Suspension of Worship in the Church of England

The Church is alive and active, but our buildings must close for a while.

Monday 18^th May 2020

Faith leaders and Government agreed, on the 15^th May, to develop a plan to enable the phased and safe reopening of places of worship.

This follows the first virtual meeting of the new Places of Worship Taskforce which includes leaders and representatives from all the major faiths.

More information on Government website.

Tuesday 24^th March 2020

Church buildings are not open to members of the public at all – even for private prayer.

St Cuthberts family is more than just this lovely building, know that we are praying for you and your families during this national emergency.

Weddings, Funerals and Baptisms

1. Emergency baptisms can take place in hospital or at home, though subject to strict
   hygienic precautions and physical distancing as far as possible.
2. There can be no weddings in church buildings until further notice.
3. Funerals can only happen at the Crematorium or at the graveside. Only immediate
   family members can attend (if the crematorium allows) – that is, spouse or partner,
   parents and children, keeping their distance in the prescribed way

Due to the new restrictions there will be no Baptism & Wedding enquiries on Tuesday Evenings for as long as the regulations are in place.

For Wedding and Baptism enquiries please contact us by email or phone 07715298711

For Funerals contact a Church Warden or Deacon Janet alternatively please email us.

Regular bulletins will be published here including our weekly information sheets which can be found below or here.

Latest advice from the Natonal Health Service

Archbishops Letters

Coronavirus liturgy and prayer resources

The Church of England has put together a page contains prayers and intercessions for 'personal or group use, special prayers for use if it isn’t possible to meet in church, and a simple form of prayer for the morning and evening, which can be downloaded, printed, and shared with those remaining at home or who are unable to access the Internet.'

Prayers about the outbreak (PDF)
Prayers with Children (PDF)
Personal Prayers particularly if you can’t get to church (PDF)
Worship at home (PDF)

Parish Safeguarding Policy

With the Church closed for all Services we have no income, apart from the 12 members of our congregation who make their Planned Giving donations by Standing Order. The church still must be maintained and secured and unless things change, we still need to pay our Freewill offer to York Diocese each month (£2,750.00 per month). We still have many bills to pay.

• Perhaps some of you could set up a Standing Order with your bank, even if only for several months to cover the current ‘lockdown’ or think about making your donations by Standing Order in future. Especially, but not exclusively, if you already donate by the envelope system. No need to put money into the envelopes and wait until we can have Wednesday and Sunday Services again.

This will aid cash flow and budgeting, not just now but in the future.

• For those using the Planned Giving Envelopes then put your donation into the weekly envelope and put aside until we reopen again.

Non-Gift Aided donations - please note that only donations below £30 can be used to claim extra money from HMRC under the Small Gift Scheme (GASDS). HMRC say the following:

“In respect of GASDS, guidance on the eligibility for donations for inclusion in this scheme is clear in stating that claims can only be made on cash donations of £30 or less; and contactless card donations of £30 or less collected on or after 6 April 2019.

“Where it is the case, for example, of separate donations being given in a single envelope, then if the church/charity official is happy these are clearly separate ‘small donations’ (and clearly stated as such) then they will be eligible for GASDS, as is the case where separate envelopes are used”.

So if you are saving those donations please indicate how many weeks the donation covers (note/letter) or if you use the Blue envelopes then supply the envelopes for all the weeks that your donation covers so that I know that your donation can be split as indicated above.

• You can send me a cheque periodically, made payable to St Cuthberts Ormesby PCC . Contact me via the church phone (see above under wedding and baptism enquiries)  or use the  online form at the bottom of the General Enquiries page for details of where to send the cheque. Again if your donation is >£30 and covers several weeks please ensure that you specify this in a note or letter.
• You can donate using your credit or debit card via the the Give a Little link below.  Keep your donation below £30 and make them more frequently if necessary. You can choose to receive a receipt by email.

Remember, if you are a taxpayer, you can boost your donation by 25% by filling in a Gift Aid Form. Either for a one-off donation or for regular donations. Unfortunately, this is not an option with the Give a Little donations.

This church relies on donations to stay open and provide care and support to everyone in this community. Now more than ever, please consider giving generously to support our mission and ministry.

You can support St Cuthberts by giving an online donation using your Visa or Mastercard Debit or Credit Card.

Click give a little to donate

Thank you for your support