Bellshill’s Central Church (your Church of Scotland Congregation at 346 Main Street) is very much alive and busy although our doors are still temporarily closed. We are massively involved in the community which is at our heart during these unprecedented times with our extensive online presence. Remember that our minister is available for any sort of pastoral items, if anyone is struggling, is unwell, there is a bereavement. Please get in touch with Kevin. His email is kdebeer@churchofscotland.org.uk and phone number is 01698 841176. Kevin is an approachable person, who is always ready to listen. He’ll pray for your situation and offer support.
Sunday worship and mid-week children’s church is continuing, albeit in an online format. This coming Sunday, we have worship taking place online for the community of Bellshill.
Please visit our website at http://www.bellshillcentral.church/watch-live to take part. The broadcasts begin at 1045am and the service itself usually starts at around 11am.
The service is simultaneously aired via YouTube and Facebook both have live chat
From 10.45am we share in some news and songs as we gather in our houses as the church family. The services are available at any time thereafter on our YouTube channel.
Join with us and be part of something special. It’s been proven that more people than ever are “attending” church during this time of crisis, and we are so grateful that you come here, as you are, whatever your background, to the church in the town centre, for all.
Sunday 18th is our Harvest celebration, online via YouTube, Facebook and our website
Rev Kevin brings us three short messages this week. Young Church is available via the YouTube playlist, and is our third instalment on saying thank you.
There are Harvest Activities – and messages from our members about what they’re thankful for.
We invite all of our members and all of the community to donate non-perishable food stuffs to the Community Together Foodbank based at the YMCA by way of a Harvest Thank-offering or donation into the community at this time of distress during the COVID19 pandemic
We also have a permanent local rate phone number where you can listen to Kevin’s weekly message and prayers. Just call 01698 533211 and you’ll be part of our “Dial in Congregation” this is ideal for those folks with no access to the internet, so please share this as widely as possible – and also our online watch live and catch up services.
To support our online services we are producing a weekly E-News with information that will help you in our online worship and also some pieces of news and information in and around the Church. This is available each week from our website, Facebook and Twitter accounts. Sign up to any of these sites for free! We now have a downloadable order of service with the prayers and hymns and this is available online to download, to help you follow the service.
CHURCH LOCKDOWN CHRONICLE
We are producing an Autumn version of the temporary magazine and it will feature messages from ONC, our minister, Stanley Cook our Session Clerk, the Guild, an update on Life and Work, Mossend Primary and other news, stories and items of interest. To allow our local school to contribute the date for issue will now be approximately one week later, nearer 25th October. We are more than sure the delay is worth it to hear from the staff and pupils. Any information to be included please pass to Alan asap.
We continue to enjoy and take part in our Bellshill Central WhatsApp group so that we can keep up the friendship and fellowship which very much is Bellshill Central Parish Church. We have nearing 50 people part of this who enjoy a good morning message to start the day, funny stories and video clips, sometimes a quiz of places in and around Bellshill and just generally a welcoming and safe forum for us to keep in touch. If your part of our Church Family, formally or informally, and would like to join this group please get in touch via the website or email bellshillcentral@gmail.com.
WEEKLY ONLINE YOUNG CHURCH TIME – via the church website we are sharing something suitable for young folks and adults on Wednesdays at mid-day. These usually consists of a video message and a bible reading. Look out for these posts on the website, Facebook and twitter. You can catch up with them at any time, and might be an ideal thing to watch on the sofa all together.
THE ORGANIST ENTERTAINS – tonight, Wednesday 14th October 2020 at 8pm, our organist entertains once more. Due to the need to help people keep as physically connected to their church building we have a new ministry which is now flourishing. The videos are available on our church’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. New episodes are premiered on Wednesday evenings. We still need your requests and tell us why these hymns and dongs mean so much to you all. Although the videos premiere on Wednesdays at 8pm, they are available to catch up with at any time just when it suits you. The dedicated website page is www.bellshillcentral.church/organist-entertains
If you watch via YouTube you can take part in our Live Chat. We have reached over 8,000 views and the audience continues to grow in our local community and overseas.
Tonight includes
- Come you thankful people come,
- We plough the fields
- All things bright and beautiful
- Bringing in the sheaves
Now thank we all our god
- And more!
WALKING GROUP
Our walking group is still in abeyance due to the restrictions. However, we encourage those walkers who are able to walk with family or perhaps in small socially distant groups can enjoy some exercise and fresh air. We may be having a Church Walk with a difference, so watch this space on how you can take part.
UPDATE FROM OUR GUIDING LEADERS
The guiding leaders are unable to have the organisation running indoors at the moment until the Church and leaders agree on Risk Assessments and cleaning.
The leaders from Guides Brownies and Rainbows are currently chatting with each other to see when we can return to indoor meetings.
For more info on Guiding for Girls please visit https://www.girlguidingscotland.org.uk/
UPDATE FOR REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY
Sunday 8th November is Remembrance Sunday, and worship will start at 10.45am instead of 11am. This means our news and information will start at 10.30am. This will enable us to stop and pause and have remembrance at 11am with others across the UK as we would normally do on Remembrance Sunday. Please join the Church in Bellshill as we remember.
TIME OF PRAYER
We have a prayer routine at Bellshill Central Parish Church and invite everyone to take part. Sundays at 7pm we join churches across the UK in a time of prayer and reflection. Join with the Rev Dr Martin Fair, the Moderator of the Church of Scotland. The prayer is available via the Prayer option on our website.
Each other night Monday to Saturday at 8pm we ask all of our members, friends and wider community to pause and pray and light a candle for the crisis we find ourselves in. Pause and pray for ourselves, our families, our minister, the leaders and the keyworkers who are keeping the vulnerable safe and protected. We share an evening prayer at 8pm each night. Read it, say it, pray it.
Via our church website and Facebook/twitter pages we are sharing daily Psalms for the Day. If you subscribe to the website you will receive these automatically by email. You can of course browse the website or our Facebook/twitter pages and find them just as easy. We also share inspirational images from around the world to remind everyone that there is hope, love and security in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and God the Father. Our website is http://www.bellshillcentral.church and the social media channels are http://www.facebook.com/bellshillcentralchurch & http://www.twitter.com/bellshillchurch
BELLSHILL’S HEARTS OF HOPE
We encouraged people to help brighten up our Main Street starting at the Church at 346 Main Street – Bellshill’s Central Church, to craft a sign of colourful hope and tie it to our railings. This has been very well supported and also popping up at the Co-op Funeral Care site on Hamilton Road. We hope you agree that these show signs of hope and light in this difficult and challenging time. If you are our for your daily exercise, just pass by Bellshill Central Church and tie your colourful symbol to our gates and railings. We want to see wonderful images of community involvement touching the hearts of everyone.
PRAYER RIBBONS
As we move forward prayer is more important than ever. We want our community to pull together and pray for sense and patience as we progress through our phases to bring us back to normal life. Each time you pray, tie a piece of ribbon to our gates. Each ribbon represents a prayer offered. The more ribbons means the more prayers offered. A visible sign of our combined prayer.
SUPPORTING YOUR LOCAL PARISH CHURCH.
For Church Members – Please keep up to date with your financial giving to your Church. Please continue with your standing orders and direct debits. If you give by way of envelopes/donations save these and bring to Church when we re-open. If you would like to change to direct bank giving please let us know and we can give you the necessary information. There will be a significant impact on our Church finances over these weeks so your continued generosity will be particularly important and very much appreciated.
For our community – we are financially supported by our members. This is part of our vows when we join the church. We cannot directly ask the community for financial aid, this is simply not how we work. We as members support the church, so that the Church can support you – the local community! However, if you would like to support us by giving a one off donation or even something more regularly you can simply get in touch and we will let you know how to do this. Or visit the church website and use the online donation option.
What would be more than wonderful is that you come along to church the first Sunday we can gather together in the beautiful building at 346 Main Street and support us by your presence as we rejoice in coming together. So, we hope you can come along when that day happens. If you want to donate just now or when you come along either would be graciously accepted.
STATEMENT RE THE CONTINUING CLOSURE OF THE CENTRAL CHURCH DUE TO COVID 19
In line with all Church of Scotland congregations our church leadership regularly review the COVID-19 situation and the continuing closure of our church and community buildings.
We know that our members, friends and regular worshippers of Bellshill Central Parish Church want to know when we will re-open but we cannot yet open for public worship and our hall users are in the same position. Keeping your safety and wellbeing paramount have decided to continue to wait until we are able to safely welcome you into church for a proper service of worship and fellowship in our other spaces.
There is a short video presentation available via our website from June 2020 and you can also read a letter which contains the same information.
Our motto is simple – Central to Bellshill, Central to You and Central to Christ. Be part of the church family
Bellshill Central Church 