Dear Friends,

As I write this my final letter before moving onto new pastures at Mossley Hill, I have been reflecting on what has happened during my time here in West Warrington. There are three things which I think have been particularly significant.

Firstly, the faithfulness of God. It has been a challenging time health-wise for all of us as a family, and it has been challenging at times for me as the Vicar too. Yet throughout it all, God has been faithful. He has never given up on me, and I do not think He has given up on us as a church. As St. Matthew reminds us at the end of his gospel, “And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

Secondly, my levels of expectancy about what God can do have risen. I’m thinking here particularly about the wonderful ways in which God has used the Alpha Course, the Growing in Faith course, and Talking Jesus course (amongst others) plus our small groups to help people explore and grow in faith. I’m thinking also about the wonderful ways in which God has met our needs financially as a church through the various gift days we have had (including for our new extension), as well as the stewardship initiatives. New people have also offered to take on new roles in the life of the church, and what a blessing that has been. As St. Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!” (Ephesians 3: 20-21)

Thirdly, I have learnt the benefits (as well as the challenges) of being part of a team ministry. Team hasn’t always been easy, but it has opened up some wonderful opportunities to share together in mission and ministry, as well as to get to know a great bunch of people across West Warrington. Do get involved with our new Parish of Warrington as it comes into effect in the New Year and discover for yourself what the Psalmist said, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” (Psalm 133: 1)

So as I sign off this letter, I would like to say thankyou to all who have journeyed with me here over the course of the nearly past 10 years. Thanks to all who have served in various capacities and to those who have given. Please support John as the churchwarden with Ian, Margaret and Nathan as assistant wardens, plus the members of the PCC, and support each other. Please pray for one another and for me in the new ministry God has called me to, as I will be praying for you.

With my best wishes and prayers,

Jeremy Tear

Pioneer Team Rector

Dear Friends,

We began the season of Lent this year with our Ash Wednesday services on 5th March. At the evening service, Sarah Peppiatt (my team colleague at St.Paul’s and St.Philip’s) challenged us to think about what we might be giving up this season based on the reading from Isaiah chapter 58 verses 1-12. She suggested that there would be little point giving up (or fasting) from chocolate or alcohol for Lent if our hearts remained unchanged in the process. However, if we were to give up gossiping about others or putting other people down, that would involve a change of our hearts and would be in tune with the type of fasting Isaiah talked about in the passage. For the fasting he describes as being chosen by God is, “to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke…to share our food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter.” In other words, it is to do with how we treat other people (especially the poor and needy), to treat them well. That is more important to God than our outward shows of piety.

Following on from that, I would like to share with us all the PCC’s decision (taken in January) to hold a stewardship initiative this Lent. Stewardship is about considering the use we make of the three T’s – our time, talents and treasure – that we have been given by God. Do they reflect a proper sense of thanksgiving to God, giving to God his worth, or do we only pay cursory attention to them? On Sunday 23 February, we launched our stewardship initiative and each person on the electoral roll was given a pack of information to think and pray about (if you don’t yet have a pack, let me or one of the Stewardship Team know and we will ensure that you get one). Please do use this season to review what you give of your treasure (your money) as well as your time and talents (or skills) to God. Is it generous? Is it sacrificial (i.e. I notice the difference it makes to my life)? Is it given with a spirit of thankfulness to God for all that He has done for you and me? When you have reviewed your giving, please do complete the financial response form and the time and talents form and return both to our treasurer, Paul Ng, in the envelope provided in strict confidence. He will then pass on the time and talents forms to the stewardship team to follow up on offers of help which are made. Amongst other things, we are praying for a new assistant treasurer, and interments and bookings co-ordinators, so if you feel God is calling you to serve in one of these ways (or know someone who might be), do let us know!

Finally, for those who may not yet have heard, I have a new post as the Pastoral Co-ordinator for Mossley Hill Parish Church in Liverpool. This is going to be quite a change for me as I won’t be the Vicar there and I will be focusing just on pastoral care and not the many different things which Vicars tend to do. It will also be a part time post. I would value your prayers as my wife and two children prepare for this change, and I will certainly be praying for you all and working hard to support the parish here as it prepares for the vacancy ahead. I have had some great times working at St.Mary’s and across our team of churches, and I will be sad to leave. Thank you for all your support. But I’m also looking forward to the new challenge ahead as I respond to God’s call upon my life. What might God be calling you to do at this season?

With my best wishes and prayers

Jeremy Tear, Pioneer Team Rector

Dear Friends,

As I write, our extension has finally been completed! After many years of waiting, and 6 months of construction, this has now come into operation. I hope you will agree that it is a fine piece of work, to which our thanks go to GAC (our main contractor), the subcontractors, our architect (Bill Schafer), members of the PCC Building Team including our project managers (Andie Harper and Margaret Emsley), our grant funders, and to all who gave via the gift day last Easter as well as through our fundraising events. My thanks also go to those who helped with our recent transfer of items from the balcony (where they had been stored) into the extension, as well as sorting through items we no longer wished to keep. It was hard work but the balcony can now come into use again for services.

The extension will be being blessed by the Bishop of Liverpool on Sunday 9 February at 10 a.m. and there will also be an extension open afternoon between 2-4 pm that day. Do come and invite friends and neighbours to join us. In the meantime, we already have had our first external booking for the extension, and others are showing interest as well, just as we had hoped. In order to keep it looking good, we do need people to join a weekly cleaning rota, so if you can help, please sign the sheet at the back of church.

With the extension sorted, we are about to embark on the installation of LED light fittings inside and outside the church, courtesy of money received from the Co-op and the Church of England Quick Wins fund designed to support environmental improvements. By the time you read this magazine, hopefully the work will have taken place. After all that has been done, I hope we can have a breather from building work for a while, though there are still some outstanding quinquennial inspection items to be completed, including various stonework repairs and replacing of spalled bricks.

At the end of February, I am delighted that we will welcome to St.Mary’s Christian Stejskal, a Norwegian storyteller, photographer and violin player who will retell the story of the Upper Room, the place where Jesus spent that fateful night with his disciples prior to his arrest and crucifixion as recorded in John chapters 10-13. Tickets cost £10 and are available from Joan Rotheram. The performance will be on Wednesday 26 February at 7.30 p.m. Do come for what should be an inspiring evening.

Finally, as we look towards Easter, Lent begins with two Services of Holy Communion at St.Mary’s on Ash Wednesday 5 March at 10.00 a.m. and 7.30 p.m. respectively. For the evening service, we will be joined by others from across our West Warrington Team, as well as members of West Warrington Churches Together. Do come and join us as we make our journey to the cross once again.

With best wishes

Jeremy Tear
Pioneer Team Rector

Dear Friends,

At the end of May, we will have celebrated Trinity Sunday, the annual reminder to us that the God we believe in is one yet three – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Trinity paints a powerful picture of unity in diversity and isn’t that one we need in the Church and in the world today? That it is possible to be united whilst holding onto our differences. We need that as the Church of England as we wrestle with our differences over same sex relationships. We need that as a world in which there is endless conflict, especially in Gaza and Ukraine at present. We need to be reminded that what unites us as human beings is stronger and more powerful than what divides us.

One of the ways in which we as a church at St.Mary’s have been uniting together in recent months is around the raising of funds for our extension. The Gift Day on Easter Sunday brought in nearly £18,000 (including Gift Aid to be reclaimed) – a very encouraging response. We have now had two successful fundraising events – the pie and quiz night in April, and the Boy Band and Bingo evening in May – which have between them raised nearly £1,700. (Our next event is on Saturday June 8th – see elsewhere in the magazine for details). And we have so far been fortunate to secure two grants worth £24,000. Please do join with me in praying that the remaining grant applications will bring in the necessary £20,000 by the end of June to enable us to give notice to our contractor to start work at the end of July.

Whilst we have been busy raising funds for the extension, our regular giving to and fundraising for the church remains important. And hence on Saturday 20 July, we shall hold our annual summer fair between 12 noon-4 pm to raise funds for the church. Please do come and join us, and lend a helping hand if you can, to make this a successful afternoon.

Looking ahead to Fit for Mission and the creation of one new larger single parish for the Deanery of Warrington, we are invited to submit our ideas for a name for the new parish by Sunday 16 June. Please do fill out one of the response slips available at the back of church and put it in the box provided. From week beginning Monday 3 June, our small groups will also be running the SHAPE course, which is designed to help us to discern the gifts God has given us for mission. If you have not yet been to your small group and would like to join it for this course, please let your small group leader or myself know.

With best wishes

Jeremy Tear
Pioneer Team Rector

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

Dear Friends

The season of Lent will soon be upon us, starting on Ash Wednesday 14 February this year. I wonder what Lent means to you? A time to give things up (chocolate, alcohol, cake perhaps)? A time to take things on – helping others, studying our bibles, praying more? Lent can be an appropriate time to think of both those things – giving things up and taking things on.

As I mentioned in my last letter, we will be having a focus on giving this Lent at St. Mary’s in order to help pay for our new church extension. What could you give up this Lent, or even maybe this year, in order to play your part in funding this important work? As I write, we don’t currently know how much money we need to raise as we will not receive a tender report from the architect until early February. But it is likely to be a substantial amount and we can only raise that sort of money with your sacrificial giving, and indeed the help of our church fundraiser who will be applying for grants on our behalf. So please do think and pray carefully about this and respond generously to our Gift Day on Easter Sunday 31st March. All being well, we will start the work in early April, and this will be completed before the end of the year.

I’m pleased to say that the church clock has now been fixed thanks to the support of both Great Sankey and Penketh parish councils, and the lighting for the church tower has now been sorted as well. We are in the process of receiving quotes to change our non-LED lights (internal and external) with LED ones, again all thanks to the generosity of the Co-op. And in the spring, we will be having the area around the altar and the bell room repainted.

So, hopefully, things will be looking very different at St. Mary’s over the course of the next few months, indeed the next year, aided by the work of our gardening team as usual. Do come and join them on Thursday morning if you can. Could you take on a weekly or monthly commitment to help keep the front of the churchyard looking beautiful this year? And don’t forget to begin Lent with one of our services of holy communion on Ash Wednesday at either 10 am or 6.30 p.m. And why not follow the season through by joining one of our Churches Together Lent groups as well.

Wishing you a joyful Lent.

Jeremy Tear

Pioneer Team Rector