| Scroll
down to see earlier news items |
|
 2005/11/28 Priest
Idol : Channel 4 |
|
| Anyone who followed the Channel 4 programme about the American Anglican priest who came to a run-down Barnsley church and sought to revive it using a radical approach might be interested in this article which features an interview with Father James McCaskill the priest involved in the project. | |
| 2005/11/13 Alpha
Invitation Evening |
|
| On 7 December, beginning at 8 pm, we are holding an Alpha Invitation Evening in the church lounge. It’s a chance to find out more about the Alpha course without commitment. All are welcome - and food is provided. If you would like you come let Barry Edge (01457 764665) or Richard Lawry know. Our next Alpha Course starts on 11 January. | |
| 2005/11/12 Christmas
Services |
|
| There
will be one or two enforced alterations to the Christmas services
this year. Due to weather delays, etc, we are having to work on the
assumption that the restoration building work will not be finished
in time for Christmas. That would mean still operating in a partitioned
off church, with the space restrictions that involves. All our usual services will still go ahead, but sometimes in a less spectacular form. Our Christingle and Carol Services will take into account the extra hazard of people being squashed up together, so there will be relatively few candles lit. The Nativity Service has been ingeniously devised so that it can happen in the smaller area available. But we’re sure that all of them will still have that special seasonal atmosphere, and will inspire us all to wonder and praise. See also the separate item on “Night of Miracles”. Please consider whom you might be able to invite along to a service this Christmas. Lots of people who don’t normally attend would love to come, but often need some encouragement and company! Richard. |
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| 2005/11/12 Joint
Carol Service |
|
| The
various churches in Stalybridge are doing something new and exciting
this year. We’re having a joint Carol
Service, which will be held on Thursday 15
December at St Peter’s Roman Catholic Church,
on Castle Hall Close, starting at 7.30pm. It’s very encouraging that our churches are doing progressively more together, and that there is such enthusiasm for sharing our faith and our different traditions. Do make a note of it in your diaries, and come along to celebrate Christmas together, if you are able. |
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| 2005/11/12 "Night
of Miracles" |
|
| The
evening of Saturday 17 December sees a special extra
Christmas event! Things have to be slightly different this year, because the organ is out of commission during the building works, and the choir is currently relocated in the Memorial Chapel! So we won’t be able to hold a traditional Carol Service in quite the normal way. It will still take place (18 December, 6.30pm), but with more congregational participation, and without some of the more elaborate choral pieces. So in addition to that, the evening before, we’re putting on “Night of Miracles”, a relatively modern Christmas cantata to be performed by the choir, telling the Christmas story in words and music (with some great tunes!). The evening will also include refreshments and some Christmas readings, too. It should be a great night out, and admission will be free. Don’t miss out! |
|
| 2005/11/03 Christmas
Fair |
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| Our Christmas Fair this year will be on Saturday 26 November, and as ever there will be lots to do and enjoy. Do make a point of inviting a friend or neighbour along, so more people can join in and enjoy themselves. As ever, donations for the hamper, bottle stall, white elephant, tombola will be very welcome, as will any raffle prize donated to the big Christmas Draw. Please contact Viv (303-7556) or Alison (339-2449) if you can help to sell raffle tickets, or would like any more information. Do support the Fair if you can! | |
| 2005/11/03 Evening
Praise - 20 November |
|
|
This month’s Evening Praise Service is one to note especially.
That’s because our Sunday Youth Group are going to help to lead
it. There are now 16 young people on the Youth Group register, and
they’re involved in all sorts of activities at church - not
just their own meetings but prayers, banners, posters, web-site, welcome,
teas, you name it. And this month, with a service. Do make a special point of coming along (20 November at 6.30pm), celebrating their contribution to church life, and being part of that time of worship. |
|
| 2005/11/03 A
Restoration Thank-You! |
|
| A
big thank you to all who have contributed to the Restoration Fund
to enable this current phase of the work to progress. We’re
trying, where possible, to thank people who make one-off donations,
especially those who are not actual members of church. But people
give money in many different ways. A lot of people, of course, give
through regular giving, standing orders, etc. And others make donations
but don’t give their addresses. So it’s often not possible,
for different reasons, to thank people individually. But we trust
everyone understands that God is aware of our gifts, which gives him
pleasure, and that, ultimately, is what matters. So to all - thank
you very much! As
for the work itself, as I write, we’re into week 6 of the
building period, and all manner of scaffolders, slaters, roofers,
contractors, plasterers, stone-masons and so on have been involved
so far. The work progresses, and we continue to hope that all will
be completed by the end of December. Please keep praying for safety
and efficiency in the project. Thank you. |
|
| 2005/10/21 Prayer
Foundations : Short Course |
|
| What
do we know about the mysteries of prayer? Is there a right or a wrong
way to pray? Does it matter where we pray and what we say? Does God
really here our prayers? These are some of the questions we will be exploring in a short course of four sessions ( 8 - 9 pm on 2, 9, 23 and 30 November, meeting in the Church Lounge) This is not about leading intercessions in church, but a light and brief introduction to prayer open to everyone. |
|
| 2005/10/09 FLIP
Group |
|
| We
are launching a new daytime Home Group, provisionally called the
FLIP
Home Group (Fellowship,
Learning, Interest Prayer)! It will meet on alternate Wednesday's from 2 pm to 3:30 pm. It is intended for anyone who would like to meet regularly for chat, friendship and prayer support and for whom daytime is easier than evenings. Please contact Joyce Ritson (0161 303 8548) if you would like to join the group or find out more. |
|
| 2005/09/25
Church Restoration |
|
| The scaffolding has gone up in preparation for the restoration building work to start in earnest, and by the time you read this, things should be in full swing in the north transept and chancel. The news on the Restoration Fund continues to be encouraging - the total has now reached £209,158 raised all told. We’re now over half way towards what we believe we’ll need to finish the whole job (including the south transept and organ area, which will be the final stage). Well done, everyone, and thank you as ever for your generosity. We’re making headway - let’s keep at it! Richard. | |
| 2005/09/25
Parish Weekend 2005 |
|
| Read a report about the weekend here. | |
| 2005/08/19
Church restoration |
|
| We
hope to start on the next phase of the restoration work to our building
at the end of August, with the job continuing until the end of the
next month. It will of course involve many temporary changes, not
least the number of pews available to sit in, with the east half of
the church closed off! We'll need to use the balcony, and we'll need
to snuggle up to each other in the pews! We'll have no organ during
the work, and arrangements for access and storage will also change.
Doubtless we'll need to make decisions as we go along, as we see what
will work in practice. So we'll all need to be patient and flexible.
But it should be interesting doing things differently for a change,
and will test all our ingenuity! Once again thanks to everyone who has continued to give committedly, to enable this work to happen, and to all those who've given generously of their time in the planning and implementing of the project. |
|
| 2005/08/19
Floodlighting |
|
St
Paul 's should soon be visible at night! Earlier this year Tameside
Council kindly offered to install floodlighting to illuminate our
church during hours of darkness. Update: We have now had the go-ahead from the diocese for our floodlighting scheme. All being well, it should be ready to go by the time the clocks go back |
|
| 2005/07/23
Church Restoration |
|
| At the
PCC meeting in mid-June it was announced that our Restoration Fund
had topped £200,000.
We're doing well! That means we're half way to the total we anticipate we'll need to do all the remaining restoration work. And in the mean time, we're ready to proceed with the next stage of the work. We've been suffering this year from delays outside our control, and the work scheduled to begin in the late spring is still not yet underway. However, we were recently given to understand that the architect and contractor expect to be ready to start by late August or early September. Of course, by the time you read this, that may be outdated information, but at least it now seems that it's a question of “when not if”. It's been frustrating for everyone having to wait, but we're confident that we'll get there in the end. Please keep praying for these projects - including those in the churchyard. God hears our prayers, and will honour our perseverance |
|
| 2005/05/16
Pastoral Visitor Scheme |
|
| We’re
launching (or re-launching) a Pastoral Visiting Scheme
for our church and Sarah Maddock has kindly agreed to help re-launch
it and be its new Coordinator. The scheme will provide a more organised pastoral network within the church family, to enable us to care for each other and to keep an eye open for each other more effectively. Above all, we want to ensure that no one at St Paul’s gets inadvertantly forgotten or neglected, and that everyone feels supported. We’re asking for volunteers to be Pastoral Visitors, who will take on the responsibility for keeping in touch with a small number (half a dozen or less) of church members. At the time of writing, we’re still working out the finer details of how the scheme will run. But we are anticipating that visitors will commit themselves to visiting or phoning 3 or 4 times a year (or more frequently in case of absence or illness etc), perhaps taking literature or information to any in their group not able to attend church, being aware of any practical needs, and praying for those in their group. By keeping a look-out for a few people in particular, visitors should be better placed to notice any prolonged absence at church, and make sure that no one gets forgotten. Any concerns or needs can then be fed back. Groups will be assigned to visitors on a geographical
basis, since it’s easier to look out for people in your immediate
neighbourhood. In due course, there will be a short initial briefing
meeting for visitors. It won’t be an onerous task by any means (we
hope to ‘sign up’ around 40 visitors) and the commitment is only
occasional, but it’s an important and effective way for us to care
for each other, and bring church members closer together. |
|
| 2005/05/16
Yours
Faithfully! |
|
|
The Pastoral Committee have been recently considering new ways to involve older people in the life of the church - to serve those older people already in church and to help to welcome in others from outside. And in the process, to discover new gifts among our older members, and gain from their wisdom. Joyce Ritson has been taking a particular lead in this, and a little group has been praying regularly to seek God’s guidance in this area. This group, incidentally, which usually meets every other Wednesday morning, is open to all. One project we’re now launching - called “Yours Faithfully!” - is to collect older people’s experiences of faith and put them together in a little booklet. The purpose of the collection will be to inspire the people who read it - young and old, within and outside the church - to see how God works in our lives, in the small things of daily life or the bigger, memorable moments. We hope that people who read these stories will be encouraged and challenged. And we hope, also, that it will be an interesting and rewarding experience for those putting their thoughts on paper. |
|
| 2005/09/25
A new slant on Harvest |
|
|
Harvest is right at the start of October and we are making
some changes to our Harvest arrangements for this year. Firstly, the harvest boxes. This year, we’re encouraging members of the congregation to take a box of harvest gifts away after the service on 2 October and give it to a neighbour, rather than sending them to house-bound church members. The intention is to create another means of reaching out to others in our community, who wouldn’t normally have that contact with the church. Secondly, a new “Harvest Breakfast”. Due
to lack of space during the building work, and an extra baptism service,
a lunch would not be possible, so we’re doing breakfast instead!
We’ll be serving a “Celebration Harvest Continental Breakfast”
at 9.00am - i.e. between the early and main services - croissants, fruit,
coffee/tea etc. Tickets will be £2.50, and, as always, the money
raised will be for Christian Aid. Contact Jacintha
Manchester. |
|
| 2005/07/23
Church Restoration |
|
| At
the PCC meeting in mid-June it was announced that our Restoration Fund
had topped £200,000.
We're doing well! That means we're half way to the total we anticipate we'll need to do all the remaining restoration work. And in the mean time, we're ready to proceed with the next stage of the work. We've been suffering this year from delays outside our control, and the work scheduled to begin in the late spring is still not yet underway. However, we were recently given to understand that the architect and contractor expect to be ready to start by late August or early September. Of course, by the time you read this, that may be outdated information, but at least it now seems that it's a question of “when not if”. It's been frustrating for everyone having to wait, but we're confident that we'll get there in the end. Please keep praying for these projects - including those in the churchyard. God hears our prayers, and will honour our perseverance |
|
| 2005/06/18
Fred Howard |
|
| This month marks a special milestone for Fred. He’s decided to step down as Tower Captain in charge of the bells at St Paul’s. This really is the end of an era, since Fred has been ringing the bells here for over 50 years, and for about a third of that time as Tower Captain. But his health is not what it used to be, and he feels, quite understandably, that this seems the right time to stand down. He’ll continue to ring occasionally, but will hand over the ropes (as it were!) to others on a regular weekly basis. On behalf of everyone at St Paul’s, I’d like to say thank you to Fred for his wonderful dedication and tremendous work over so many years. He’ll be greatly missed in the tower, and no doubt will miss it himself, too. Well done, Fred! | |
| 2005/06/18
Charlie Meredith MBE ! |
|
| Many congratulations
to Charlie on his recent award, announced in the Queen’s Birthday
Honours in June. Charlie was awared the MBE - that’s to
say (I think!) Member of the Order of the British Empire - "for
services to the community in Stalybridge". All of us at St Paul’s,
and I’m sure, everyone in Stalybridge, especially the many people
who’ve been helped and supported by Charlie down the years in all
sorts of different ways, all chorus together “Bravo, Charlie!”
Click
here for the Birthday Honours page from No 10 Downing Street's website
|
|
| 2005/06/18
Rose Queen |
|
| The weekend of 2-3 July is Youth Weekend. On the Sunday afternoon, we celebrate another Rose Queen year. This time, there won’t be a crowning as such, since Harriet Browning will be continuing as Rose Queen. Harriet has done a marvellous job since taking over last year (and so has Amanda, her mum!), and we’re delighted that she’s carrying on till 2006. Harriet’s retinue has changed, however, and she is supported this year by Emma Clark, Alistair Dodd, Olivia Green, Eleanor Smith and Rebecca Stone. Our very best wishes to all of them. The service - which is at 3.00pm on 3 July - will be a Service of Celebration, to which the other Rose Queens in the area have naturally been invited. It’s sure to be a lovely occasion, and one not to be missed! | |
| 2005/06/18
Mission Aviation Fellowship |
|
| Mission Aviation Fellowship is a charity that will be familiar to many of you. They exist to take people - missionaries, doctors, engineers, teachers, etc - to remote and inaccessible places by small plane. They work extensively in Africa and Asia, and many agencies rely heavily on their services. We support them as a church, in their vital and sometimes dangerous work. John Richards - who is a local representatice for MAF - is coming to preach at the evening service on 31 July, and will be explaining more about their operations. Do come along to learn more about MAF and their part in bringing God’s love to those in need. | |
| 2005/05/16
Deanery Day, 19 June |
|
| Each year we have a Deanery Day in the summer, in which the churches of Mottram Deanery get together for an afternoon of workshops, activities and worship. This year, the Deanery Day is 19 June, and the venue is St George’s Church in Hyde. The theme is “Tools for Transformation”, and one of the speakers will be Barry Gauge, who invariably has interesting and amusing things to say. The day will culminate in a joint evening service at 6.30pm, to which all are invited, even if you haven’t been able to attend the afternoon. | |
| 2005/05/16
Confirmation - 26 June 2005 |
|
| As many will be aware by now, this year’s Confirmation service is on 26 June, at 10.30am, led by the Bishop of Stockport. At the time of writing, it looks as though there may be more than a dozen candidates altogether (teenagers and adults). Please continue to hold these candidates in your prayers, that the day will be memorable and significant for them, and that they’ll continue their walk with Christ faithfully afterwards. | |
| 2005/04/19
New Church Warden and PCC Members |
|
| At our Annual Meeting on 13 April, we welcomed Mavis Sullivan as our new churchwarden to join David Stockwell, and also 5 new members of the PCC - Marjorie Ashton, Colin Ashworth, Amanda Browning, Margaret Leitch, and Richard Steels. My thanks to all of them for standing for election, and also to those now stepping down: Hilary Haigh as warden, and Ruth Buckley, Barry Edge, Eileen Frith, Stuart Hobday, Debbie Keating, and Steve Willis as PCC members. They’ve all been a great asset. Hilary has worked very hard as warden, in tandem with David, and I’m confident that David and Mavis are likewise going to make a super duo! Let’s all support them as much as we can. | |
| 2005/04/19
Whit and Trinity - Special Events |
|
| Whit
Sunday is a time when we always enjoy getting together with our brothers
and sisters from the other churches in the town. And as always, we will
be walking on Whit Sunday afternoon (15 May) from St Paul’s into
the town centre. This year, however, we’ll be massing not in Grosvenor
Square but Armentieres Square - which should prove to be a great venue
for an open-air service. Around this period, Fr Bernard Forshaw (from St Peter’s RC Church) and I will be extending the ecumenical feel by doing a ‘pulpit swap’. I’ll be preaching at St Peter’s ‘Vigil for Pentecost Eve’ on Saturday 14 May at 6.30pm, and Fr Bernard will come to us on 22 May (Trinity Sunday) and preach at our special service of Choral Evensong. Please try to support either or both of those services. It’s important to foster our links as much as possible. |
|
| 2005/04/19
Christian Aid Lunch |
|
| Our Christian Aid lunch this year is on 22 May, at the end of Christian Aid Week. This is an opportunity to express our solidarity with the world’s poor, by buying a ticket to share a simple meal together, and sending the proceeds to Christian Aid for their relief and development work. Our lunch will be after the main morning service, in the lounge, and tickets will be available over the few weeks beforehand. Please join in - young and old - and help to make a difference this Christian Aid Week. | |
| 2005/03/30
Melanesian Brotherhood |
|
| The
Melanesian Brothers - a lay order of Christians from the Solomon
Islands, in our linked province of Melanesia - are coming to the Chester
Diocese at the end of April. The Brothers are marvellous, and they use
drama, dance and song in worship to convey and celebrate the Christian
message. They’re staying until June, and they’ll be in our
Mottram Deanery at the end of May. Look out for details of events. In
the meantime, please pray for their trip.
|
|
| 2005/03/27
Stalybridge and District Sunday School League |
|
| The league started in 1910 and was initially billiards only and snooker was added around the 1970s.To mark the League's centenary in 2010, a new website has been created. click here to go to it which features historical information about the League. St Paul's was a former member, and a photograph on the site shows members in the Shakespeare Room in St Paul's School. Iyou have any difficulties with this link, go to http://www.mymanchesteronline.co.uk and do a search for Stalybridge. | |
| 2005/03/21
Annual Church Meeting |
|
| On Wednesday 13 April, at 7.30pm, we’ll be holding our Annual Parochial Church Meeting. This is our AGM, as it were, and it’s the meeting where officers of the church are elected, and reports given, and when we look back over the year and look forward to the year to come. It’s a good way to find out more about the life of the church and all that goes on. The meeting is open to all, and anyone who is on the Electoral Roll may take part in any votes. Please see Eileen Frith or me before the meeting if you want to join the Electoral Roll (you have to be confirmed and have been a regular attender at worship at St Paul’s for the last 6 months). Do come along and support the meeting if you can. | |
| 2005/02/14
Good Friday |
|
| In recent years, our pattern of worship on Good Friday has tended to be a service of Morning Prayer at 10.30, and a one-hour Devotional Service at 2.00pm. This year we're reverting to a more traditional scheme and offering one extended service between 12.00-3.00pm, corresponding to the last three hours of the crucifixion, when the gospel-writers tell us that darkness was over all the land. During the service, we'll be reading (in sections) the whole Passion narrative from St John's gospel, and there will be other readings, hymns, prayers and so on, as well as extended opportunities for silent prayer. Some may want to come for the whole service, but people are invited to come for just a part of the service only, if they prefer. Everyone should feel able to arrive and leave when they wish. Good Friday is, of course, a very important day in our calendar. I believe all of us who can do so should make a point to be in church at some stage, and I hope that this format will enable people to spend some time reflecting on the crucifixion story and the love of God for us that lies behind it. | |
| 2005/02/14
Safe and Sound. |
|
| Those who were at church on 28 November last year will remember that we signed a petition for the Children's Society in support of their ‘Safe and Sound' campaign to provide a national network of safe havens for all young runaways in the UK. They wrote back to thank us, and have provided a number of ‘runaway crisis cards'. This offers essential advice and practical help for children who have run away or are contemplating it, and also for their parents and carers. If you need such advice, or you know someone who you think might need it, please pick a copy from church. We'll leave them in a conspicuous place near the entrance. | |
| 2005/02/03
Website address - and visitor count. |
|
Our website has moved to a new home. You won't necessarily notice anything different, because the public address for the site remains: http://www.stpaulstaley.co.uk. Because of the change we have to start counting visitors from scratch again! Since the site went live at Easter 2003 we have had about 1500 visitors. If you find that anything does not work on the site, please email the website editor. |
|
| 2005/01/31
Restoration Fund |
|
| Fund now reaches £184,246. Phase one of project planned to commence after Easter.............more | |
| 2005/01/31
Lent Groups |
|
| This
year we're running 2 "Lent groups" in conjunction with All
Saints, Micklehurst and St James', Millbrook. These are an opportunity
for discussion and reflection over the weeks of Lent, to help us prepare
for Easter. We'll be offering 5 sessions and we're following a ‘York
Course' called Attending, Exploring, Engaging.
There are taped presentations (by a variety of Christian leaders from
the Archbishop of York to Steve Chalke), with plenty of opportunity
for discussion and some prayer. People are encouraged to attend them
all, but it's perfectly OK to drop in for one or two sessions, if you're
otherwise booked up. Each session will last no more than an hour and
a half, and consist of listening to tapes, discussion and prayer.
Do come along. Contact me (338-2514) for more details if needed. Richard |
|
| 2005/01/31
Alpha Course |
|
Our latest Alpha Course was launched in January! There are 19 participants enjoying the 10 weekly sessions, a mixture of people who've been at St Paul's for many years, and people who've only recently arrived. Most have joined because they want an opportunity to ask some questions (and maybe get some answers!)...... either because they've been coming to church for ages but don't get the chance to sit and chat about "Life, the Universe and Everything!" very often; or because they've recently joined St Paul's and want to delve a bit deeper; or because they're getting married and want to learn a bit more about the meaning and relevance of the Christian faith; or because they've heard it's a great way to meet new people and make new friends; or because they've heard that it's fun and the meals are good!! Last year several
course members went on to get confirmed, and many continued to meet
together regularly because they enjoyed each other's company so much!
Please pray for this year's group, that they'll have a wonderful time
learning and sharing together. |