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 :
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- 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
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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
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