeting of Parishioners to take place remotely. Guidance on this will be distributed shortly by the Archdeacons.
Food poverty
Kier Starmer visited St Margaret the Queen, Streatham food bank earlier this week. If you missed it on the news media, you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE4d6Fh7Tus&feature=youtu.be
The Coronavirus Task Group
(Bishop Christopher, the Very Revd Andrew Nunn, the Venerable Alastair Cutting, Ruth Martin and Sophia Jones)
