Parish Magazine, April/ May 2024

by | Mar 26, 2024 | Magazine Letter

Dear Friends

By the time this magazine comes out, we will have had our Gift Day for the church extension. We are hoping that this will have raised £20,000 and so have made a significant contribution to the £67,000 we need to raise in order to begin the work. I am also hopeful that our fundraiser, who is working hard on our behalf, will have started to bring in some of the £45,000 we are looking for from applications to local and national charities, and companies. Give that such applications will take time to be processed, we are therefore hoping to have raised the necessary money by the end of June in order to give 4 weeks’ notice to our contractor to start at the end of July. The work is expected to take 20 weeks, so we are still hoping that it can be completed by the end of the year.

One of the other ways we are hoping to raise money towards the extension is through a series of fundraising events and the first of these will be a pie and quiz evening on Saturday 13 April at 7.00 p.m. Tickets priced £12.50 are available from Joan Rotheram and Margaret Emsley and include an excellent pie supper including mash, mushy pies and gravy from Warrington’s very own To-pie-for – Pies, Catering Pie & Mash. I can recommend them! Do bring your own drinks and glasses, and why not invite some friends? It should be a great evening.

Thinking of new beginnings, it was wonderful to have had three adult members of our congregation confirmed by the Bishop of Liverpool recently at St. Philip’s school. Margaret Emsley, Carl Taylor, and Debbie Horley were confirmed alongside 14 children from the school, and Margaret spoke well about her faith journey and desire to be confirmed. Please pray for Margaret, Carl, and Debbie as they continue on their journeys.

As part of the confirmation, all present were asked by Bishop John to affirm our diocesan ‘Rule of Life’. Namely, we are called to pray, to read our bibles and to learn. We are also sent to tell others about Jesus, to serve God, and to give generously of our money, time, and talents. Linked to this, we shall be running the Talking Jesus Course on Tuesday evenings in April and May, to give us confidence to share our faith with others. Do sign up on the notice board at the back of church or speak to me if you wish to attend.

Wishing you and your loved ones a very Happy Easter!

Jeremy Tear

Pioneer Team Rector

Team Letter, March 2024

by | Mar 14, 2024 | Team Letter

Dear Friends

I do hope that Lent is going well for you and that if you are part of one of the Churches Together Lent groups or other Lent groups within our team, that you are finding this helpful. As we move toward the climax of Lent with Holy Week, let me tell you of the different services that we shall be hosting across our team:

Maundy Thursday
28 March		 Holy Communion St.Mary’s
7.30 p.m.
Vigil St.Mary’s
8.45 p.m.
Good Friday
29 March		 Churches Together Service Honiton Square
12 noon
Last Hour at the Cross St.Philip’s
2.00 p.m.
Easter Eve
30 March		 Vigil St.James’
7.00 p.m.

I encourage you to come and participate in the above services. If you have never been to a vigil before, then Maundy Thursday will provide the opportunity to hear readings from the bible plus long period of silence as we wait with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before he died. On Easter Eve, the vigil service includes the lighting of the Paschal (Easter) candle from a fire, the renewal of baptismal vows and again various readings from the bible. Why not give them a try this year?

The Fit for Mission process is continuing at a steady pace. We have had offers from people across the deanery to serve on the Right Buildings and the Cultivate teams, and we are now keen to hear from people interested in serving on the Communications and Support Services Teams. As ever, if you are interested in anything to do with Fit for Mission, please email the navigation team at warringtonnavteam@gmail.com for further information or to arrange a conversation with Sarah Peppiatt or Ann Cheung, the deanery Fit for Mission facilitator. We have recently had a finance meeting with representatives from all of the churches plus many of the clergy to get to know one another and to understand the nature of the questions which parishes have. There will be a follow up meeting next month. We have also appointed Mara Livingsone McPhail, the deanery synod secretary and member of St.Elphin’s, as the Project Administrator.

In terms of other Team news, St.Mary’s has just launched its appeal to raise money to build an extension (visit www.stmarysgreatsankey.org.uk for further information). St.Paul’s is continuing to see its inter-generational Lifetime service on a Thursday morning thrive, and St.Philip’s has 14 of its school children being confirmed by the Bishop of Liverpool (with 3 adults from St.Mary’s) this Sunday at 3 p.m. – all welcome! Finally, do please continue to pray for Martin and the people of St.James’ as he approaches his retirement this summer and the PCC continue to explore the provision of future ministry there.

Wishing you a very Happy Easter when it comes!

Jeremy Tear

Pioneer Team Rector