Parish Magazine, August / September 2023

by | Aug 14, 2023 | Magazine Letter

Dear Friends

The PCC, at its June meeting, agreed to the setting up of small groups within different areas of our parish for study, prayer, care and witness. As I explained in my sermon on 9 July, these groups will reflect the activities of the early church that we read about in Acts chapter 2, verses 42-47, namely:

‘they devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching…’ (v 42) STUDY
‘to prayer…’ (v 42) PRAY
‘to the fellowship…’ (v 42) CARE
‘The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved’ (v 47) WITNESS

Small groups have been a well-established part of the life of many churches of differing denominations over many years. They do not replace regular, weekly worship but seek to complement it, for it is with the encouragement and support of fellow Christians that we can seek to grow in our understanding of God, our prayer lives, our care of each other and others, and witness to our faith, so growing the church.

The groups are being set up on a geographical basis so making it easier for people to attend and hopefully meaning that people can walk to them, so supporting our fifth church value of treasuring the environment by reducing our carbon footprint.

The details of the groups will be as follows:

Group Area Leaders Time
North of Whittle Brook Ali & Keith White Tuesdays, 7.30 pm
Whittle Brook – Liverpool Rd Joan Rotheram and Janet Kerswell Mondays, 2.00 pm
Liverpool Rd – Warrington Rd David & Janet Tanner Mondays, 7.30 pm

The fourth area of the parish is within Warrington Road – Sankey Bridges but as we have very few church members in that area, we will not be starting a group there yet. If church members live outside of the parish (if you are not sure ask or look at the map on the PCC noticeboard), then you will be allocated a group nearest to where you live.

Groups will start meeting week beginning Monday 11 September, meet bi -weekly during term time (though not during Lent when there will be Churches Together groups and possibly not in Advent when they might meet all together in church) and are open to anyone who wants to grow in their Christian faith and who wants to see others find faith as well.

Sign-up sheets are available at the back of church. I do hope that you will want to take part in this exciting new venture in the life of St.Mary’s !

Best wishes,

Jeremy Tear, Pioneer Team Rector

Team Letter, August 2023

by | Aug 14, 2023 | Team Letter

Dear Friends

It’s been a while since I last wrote, so my apologies for that, but life has been busy! One of the things which has been a particular focus in recent months has of course been Fit for Mission, the diocesan initiative to help us as churches in our deaneries to grow together Fit For Mission – Diocese of Liverpool. It was good to see a number of people from all our team churches at the Archdeacon’s visitation at St.Mary’s in June, when we heard from Canon Neil Cook, the Rector of Wigan, about the opportunities and challenges of working though a change programme. This of course takes time and is never all plain sailing but Neil did speak of some real encouragements that have come to the churches there through combining efforts to serve the people of that town and to share Jesus with them.

In terms of our own deanery, you may have already heard that there will be meeting on the subject of finance as it relates to Fit for Mission at Christ Church Padgate on Wednesday 27 September at 7.30 p.m. All are welcome but if you would like to attend, please email Gill Dottie at gill.dottie@liverpool.anglican.org by the end of August. There are also plans for a deanery vision morning for PCC’s on 16 September and a Fit for Mission Fair on the evening of 11 October but times and venues are yet to be worked out. I’ll keep you posted. A number of our PCCs are in the process of meeting Harriet Roberts, the newest member of the Fit for Mission Team, whose task is to help provide answers to the questions people may have about this process, so that they can make an informed decision by the end of November. If you would like to contact Harriet with your own questions or if you would like to have a conversation individually or in a small group, please do not hesitate to contact her via email at harriet.roberts@liverpool.anglican.org.uk with your contact details.

It was great to be able to attend the ordination of priests at Liverpool Cathedral on Saturday 10 June, including Rebecca Lloyd from St.James. The journey to being ordained priest can be a long and demanding one, as can the experience of being one! Last month I attended a service for my former training incumbent in Timperley who was celebrating the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. So do please keep Rebecca and all those ordained with her in your prayers.

I would like to thank members of our Team churches who gave up their time to help with the Churches Together stall at the Penketh Carnival on Saturday July 8th. Despite the tremendous downpour at the end, we were fortunate to have some dry weather during the rest of the day and to have some good conversations with and prayer for people who attended. Speaking of Churches Together, you may be aware that St.Joseph’s Catholic Church in Penketh are celebrating their centenary on Saturday 23 September which is a cause for rejoicing. Please keep their priest, Father Raymond, and their congregation in your prayers.

Later this month, local churches will once again be having a presence at the Creamfields Festival in Daresbury from 22-28 August. They are recruiting a team of 70 volunteers from the churches and there may still be some spaces if you are still interested in helping. Apply to volunteer at Creamfields 2023 ! Whether you can help or not, one thing we can all I hope do is provide a packet or two of Jammie Dodger’s. Why Jammie Dodger’s you may ask? Because they have a heart in the middle and as these are shared with festivalgoers, they will be a sign of God’s love to them. Drop off packets at your team church.

Finally, there will be a Church Warrington meeting on Wednesday 6 September at 7.30 pm at Wycliffe Church on Bewsey Street in the town centre to promote and pray for the leaflets being distributed across our town in preparation for the carols event at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Thursday 14 December at 7 p.m. If you can help distribute leaflets, please let your Vicar know.

With my best wishes and prayers.

Jeremy Tear, Pioneer Team Rector