From the Vicar
Parish Magazine, April/ May 2024
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, February 2024
Dear Friends
I do hope that you have had a good Christmas and that the New Year has started well for you. I’m sorry that it has been so long since I last wrote but much has happened within our team since then.
As I hope you will all now be aware, all four of our team churches voted to continue the Fit for Mission journey at their PCCs in October and November, as indeed did all the churches in our deanery (the first to do so in Liverpool diocese!). There were various concerns raised by all PCC’s and it is now the task of the navigation team to begin to address those as we work through the next two years of the ‘as if’ phase. The clergy and lay navigation team is being led by Sarah and I am also a member of this. If you would like to be involved, we meet weekly on a Monday evening, so do have a word with Sarah or myself. Likewise, if you have any queries about the Fit for Mission process, please feel free to raise these at warringtonnavteam@gmail.com.
The other significant piece of news which I hope you have heard is that Martin Thorpe, Pioneer Team Vicar with responsibility for St. James, will be retiring this summer. His last working day will be 25 July and there will be a farewell service for him at St. James school on Sunday 21st July. Martin will also be celebrating 30 years of ordained ministry at the end of June and so St. James will mark that with a special service on that date in the church. Please pray for Martin and his wife Polly as they move towards this ending of Martin’s ministry at St. James and within our team, and also for St. James PCC and Standing Committee as they begin the process of thinking about the provision of future ministry at St. James.
Lent will soon be upon us with Ash Wednesday falling on 14 February this year. There will be the usual 10am service of Holy Communion at St. Mary’s that day and in the evening, there will be a team service of Holy Communion at 6.30 p.m. (earlier than normal this year since it is St. Valentine’s Day and people may have other plans for the rest of the evening). Both services will provide the opportunity for ashing. The following week, our Churches Together Lent groups will begin. This year, we will be following a 5 week York course entitled ‘On the Third Day’ written by John Pritchard, the former Bishop of Oxford. The course will focus on the impact that the resurrection can have in our lives. John, as I know from personal experience, is a very engaging and thoughtful writer and I commend the course to you. There will be five groups meeting on :
-
-
- Monday afternoons, 2-3.30 p.m., 19, 26 February, 4, 11 and 18 March in Great Sankey
- Tuesday evenings (2 groups), 7.30 p.m.- 9 p.m., 20 and 27 February, 5, 12 and 19 March in Great Sankey
- Wednesday afternoons, 1.30 p.m. – 21 and 28 February, 6, 13 and 20 March in Penketh
- Wednesday evenings, 7-8.30 p.m., 21 and 28 February, 6,13 and 20 March in Penketh
-
If you would like to attend a group, please sign up on the list at the back of your church by Sunday 11 February at the latest.
In addition for Lent, St. Paul’s will be offering a quiet hour to reflect on the gospels, using a mix of silence and creativity. This will be on Mondays from 1.30 to 2.30 pm, from 19th Feb to 18th March. St. Philip’s will also be offering a prayer course on Lection Divina from 24/7 Prayer on Fridays between 11.30 am – 1 pm. St. James’ will be offering Lent meditations on a Sunday evening (time TBC), and there will a Thursday Lent group at 7.30 pm (topic TBC). Please let Sarah (St. Paul’s and St. Philip’s) or Rebecca (St. James) know if you are interested in any of those options.
Wishing you a joy filled Lent.
Jeremy Tear, Pioneer Team Rector
Get In Touch
ST Mary's Church of England
Liverpool Road, Great Sankey,
Warrington WA5 1RE
HOW TO GET HERE
Travel by Bike: There are cycle racks to lock your bike to in front of our extension.
Travel by Bus: The number 14 and 15 services run from Warrington Town Centre to near the church and take about 15 minutes.
14 - Warrington - Hood Manor - Penketh/Gt Sankey (Circ) | Warrington's Own Buses
15 - Warrington - Hood Manor - Gt Sankey/Penketh (Circ) | Warrington's Own Buses
Travel by Train: The nearest station with a regular service is Warrington West. Trains from both Liverpool and Manchester take around 30-40 minutes. It takes 15 minutes to walk from the station to St.Mary's.
Warrington West Station | Trains to Warrington West & Times | Northern
Travel by Car: The church is situated just off the A57 road from Warrington Town centre to the M62 motorway at Junction 7. There is a small area to park in front of the church, which takes about 5 to 6 cars. Otherwise, there is parking at the Sankey for the Penketh train, which is a 5-minute walk away.