We are launching our new series of lunchtime concerts on Tuesday
2nd December. The intention is to put on one of these concerts
approximately every half term.
The concert will be given by a group of students from Chetham’s
School of Music in Manchester, accompanied by Brenda Blewett
(aka Lawry!).
The concerts will start at 1.00 (lasting about an
hour), with a soup-and-sandwich lunch beforehand, in the church lounge.
People are quite free to come to the concert only, if they would prefer.
No tickets will be sold beforehand – it will just be “pay
at the door”. Admission to the concert will be £3,
and £2 for lunch.
2008/11/16
Church building update
Those
of you able to come to church will have noticed scaffolding
recently around the east end of the church. This is for the
work to repair the damage earlier in the year from lead thefts
on the roof etc. That work should in theory be finished by the
time you read this (weather permitting!).
You may also perhaps have spotted the enhanced CCTV facilities
around the church. We extended the system to cover all sides
of the church, which we hope will act as a further deterrent
against theft and vandalism.
We had planned to do the restoration work on the south transept
as the next phase of our restoration programme. But the PCC
decided it would be prudent to proceed next with the work on
the tower, which is more urgent. We hope that will be tackled
in the early part of 2009.
Other significant maintenance work has been happening inside
too, notably the checking and overhaul of the entire electrical
system in church, as well as miscellaneous maintenance and health
& safety issues.
I’d like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who’s
been working hard on various aspects of organising, administering
and liaising with all this, especially Viv, Janet, Carol,
Colin and various PCC members and others.
2008/11/16
Service for the Bereaved - 9 November 2008
Many of you will
not have had the opportunity to attend our Service for the
Bereaved on 9 November. The preacher that
evening was Revd Christine Bull, who since September
has been “Priest Pastor” at Chester Cathedral. It was
thought that her sermon was so good, it might be helpful for others
to have the chance to read it. With Christine’s permission,
it is reproduced here in a
slightly abridge form...more....
2008/11/03
A matter of life and debt.
The
Church of England now has a web page offering help
and advice to anyone worried about debt. There is information on the
background to the current financial crisis, "The Debt Spiral"
- a tool to use to see if your family is threatened by the credit
crunch and other resources to help including sprcially written prayers.
You will find A Matter of Life and Debthere.
2008/09/07
Financial giving - principles and guidelines.
If you would like any more information or help, or would like standing
order or Gift Aid forms, please contact the Church Treasurer, Restoration
Fund Treasurer or Gift Aid Secretary.
2008/09/07
Colin Ashworth's licensing as Lay Reader
Colin
Ashworth will be licensed as a Lay Reader for St Paul's at a service
in Chrster Cathedral on Saturday 18 October. A coach will leave church
at 10:30am for those who would like to attend this service. Please
sign up on the notice board in the Loung if you would like to book
a place on the coach.
2008/08/22
Back to Church Sunday 28th September
“Back to Church Sunday” (B2CS)
is the initiative we started last year to such good effect that we
want to repeat it! It’s also being held around the diocese and
beyond.
B2CS is on 28th September. It’s a ideal opportunity
to invite a friend or neighbour to church – someone who used
to go in the past but has drifted away. Very often people would love
to come back to church, but just need a personal invitation in order
to encourage them. It can be daunting to make that journey over the
door-step on your own.
As last year, we’ll be putting on a buffet lunch after the main
morning service, and also food and activities for children, as part
of the welcome we’re offering people. Please look out for notices
and lists, and see how you might be able to help with practical arrangements.
There will be invitation cards available from church in the preceding
weeks – please do give one to someone individually before the
28th. Or if you can’t get to church, just invite them anyway!
Thank you – Richard.
2008/08/22
Sunday School and Youth Group Leaders
We’re extremely grateful to Catherine Lillie, Jan Stone, Judith
Willis and Julie Done, all of whom have given valuable service as
leaders in the Sunday School, Stepping Stones and
Youth Group, but all of whom have had to step down
this summer. In addition, of course, we have had the sad task of replacing
Doreen Ashworth, who died in July . But it’s exciting to be
able to report that several people have come forward and offered their
services in taking up those posts: Tracey Simpson, Lucy Crompton,
Bernadette Goudy and Ruth Richardson (continuing in a different role).
Our thanks to them all. This is tremendously important work –
please pray for them regularly. Richard
2008/08/22
"Keeping in Step" Service 7 September
Our annual Keeping-in-Step Service & Prizegiving this
year is on 7 September. All those who’ve had
their children baptised in the last couple of years have been invited
to join us. The Sunday School, too, is looking forward to giving prizes
to all their many members! If you have a neighbour with small children
or grandchildren, why not extend an invitation to them to come along
with you? It’s a service for everyone
2008/08/22
"Grace" Home Group
A
new Home Group started earlier this year. Like some of the other home
groups in church, it arose as a result of the Alpha Course, when those
who had done the course wanted to continue to meet every few weeks,
for learning and prayer and fellowship. This group has christened
itself the ‘Grace’ Home Group. They have
been following a short USPG study called “Love One Another”,
looking at relationships of various kinds. The session on ‘Relationships
within the Church’ closed with this prayer, and it’s one
you might want to use regularly for us all as a church:
Lord
of the Church,
teacher of disciples,
you loved your friends to the end,
and gave them the example of leadership through service.
May we who follow you today
accept the radical challenge you still offer,
to your companions on the way throughout all time.
Stop us short if our values go astray,
and enable us to discover in obedience a perfect freedom.
Above all, help us to make your church
a pattern for a new world
rather than a pale reflection of this one. Amen.
2008/08/10
The Church Building - important update August 2008
We
have decided it would be a good time to update all our church members
about the current state of our
church building.
We are all aware that in February
2006 we had a service not only to welcome Richard
as our vicar (rather than priest in charge) but also to celebrate
the “finish” of our second stage of the building restoration,
that is the work done on the North Transept, the vestry roof, and
Chancel area. It also meant the end of looking at the “hole”
in the plaster next to the East Window, which had been there for
almost 20years!
Vestry Roof - 1
Unfortunately we had trouble within a few months
with a leak in the new stainless steel roof above the vestry. Despite
several attempts by the contractors and architects to find the cause,
it remains a problem. Clearly we felt we could not pay the contractors
until the new problem was solved. This eventually resulted in the
contractor taking court action against the church which has only
recently been “stayed” by the courts. This means that
the contractor must return to the arbitration clause in the contract,
and sit down to discuss the matter with an independent architect,
who will make a decision about the cause/responsibility of the persons
involved. The court decision to stop their proceedings against us
is correct and in our favour, because the contractor was in breach
of contract by taking out the court proceedings rather than sitting
around the arbitration “table” to discuss the matter.
We await the next move with this situation, and our main concern
is to get the vestry roof repaired as soon as possible, before the
weather worsens. Unfortunately we are limited to the work which
can be done to prevent water ingress until the case has been resolved
by the independent architects and judgement made.
Vestry Roof - 2
There has also been what has become a far greater problem than
the vestry roof. In April of this year, and several times since,
we have had lead thefts from the roof and gutter areas of the church
roof. This is a very widespread problem throughout the country because
of the great increase in the scrap value of metals generally. Apparently
lead is the favourite because it is quite easy to remove and subsequently
sell on without detection.
The majority of the theft has been from the “new” roofing
areas repaired in 2006. This is a really bad situation for us, because
not only does it make our building vulnerable again, but puts our
restoration work back considerably. If it had been the other side
(South Transept) at least we could have taken the philosophical
view that it needed doing anyway!
The architects, insurance company and the Chester church officials
agree with us that it would be a pointless exercise to replace the
stolen lead with yet more lead, because the theft would be repeated.
Whilst our church is a listed building, the relevant authorities
now believe that the only solution is to use a metal which is less
“thief friendly” and not as easily removed and sold
as scrap. Unfortunately this will cost around 1.5 times more than
traditional lead.
Final quotes are still coming in for the repairs to the lead theft
areas and the vestry roof area, but are around £50,000 at
the time of writing this report. Unfortunately we have the added
blow that Ecclesiastical Insurance Group who is the main insurer
of all church buildings, have a clause in the policy that they will
only pay out £15,000 per year for lead thefts. This means
that until our renewal which is due at the end of March 2009, we
can only claim £15,000 of the £50,000 needed for repairs.
At an emergency PCC meeting
the other Sunday after church it was agreed by PCC members that
we will have to use some of the restoration money to carry out the
repairs, pending the situation being resolved with the insurance
company and the legal situation with the contractors over the vestry
roof. This is to ensure our building does not suffer more damage
than necessary when the weather worsens.
I am
sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I know there has been much
speculation amongst the congregation about the roof etc, and hope
this now sets the record straight for everyone. But we’re
confident that, working together as a church, and with God’s
help, we’ll get there!
Carol Wallwork on behalf of the Vicar,
Wardens & Restoration Group
2008/07/16
Hope 08 - Party in the Park
The
weekend of 30 & 31 August is the Hope
08 Tameside Big Weekend. On Sunday people will be
gathering at Stamford Park Ashton for a free family
funday for all. There will be puppets, an amazing fire-eater, a
children's magician, bouncy castles, face-painting, interactive
works of art and children's craft, there really is something for
everyone. There will be music on the main stage, with the line-up
including Make Jesus Known and LZ7! Lots of activities
for all the family. Do make a date in your diary.
2008/07/01
Usage of St Paul's website
Here
are details of visits to the church website over the last twelve
months.
MONTH
VISITS
Jun-08
945
May-08
1077
April-08
1102
Mar-08
888
Feb-08
912
Jan-08
798
Dec-07
592
Nov-07
544
Oct-07
650
Sep-07
535
Aug-07
580
Jul-07
702
Total
9325
2008/06/19
Choral Evensong - Sunday 20 July
A
special service not to be missed! On Sunday 20 July,
at the usual time of 6.30pm, the choir will be leading our worship
in a traditional service of Choral Evensong. This
is always a spiritual and musical treat, and on this occasion the
service will include music from Brewer and Balfour Gardiner. There
will also be a visiting preacher, though at the time of writing his
or her identity was yet to be confirmed .
Before the service, there will be a strawberry tea
laid on in the church lounge at 5.00pm, to add to the celebration!
Please do make a note in your diary, and join us to worship God.
2008/06/19
Faith Fun Day Saturday 12 July
FaithsUnited
is a network made up of representatives from the various faith communities
in Tameside, committed to promoting good interfaith relationships.
They have already successfully hosted 2 very well attended conferences
on the Environment and Community Cohesion. They are keen to share
the spirit of friendship built up over the years with the people of
Tameside.
This month they are extending an invitation to anyone of any faith
grouping in the area to what promises to be a fantastic day –
the first of its kind in Tameside – a Faith Fun Day.
This is to take place on Saturday 12th July, at King George’s
Playing Fields, in Ashton, from 12 noon to 4.00pm.
There will be face-painting, bouncy castles, food, cricket, dancing,
music and much more. If you have any queries please do not hesitate
to contact Mohamed Seedat on 0161 339 4985 or email mohamed.seedat@t3sc.org
2008/06/19
Rose Queen Crowning- Sunday 6 July
The
weekend of 5-6 July is Youth Weekend.
On the Sunday afternoon, 6th July, at 3.00pm, we will celebrate another
Rose Queen year, as Rebecca Stone –
our marvellous Rose Queen for the past year – hands over to
Freya Clark, who will be crowned that day. Freya’s
retinue will be Lydia Clark, Hannah Jones, Rebecca Jones, Lauren
Parkinson, and Katie Thorne. We will be welcoming Rose
Queens from other churches, as usual, to the service and the refreshmeents
that will follow.
Well done to Rebecca and her retinue (and to Jan and Andrew, and all
the retinue parents) for doing such a super job this year, and representing
St Paul’s so well. Do join them all for the service.
2008/06/19
Save our churches
The Sunday
Telegraph newspaper is running a campaign called “Save
our Churches” to support places of worship in this
country. They say that churches “provide a vital service
to their local communities, but are under threat as never before…
they need to be saved for the sake of this and future generations.”
They are calling for:
1 the Government to increase funding for the conservation of places
of worship
2 Government grants to be introduced to enable place of worship
to become focal points for the commnity
3 planning restrictions to be introduced to prevent disused place
of worship being turned into pubs or nightclubs
4 listed places of worship to maintain a full rebate for VAT on
repair work
5 the Government to make it easier for places of worship to be
adapted for community use.
If you would like to support this campaign, as many church leaders
(including the Archbishop of Canterbury) are doing, please visit
the
website.
2008/05/22
Summer Fair
The
Summer Fair is coming up next month – Saturday 28 June,
from 11.00am till 2.00pm. As ever there will be all sorts of activities,
attractions, stalls and refreshments of various kinds. So do make
a date for that, and mention it to your friends and others in the
community. It’s always a lovely event to bring others along
to.
2008/05/22
Hope 08 update
Hope
08
is a nationwide mission and outreach campaign, with all kinds of
events being planned. We have developed our ideas further, and are
concentrating on 2 initiatives.
For young
people, we are booking 50 tickets for ‘The Big One’
– a major Christian rock concert a the Apollo in Manchester,
on 28 November, and encouraging our young people
to book their place and bring friends along.
ACTS
OF KINDNESS
One of the initiatives we’re undertaking at St Paul’s
as part of our plans for Hope 08 is to offer help to older people
living nearby. We’re calling this our ‘Acts
of Kindness’ initiative. We’re doing this
by getting together a team of people who can give up an hour or
two to help with little domestic jobs of one sort or another in
the house or garden, to support those in our parish who may struggle
to manage such things themselves. If you could offer your help
with this, please add your name to the list on the notice-board
in the church lounge as soon as possible.
Thank you – Richard.
2008/05/11
Musical high notes - and you heard them here first!
Peter
Moore
(above) who featured in the gala concert by students from Chetham’s
School of Music on 14 March at St Paul's, yesterday
(May 11) was named as overall winner of the BBC Young Musician of
the Year for 2008. Read all about it here.
Earlier, in
April, Jiafeng
Chen (below) who took part in the recital given at St
Paul's on Sunday 6th April won second prize in the Senior
Competition of the prestigious Menuhin International Violin Competition.
2008/05/05
Restoration Fund
The
fund has now reached £300,000
2008/05/05
Usage of St Paul's website
Here
are details of visits to the church website over the last twelve
months.
MONTH
VISITS
April-08
1102
Mar-08
888
Feb-08
912
Jan-08
798
Dec-07
592
Nov-07
544
Oct-07
650
Sep-07
535
Aug-07
580
Jul-07
702
Jun-07
542
May-07
570
Total
8415
2008/04/13
Wardens and PCC
Congratulations to Viv Dawson and Janet McBride,
who were appointed, at our Annual Meeting on 13th April, to serve
as our churchwardens again for the coming year. Also to Jacqui
Barker, Sue Goddard, Stuart Hobday,John McGartland
and Carol Wallwork, who have been appointed to the
PCC for a 3-year term. Our thanks to them all for standing and for
serving our church in these roles.
2008/04/13
Summer Family Fun Day - 10 May
On the 10th May, from 2.00-5.00pm, we’re holding
a Summer Family Fun-day for everyone in church. This
event is going to be held on the lawn of Staley House Nursing Home,
which, as many of you will know, used to be part of the old vicarage
lawn, where such events were held in the past, so it will be a sort
of trip down memory lane as well for some! Food and refreshments will
be available, and games for the children. Come and join the fun!
2008/04/13
Archdeacon's Visitation
The Archdeacon’s Visitation this year is on
Tuesday 13 May, at 7.30pm, at St Thomas’, Stockport.
This is the annual service for all the churches in the deaneries in
this part of the diocese (St Paul’s belonging to the Deanery
of Mottram), where the Archdeacon comes to preach, and to commission
those people taking on official roles in their church for another
year. All churchwardens and sidespeople are supposed to attend, and
I would strongly encourage everyone to do so if they can. It’s
a chance to get together as the wider church, and to hear more of
what’s going on elsewhere in the diocese, as well as an opportunity
for people to be thanked for serving the church in different ways
and to be commissioned for their work over the coming year.
2008/04/13Whit
Walks 11 May
Because Easter was so early this year, so is Pentecost/Whit
Sunday (50 days after Easter) – 11th May.
Do make a note in your diary for our Whit Walks that afternoon. As
ever, we will be processing through the streets, with banners and
brass band, into the town centre, where we will gather with our friends
from the other churches in Stalybridge for a united service in Armentieres
Square, by the canal. After the service, we’ll walk back to
St Paul’s for a cup of tea and a sit-down! It’s always
a lovely occasion for young and old, and the more people walking,
the better!
May 22 - We were blessed with wonderful warm weather for our annual
Whit Walks this year. And there was as great turn-out, as we walked
together to meet our fellow-Christians in the town centre for the
united service. It was so warm that the light shower that fell during
the service was a pleasant refresher! Rarely has the cup of tea back
at base afterwards been so badly needed! Thanks to all who supported,
and to the Carrbrook Brass Band who accompanied us, and to those who
helped organise and provided the refreshments.
2008/03/31Ascension
Day 1st May
Ascension
Day (40 days after Easter and 10 days before Pentecost) marks
Jesus’ final leave-taking of this earth and his friends, and
his return to the Father in heaven, before the coming of the promised
gift of God’s Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This year, Ascension
Day is 1st May, and as always, since it’s an
important festival in the church calendar ,we will be holding a Communion
service in the evening - at 7.30pm. Please join us if you can.
2008/03/31
Confirmation 2008
Confirmation is open to any adults or children aged 13 or more who
wish to ‘confirm’ their allegiance to Christ and make
a commitment to following him in their lives. For those baptised as
children, it means personally confirming the promises made on their
behalf by parents and godparents; and those taking this step are ‘confirmed’
in their faith by the Holy Spirit and become full members of the church.
It’s an act of great significance, for the candidates and for
the church.
As usual, we are joining
with one or two other churches in the deanery. This year,
however, the service is not at our church but at St Mary’s,
Newton, on Sunday 22 June, at 10.00am. It’s hoped
that plenty of people will want to be there to support our candidates
on this special occasion. However, there will also be a service
of Morning Prayer at St Paul’s as usual, at 10.30am, for those
who can’t make it to Newton.
There will be
a short series of preparation classes for any who want to go forward
for this. These will be on Wednesday evenings, beginning on 21 May,
at the vicarage.
If you’re wondering what it entails, or would just like to
chat about the issues, do please come and see me, or give me a ring
on 338-2514.
And
to everyone in the church, could I please encourage you to pray
for our candidates?
Richard.
2008/03/29
Annual Meeting 13 April
Our
Annual Meeting (Annual Parochial Church Meeting) will take
place on Sunday 13th April. As last year, it will
happen at 11.30am, after a shortened morning service. This is the
meeting at which church officers are elected for another year, and
when we review the last 12 months and look ahead to some of what’s
in store. Please join us for this if you can.
2008/03/29
Sunday Serenade - 6 April 2008
Many
of us enjoyed the gala concert by students from Chetham’s School
of Music on 14 March in church. Now we have another chance to enjoy
some fine music-making by very talented young people – and
this time it’s free!
Two exceptional violinists
– Jiafeng
Chen and Mari Poll – both ex-Chetham’s
and now studying at music college will perform in this one-hour
recital, accompanied again by Brenda, on Sunday 6th April
at 3.00pm, in St Paul’s. This concert will be part
of their build-up to participating in the prestigious Menuhin International
Violin Competition later in the month.
Do come and enjoy this great opportunity to hear some great music
played by some terrific young artists. All very welcome.
2008/03/11
Usage of St Paul's website
Here
are details of visits to the church website over the last twelve
months.
MONTH
VISITS
Feb-08
912
Jan-08
798
Dec-07
592
Nov-07
544
Oct-07
650
Sep-07
535
Aug-07
580
Jul-07
702
Jun-07
542
May-07
570
Apr-07
495
Mar-07
456
Total
7376
2008/02/13
Holy Week
On Palm
Sunday - 16 March - as well as the 10.30 Morning
Prayer, we will be hosting a united service at 3.00pm
in the afternoon, for which other churches in Stalybridge will be
joining us. Please come and help to provide a warm welcome for our
Christian friends across the town.
On Maundy
Thursday (20th), there will be a service of Holy
Communion at 7.30pm as usual.
On
Good Friday (21st),
in the morning, I’ll be leading a “mini-pilgrimage”
to the church of St Mary’s “Hidden Gem”
in Manchester. This is a remarkable Roman Catholic Church, very
interesting in its own right, but especially (to my mind) because
of the 14 paintings of the Stations of the Cross, commissioned from
the artist Norman Adams and installed in 1995. Good Friday will
be the perfect day to view these very moving works. Unfortunately,
numbers have to be limited to 34, and a list to sign up for this
has gone up in church.
Later in the day, at 2.00, I’ll then be leading a shorter
than usual Contemplative Service
in church, finishing at 3.00pm, the traditional hour of the death
of Jesus.
Then
on Easter Sunday,
we’ll celebrate the Resurrection with a service of Family
Communion at 10.30.
Let the bells ring out!
Richard.
2008/02/13
Restoration Update
At
our recent Restoration Task Group meeting, it was
felt that it might be helpful to give an update on the progress of
our restoration programme at St Paul’s. You’ll probably
be aware that 2 years ago we undertook repairs and redecoration to
the chancel, north transept, crossing and vestry of the church. We
had hoped that by now we’d be underway with similar work on
the next phase – the south transept and organ chamber. However,
we have been held back somewhat by our church architect suddenly moving
abroad! His replacement is unfamiliar with St Paul’s, and therefore
not yet able to draw up plans for the work. The work may now have
to wait until next year.
But in the meantime, we are doing well with our Restoration
Fund. We’ve pretty largely got the funds required for
that next phase described above. The total now raised is very close
to £300,000, which is 75% of the profected final total of £400,000.
After the south transept phase, there will still be some residual
repairs to be done on the tower and high-level stone-work, but at
least the visible insides of the church will all be completed!
Let’s all keep up the good work on fund-raising, and regular
giving. On this topic, it’s also worth reminding ourselves that
if we’re making or altering a will, a legacy to church is always
a good thing to include, and can be an enormous help with our financial
commitments!
2008/02/13
Candle Stand
An
anonymous donation was recently made to St Paul’s to buy a candle
stand for church. The PCC warmly welcomed the offer, and
the item has now been purchased and placed in the Memorial
Chapel.
This offers the opportunity, for any who might so wish, to light a
votive candle, perhaps in memory of a loved one, on the anniversary
of a death, as a way of offering thanks or a prayer, or perhaps to
accompany prayer for some other person or need. There will also be
occasions when we’ll bring the stand into the main church and
use it in special services. We’re very grateful for the generosity
and thoughtfulness of the donors.
2008/01/18
The Picture Gallery and History pages on the website
We
have just finished giving the Picture Gallery on the website a makeover
as well as adding a bunch of new pictures. You can see the results
here. We are also adding new material on
the history of the church. This is a long-term project, so it would
be a good idea to visit our history pages regularly
to see what new material is available.
2008/01/14
Lent Course
This year’s Lent Course is based on TV’s
The Simpsons! Like many films and TV programmes, there
is a lot of moral and spiritual content lurking just beneath
the surface! Following last year’s course, based on the
film Chocolat, this one should also prove to
be stimulating and thought-provoking as well as providing some
amusement (you can smile and still take Lent seriously!). It’s
important, in the season of Lent, as preparation for the great
Festival of Easter, to set aside some time for reflection, exploration
and prayer, and we hope this course will be one interesting
way to do that. Please do come along to St James’
Church in Millbrook. As in previous years, we’re
joining forces with All Saints, Micklehurst and St James’,
Millbrook for this. The sessions are Tuesday evenings
at 7.30, beginning on 12 February.
2008/01/14
Evening with the Three Crows - Saturday 2 February
We
are promoting an evening with the Three Crows
on Saturday 2nd February at 7:30 pm. The concert
will be held at the Jubilee Hall, Dukinfield and tickets cost
£10 - covering admission to the concert and a potato pie
supper. Proceeds from the concert will support the Restoration
Fund and tickets can be had from Viv Dawson (phone 0161
303 9662) or from church.
2008/01/14
Concert by Chetham's students - Friday March 14
Following
the successful event two years ago, another group of Chetham's
students will come to St Paul's to give a concert in aid of
the Restoration Fund on Friday 14 March - with Brenda Lawry
(aka Brenda Blewett) as accompanist using our new piano.
Tickets now available .
2008/01/04
Usage of St Paul's website
Here
are details of visits to the church website over the last
twelve months.
MONTH
VISITS
Dec-07
592
Nov-07
544
Oct-07
650
Sep-07
535
Aug-07
580
Jul-07
702
Jun-07
542
May-07
570
Apr-07
495
Mar-07
456
Feb-07
404
Jan-07
379
Total
6449
2007/11/14
Service for the Week of Prayer for Church Unity : 20 January
2008
This
year the service to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,
will be held on 20 January, at 6.30pm at Stalybridge
Unitarian Church.
2007/11/14
Prayer Day for St Paul's - Saturday 12 January
We’ve
decided there could be no better way to start the year than
with a day of prayer for our church. We’re going to hold
this on Saturday 12 January, and I’d
like to encourage every (mobile!) church member to come into
church at some point that day, even if just for 10 minutes.
We’ll give out a little sheet of paper with suggested
things to pray for, and people can just slip in and out as is
convenient for them. All prayer is important and effective,
but to do so together, in a concerted way like this, should
be particularly fruitful. Please do note it in your diary, and
drop in for whatever time you can spare. We haven’t yet
finalised the starting and finishing times, but they’ll
be advertised soon. But that’s just one special prayer
day: in the meantime, please keep praying regularly as well!
2007/10/15
Alpha Course 2008
Many
of you will now be familiar with the concept of the
Alpha Course. We’ve been running Alpha for
five years now. Our next course starts in January, and already
some have signed up!
For those who are unfamiliar with it, Alpha is a one-evening-a-week,
10-week course, offering a chance to explore elements of the
Christian faith, to chat about them in a relaxed and informal
environment, and ask some of the questions we all inevitably
have. Each evening consists of a meal, a DVD presentation
on a particular theme, and group discussion time. It’s
a chance to learn and make new friends at the same time! And
long-standing members of church have enjoyed it just as much
as newcomers.
Our Alpha Course will again run on Wednesday evenings
(7.15-9.30pm), beginning on 9 January 2008.
The course is open to any interested adults – existing
church members, baptism parents, marriage couples, those considering
confirmation, or people who’ve never had any contact
with St Paul’s at all - anyone is welcome!
Please consider it for yourself, or suggest it to a friend.
Forms will be available in church (or from me direct), giving
information on the content of the course, and how it works.
Or for more information, please ring me on 338-2514. Richard
