On Saturday 23rd January, all churches in Guernsey were closed once again because of a sudden rise in reported Coronavirus cases.

St Stephen’s Church will remain closed until further notice.

In the meantime, all are invited to continue to use the church website to consult weekly bulletins, sermons and to stay in touch with the St Stephen’s community.

 

 

Thanks to the hard work of a number of people at St Stephen’s, the interior of the church was more attractive than ever this Christmas.

Their efforts have made St Stephen’s a place where we can find not only beauty and peace; here we can sense, in a very special way, the presence of God.

‘O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!’

 

Thanks to the creativity of Nicky Jee, when members of St Stephen’s arrived for the Midnight Mass of Christmas Eve, they found the church entrance ablaze with light and decorated with lovely poinsettias of the season.

In a way, the church entrance was an illustration of the second verse of ‘O Come all ye faithful’:

‘God of God, light of light,
Lo, he abhors not the Virgin’s womb;
Very God, begotten, not created:
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.’

 

 

On Remembrance Sunday, St Stephen’s Church celebrated a Requiem Mass to commemorate those heroes who risked all for their country in time of war.  Dorothy Harper very kindly donated beautiful, hand-crocheted red and purple poppies, which were then wound around the pillars of the church by daughters Anne Le Maître and Beth Bourgaize.

‘Give rest O Christ to thy servant with thy saints:  where sorrow and pain are no more; neither sighing but life everlasting.  All we go down to the dust; and weeping o’er the grave we make our song:  Alleluya, alleluya, alleluya.’

On 27th September, St Stephen’s Church celebrated its Harvest Festival with a Combined Mass at 10.30am, followed by a magnificent Harvest Lunch in the Community Centre.

The entrance of the church was festooned with a glorious Harvest Arch made by Anna Hamon:

Inside the church, there was a splendid Harvest Display contributed by the Jee Family, to which children and other parishioners brought their gifts of food for the Guernsey Welfare Service:

And elsewhere in the church, all of the windows were decorated with Harvest Arrangements, prepared by a team of parishioners and members of the Rainbows and Guides, all coordinated by Ann Goss and Kate McCall:

Many thanks to all for making our celebration so special!

On Sunday 21st June, St Stephen’s celebrated the arrival of Phase 5 of the easing of lock-down restrictions related to the Coronavirus.

After the 11.00am Sung Mass, the congregation enjoyed a delicious sponge cake made by Rosalyne Le Huray, along with wine.

It was a delight to be able to hear the Choir sing, to sing hymns, liturgical responses and propers, and to have a full team of Servers.

Thanks to all who made this day possible!

 

On Sunday 31st May, St Stephen’s Church re-opened for worship to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost.

Thanks to the generosity of Graham and Val Moullin, all who attended were given ‘notes of hope’ to keep or to send to someone in need of encouragement.

It was wonderful to be back together as a worshipping community; that too gave us hope for the future!

Due to the coronavirus restrictions, a Mass was not celebrated at St Stephen’s Church to commemorate the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord.

However, several parishioners wanted to mark the occasion and to celebrate the fact that the church is now open again for private prayer.

Jean and Rosalyne Le Huray kindly brought bouquets of flowers to greet people as they enter the church and pray in the Lady Chapel:

Christine Shaw (with the help of her son Daniel) decorated the Lady Chapel with floral arrangements that are meant to symbolise the apostles (azaleas) and the Ascension of our Lord (lilies):

And Kate McCall was keen to ensure that anyone who comes to pray at St Stephen’s is given a sign of welcome as they enter the porch:

Many thanks to Jean, Rosalyne, Christine and Kate for these wonderful decorations that make our church warm and welcoming!

On Monday 18th May, following decisions taken by the States of Guernsey, St Stephen’s Church was re-opened for private prayer.

All who wish to come to the church are invited to use the Lady Chapel.

We are thankful to God for this first step back towards being ‘a place of worship and prayer for all’!

 

9th May 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of Guernsey at the end of the Second World War.

St Stephen’s was proud to show its colours and support the celebration!