"Are nearly there yet?.....", "No....":
At this difficult time we pray for wisdom and stamina as we reflect on the realities of how long it will be before 'normal' services resume as conveyed in https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52600707
Being church continues however with our pastoral network, online presence, virtual events, providing premises for Frome Food Hub &c
Virtual Welldressing - 23rd May 2020
Dressing of wells in Derbyshire, and ‘tap dressing’ at Endon in Staffordshire where the communal tap from which folk got clean water is decorated, are long standing traditions. In this time when having clean water with which to wash our hands is something to be grateful for, we invited folk to put some flowers, or a picture of flowers, by their taps at home and send us a picture to be collated into the .virtual welldressing.
Our welldressing usually takes place on the Saturday nearest the feast of St Aldhelm, who founded both church and town of Frome, and this year would be 23rd May.
Thank you to all from church, school, community, mayor and town council who have supported this initiative and sent in images to form part of our 'Tap' dressing.
Changes in these challenging times
Click here for an A3 pdf file with higher resolution image of the virtual welldressing
or
view a 90 second browse through some of the floral displays that form our virtual welldressing online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHRkTaXp_RI
Welcome
Cherishing our inheritance of Christian faith and worship, we strive to welcome all and share the joy of the Gospel message in Christ, through concern for the wholeness of individuals
and active involvement in community life in all its diversity.
Sadly the doors of our church building have to remain shut under present circumstances but the church community is still active and we welcome your contact via this website, facebook and twitter.
Our mission
There is something special about meeting for worship on a site where people have met for over 1300 years to hear the scriptures and sermons, and to share the bread and wine in Communion.
Your support for our vision will be welcome.
Worshipping together but apart...
In this difficult time while we cannot physically meet together it important that we not only pray for each other but also feel that we are being prayed with and for.
A simple service of Morning Prayer for use from Easter to Pentecost (Whitsunday) is now available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=marZmGuZFqU There are moments within the service where folk may wish to pause to read a psalm or scripture reading or for prayer - it's an idea to have a Bible or copies of daily or weekly readings to hand.
Weekly Service
The simple form of service that can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e3kgVa4uqM is one that we would encourage folk who would normally come to our regular communion services to use - others may also find it helpful.
It's a form of what is known as Ante-Communion, that is the same shape as the service of Holy Communion but without the taking of bread and wine, the consecration and act of communion.
Feel free to use all or part of it as you find most helpful and feel free to share the link with others, or even share with others you know by arranging a time at which you will each individually use the same prayers in your different locations - the technically adventurous might even do this using Skype, Zoom or other social software.
Prayers
Various prayers and orders of service can be found here
Saying THANK YOU #clapforNHS
We've been asked if we could ring our bells in support of NHS & essential services - sadly we can't while churches are closed at present but we can share the sound of the bells as a Thank You that could be played out loud on Thursdays at 8 as we #clapforNHS #clapforkeyworkers - https://youtu.be/izWYbQHHdc0
Life events
Our church offers a traditional setting for weddings, baptisms and funerals. For the moment no baptisms are being planned, weddings are being postponed, and funerals are challenging as few if any can attend.
Prayers that may be used when unable to attend a funeral can be downloaded here.
This week at St John's
Our downloadable weekly pew sheet details this week's services, forthcoming events and notices along with readings for the Sunday service. Printed copies are available in church.
Next parish lunch:
Lunches at St John's are postponed until further notice.
Next 'Open Doors':
to be confirmed
Next bible study:
postponed
COVID-19
Current guidance can be found here >
Safeguarding
The Parochial Church Council (PCC) has adopted and works to implement the House of Bishops’ Safeguarding Policy ‘Promoting a Safer Church’.
The PCC has appointed a Parish Safeguarding Officer who can be contacted via email to or by post c/o The Parish Office, Church Cottage, Church Steps, Frome BA11 1PL
The PCC commends the resources and support available at