Dear Friends,
A couple of weeks ago we marked Harvest Thanksgiving which for me is always the start of the run up to Christmas with all sorts of special services and events coming up thick and fast in the next few months. With this is mind I thought it might be good to share an update with a few things that are going on.
Heating in Church
With the increased prices for gas and electricity, our bills, like everyone else’s, are going up. Every effort is being made to use the resources that we have wisely whilst also making sure that our buildings are still welcoming for people to be in. We have switched the heating on and will always aim to make sure the church is a good temperature for worship. I would however encourage you to make sure you wrap up warm too. Contingency plans have also been put in place in case the temperature in church is too cold on a Sunday morning. If this is ever the case, our worship will take place in the Parish Centre which runs on a different set of boilers. The midweek service is still taking place, but during the winter months will take place in the Lounge.
Life Groups
In November we are launching something new at St Michaels, although some form of it has existed in the church previously. Life Groups are a smaller setting providing space for community to form and for exploration of teaching in a way that is not possible in a Sunday service. A life group, then, is a group of people choosing to grow in fellowship and community, to grow in faith and support one another in life. The strap line for this church ministry is Growing in love for God and for one another. Hopefully each group will do what it says on the tin. I really want to encourage as many members of the church to join a life group as possible. I think they will be really beneficial for each person but for us as a whole church. Attached is a digital version of the leaflet that was handed out on Sunday (with a change to one groups meeting day). If there is nothing to suit you but you want to be part of a group, let me know. There are gaps in what we are offering to start with, we might be able to set up more groups if needed. When you have decided which group you want to belong to, let the church office know and they will pass your details to the group leader who will then be in touch with you to give you more details. LIFE GROUPS LEAFLET
Warm Hubs
The Mill is hoping to offer a warm hub for the local community over the winter. Janet Ketteringham, a trustee at The Mill writes: This winter will be challenging for us all with regards fuel prices. For some, just keeping warm will be difficult or even impossible. Stockport Council have asked communities to provide Warm Spaces from November through to March and have offered grants of up to £1000 for heating and expenses to charities and organisations who can open their hearts and doors to let people in to keep warm. The Mill, our youth centre in Bramhall, offered to open each Saturday from 10am to 4pm provided we can staff it. The trustees of The Mill felt three shifts from 10 am to noon, noon to 2pm and 2 pm to 4pm could be possible. We are asked to provide tea, coffee and biscuits (which is made easy in The Mill by us having a cafe area) and also a friendly welcome and conversation.
If you can give some thought to being part of this massive outreach to people facing a crisis in their lives, and maybe volunteer for a shift, or two or three shifts, or even more regularly, like once a month, then we can do this. Already people are offering to help, which is so exciting and uplifting. We do need a big response to make this work. If you need more information or want to help then please get in touch with either Janet Ketteringham jketteringham43@gmail.com or the church office.
Supporting the Mothers Union
The Mothers Union are supporting a charity called Doors of Hope with their appeal entitled ‘Bags of Education’. This charity want to give as many children as possible the opportunity to go to school in places like Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania and Moldova. Unfortunately for some families school is just too expensive. So the idea behind Bags of Hope is to put together a bag of resources to enable a child to be fully equipped to learn. You can find out more on their website www.doorofhope.co.uk. We are inviting people to collect all the items on the list and bring them to church along with a £5 donation to cover the registration fee. We will then collate all the bags and send them off to the charity. The list of items is attached and there are also printed copies in the parish centre. Should you wish to get involved please let Jill Fairhurst know and then bring your donations to the church office by 13th November. LIST OF ITEMS
Supporting Christians Against Poverty at Christmas
Christians Against Poverty; You may recall Catherine Johnson giving a sermon during the summer concerning CAP, she has asked the St Michaels community for some help leading up to Christmas; Would ST Michaels help with Christmas hampers for Stockport CAP clients? We put together a hamper for every client we're currently working with, which is likely to be 25 to 30 and I wondered if your church might like to help. item - would 30 people buy a selection box, for example? Other churches have also been asked to help. If anyone in the congregation would like to help please could you let Mark Sweeting (familysweetings@gmail.com) know ideally before 31 October. We are looking for donations towards a target of 24 boxes of chocolates, 24 boxes of biscuits and 20 selection packs. Thank you in advance.
Services in November
On Sunday 6th November we will hold our Annual Service of Light and Commemoration at 6.30pm. If you wish for someone to be remembered during this service please do add their name to the list in church before Sunday 30th October.
On Sunday 13th November we will join with the nation in remembering all those who have served our nation and made the ultimate sacrifice. Our 8am service will be a service of Holy Communion and our 10am service of Morning Worship will start at 9.15am. There will be a service at the War Memorial starting around 10.45am which it would be great to see you at.
Christmas is Coming
PCC have signed off on the plans for Christmas so you should see some Christmas publicity fairly soon. To give you advanced warning the annual Carols by Candlelight service will take place on Sunday 11th December at 6.30pm. This is slightly earlier than normal due to the Men’s Football World Cup Final taking place when our service would normally take place. Just in case England make it to the final, it didn’t seem wise to create a clash. Please be thinking and praying about who you can invite to this service.
Thank you
Finally a thank you. Thank you to everyone that supports St Michaels so generously with their financial giving as well as their time. It continues to be such a joy to serve you as Vicar of St Michaels and despite the challenges we will face over the next few months with a hard winter, I know God will be our strength and we will only grow closer to one another and to the Lord. I also want to say a public thank you to Julie and Sue our Churchwardens. They have been doing an incredible job over the last few months doing so many things that are often unseen, from ensuring the church property register is up to date, overseeing contractors coming to service and fix things, managing staff, caring for me, representing the church on various occasions and even unclogging toilets.
This afternoon the weekly bible study looked at the letter of Jude, I want to close using Jude’s words:
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, 25 to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and for ever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25)
God Bless,
Calum