This letter should arrive shortly in your postbox and will have contact details for your elder and minister. You can also find contact details on the website. http://www.firstmagherafelt.com/contact-us.html 

19th March 2020
Dear Friends
 
As we enter a time of social distancing, more than ever as members of our church family we will need to keep in touch with one another to provide both spiritual and practical help. It is a time for hope and love and good deeds.
 
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Heb 10:23-24
 
The challenges seem great as we face the threat from COVID-19. New developments each day remind us how serious the situation is and we are rightly concerned for our family, friends and our community. Even so, we are convinced that our God is in control and so we look to Him. I have recently been blessed by this verse which points us to the wonderful love and saving power of our heavenly Father who delights in his people.
 
“The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love,
He will rejoice over you with singing."  Zep 3:17 
 
As the situation develops quickly we received instructions on Wednesday from the Moderator’s office that all ‘congregational organisations and activities’ and ‘all Sunday gatherings for worship should cease until further notice.’ However, the Kirk Session are keen to put in place some measures to support you through this difficult time.
 
Keeping you informed
Some years ago you may have completed a card providing contact details. If you are not sure that we already have your current contact phone number then we would ask you to pass these on to your elder in the first place (or to Rev Curry).  This will enable us to keep in touch in the coming days.
It will be helpful if we could have your landline number,  mobile number and email address where these are available.
Please also indicate if you would like someone from the congregation to keep in touch regularly by phone.
 
Giving and receiving Practical help
We are aware that many in the congregation may need to ‘self-isolate’ for a prolonged period. Please let us know if you are self-isolating. The Kirk Session will put in place plans to help with emergency support. We are offering to arrange for someone to collect emergency supplies or indeed help in any other way we can.
If you find yourself in need of emergency help, please contact us. Your district elder is your first line of contact. They may then ask others to help provide the necessary support.
Also, if you are in a position to assist with this kind of practical help, or you are willing to keep in ‘phone contact’ with others in the congregation, please let Rev Curry know.
 
Spiritual help
We know that many are already encouraging one another by phone and group chats and we commend you in that.
Given that all worship services have been suspended for the time being, we are planning to broadcast a service each Sunday morning. This will allow you to join with other members of the church family, via the internet, for Sunday worship. It is still tremendously important for us to ‘gather’, even over the internet, to pray and study the Bible together (Heb 10:25). You will be able to connect via a link on our website and the broadcast will also be available to listen to later. This will begin on Sunday 22nd March @11am. If you do not have Internet access, then we can offer a CD recording of the service which would be delivered to your home. Please contact your district elder or Rev Curry if you would like to be added to the list of those who will receive these. We will place updates on First Magherafelt website and Facebook page and will deliver updates to those receiving CD recordings of our services.
We also encourage you to continue to take time to pray with others. Technology enables us to arrange a prayer time by phone, WhatsApp, Messenger or zoom. We plan to continue our weekly prayer meeting in Zoom, contact us for details.
 
Pastoral visiting
While social distancing is in place regular visitation will not be possible. However, please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of pastoral assistance. The clear advice is that members who have influenza-type symptoms should not seek visitation from the elders or minister and pastoral support should be provided by telephone or online.
Please be assured that we are here to support you at this time and we will be continuing to pray for you, your family and the community. May each of us in these days, turn our hearts towards our loving saviour Jesus Christ (John 3v16)
 
Yours in Christ’s service
 
Jonathan Curry  (First Magherafelt Kirk Session)

While Sundays will not be the same as we can not gather together for worship we are working hard to ensure we can gather as a family for prayer and worship - these are some things we have planned.

Sundays@First
10.15-10.45     Prayer Time for our Sunday Worship (via Zoom).
                            To join This Meeting on Zoom simply ask us for the link below.
 
11 am              Morning worship – Rev Curry                       
       We will stream our morning service live and make it available afterwards.
       See http://www.firstmagherafelt.com/news/morning-worship-first  
 
6 pm                Evening Worship
         A service will be available on the PCI website every Sunday and we suggest
         this would be good to listen to as our own evening service is not running.
 
Thursdays @ First
8-9pm              Prayer Meeting (Via Zoom).
                           To join This Meeting on Zoom simply ask us for the link ​

We hope you can join us for the
Live stream of our Morning Worship service

Sunday 22nd March  (Now uploaded here) 
Order of Service
Sermon Notes Page
Adults - Children
Suggested Children's Resources
​for 22nd March

While we normally upload only the sermons to the website due to the impact of the COVID-19 virus we will be uploading our full services so that those who need to stay at home can listen in. Click here to listen.

All Meetings Cancelled 
This is a result of the advice below from the Moderator and Clerk.

Following on from yesterday’s Pastoral Letter from the Moderator, and in light of evolving Government advice both in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland, we today issue the following formal advice to all Ministers and Kirk Sessions:

 1. All congregational organisations and activities should cease until further notice. ...

•  ‘Virtual meetings’, including decision taking by e-mail or other similar means, are permissible (and indeed encouraged) in the current circumstances.

 2. All Sunday gatherings for worship should also cease until further notice. 

• Please note the emphasis on ‘gatherings’ ceasing - creative means of enabling members to avail of worship resources should be sought. 

3. Steps should be taken to ensure that numbers attending funeral services and weddings are kept as low as possible. 
Consideration should be given to all funerals being private (for close family and friends only), with no public announcement of the funeral arrangements. 

Similar advice is being issued today by the General Secretary of the Methodist Church and by several Dioceses of the Church of Ireland. 

These are deeply uncertain times, with almost every day bringing challenging news and announcements. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues daily to grow in severity, we sense fear is also growing. However, God remains sovereign over all things and continues to be at work in the world, often working out His purposes both in us and through us. We continue therefore to pray that all would know and feel God’s love and close presence at this time and that the Church, scattered throughout our communities, would continue to be salt and light pointing people to the Lord Jesus Christ – the hope of world.
 
This weekend’s “Let’s Pray” guide will focus on the immediate needs of this crisis, and we encourage you both to make this resource available to your congregations and to encourage members to join in intercession with their fellow Christian across this island. We continue to look to the Lord who is our refuge and our strength – Psalm 46 vs. 1-5.
 
Yours in the Lord’s Service,
Moderator of the General Assembly
Clerk of the General Assembly

These events had already been AFFECTED
Weekly Events
* Small Group bible Studies 
* Parent and Toddlers 
* Cafe Revive and Thursday Morning Fellowship time.
*English Language Classes
Individual Events
Tuesday 17th 
* Our Ladies@first meeting.
Thursday 2nd April 2020
* Our Annual Community Service in association with Killronan School
planned for 2nd April.
Friday 3rd April 2020
* Our Annual Girls Brigade Display.
Saturday 4th April
* Afternoon tea planned by Ladies@First. 
Tuesday 7th April
* Friendly hour

We are regret having to cancel these events but feel it is a wise decision in light of the current situation. We will seek to keep this list updated.

 (Dear congregation and friends.

No doubt you have watched and discussed the ever-increasing threat that COVID - 19 (Coronavirus) presents to our health and the wellbeing of our community.  While it is important we do all in our power to ensure that we do not make the situation worse, at the same time we seek to continue to be Christ's church to our members and our community.

In light of the best advice at present from the government and PCI, we will take a common-sense approach and that will involve cancelling some events. We will seek to make you aware of this as the situation develops. 

Sunday worship will continue at present but as we gather can I ask everyone to take note of government advice!  If you feel unwell, have experienced a cough, raised temperature or shortness of breath you are advised to stay at home and avoid other gatherings too. If you feel you are in a particularly vulnerable group (underlying health issues, age etc) or are receiving treatments for other serious illnesses please feel free not to attend.
We will seek to ensure recordings of our full services are available as soon as possible on our website. (Sermon only can be found here)

PLEASE - if you choose to stay at home whether as a precaution or as directed, please let us know by telephone so that we can pray for you, offer pastoral support and if required practical help too.

When attending church, please wash your hands thoroughly before and after attending church and also continue to follow the, 'catch it, bin it, kill it' advice.

Until further notice, we will be avoiding shaking hands or giving hugs.  During our service there will not be the usual time for a collection but rather the plates will be left at the door for you to give your offering, we will also suspend the tea after services.
​
Rev Curry (on behalf of Kirk Session)