Vicar's Update - August 2024

Dear Friends,

2024 seems to continuing to move at pace with the autumn now in sight, so it felt like the right time to send out another Vicar’s Update to share with you some of what is going on at St Michael’s.

Spirit of Art Festival – 27th September – 5th October 2024

Between the 27th September and 5th October, we will be holding our first Arts Festival ‘Spirit of Art’. The festival will include visual arts, floristry, literature, music and cinema along with workshops giving people the opportunity to try acrylics, photography and ceramics. Our hope with this festival is to celebrate art, in its various formats, and what it offers us as individuals and a community. It’s our hope to welcome lots of visitors from across the parish and beyond during this festival.

You can find out more about the festival on our website at www.bramhall.church/spirit-of-art, where you can download a festival programme and also book tickets. In the coming days we hope to take delivery of printed programmes so you can take handfuls to give to friends and neighbours. We will be encouraging people to buy tickets online, through our website, but tickets can also be bought from the parish office, and with some events, on the door.

As with any festival, we are looking for volunteers to help make the festival happen. Volunteer roles include welcoming, selling tickets, making refreshments, serving at the bar, and being present in the art galleries. If you are able to support the festival as a volunteer, please could you add your name to the sign up sheet in church, or email the office to let them know.

I am really excited about this festival and hope that it is the first of many and something that will get bigger in future years.

You may think that this is enough to be getting on with going into the autumn, but I want to tell you about 3 other priorities I have for the next few months.

Thanksgiving Campaign

The first is our Thanksgiving Campaign which will be happening throughout September and October. On Sunday 8th September, I will be giving a bit of an update on our finances and preaching around the principles of giving. The new Archdeacon of Macclesfield will be with us on Sunday 29th September at the 10am service where she has asked to talk on the theme of generosity. Pledge Sunday will be on Sunday 6th October where we will be asking everyone to renew their pledges for giving in advance of the start of 2025.

Pastoral Care

The second relates to Pastoral Care. I have been wanting to get a better organised system of pastoral care off the ground for nearly the whole of the 7 years I have been at St Michaels. This has been presented in different shapes over the years and been delayed for all sorts of reasons including the pandemic. Jo Oughton and Tricia Munn have been working with me to get a new system ready to launch, which I am hoping to do in September. The new system will be a responsive system offering pastoral care as need arises but particularly offering it to those on our prayer lists. I am looking to build ideally a team of 10 volunteers to work with me in offering pastoral care to the parish. This would see team members roughly visiting 2 people a month. If you would like more information or are interested in offering yourself to be part of this team, please would you get in touch with Jo Oughton (jo.oughton@bramhall.church) or Tricia Munn (tricia.munn@btinternet.com) (0161 439 39389) by the end of August. I hope to offer 2 training sessions in September with the scheme getting going from that point onwards.

Prayer and Bible Study

The third priority relates to discipleship particularly thinking about prayer but also bible study as well. It has been on my mind for some time now that we could do with praying together more often, I certainly cant remember the last time we had a prayer meeting at St Michael’s. Prayer meetings can sometimes sound daunting or like they are for ‘the professionals’ but a prayer gathering is simply an opportunity where brothers and sisters come together intentionally to offer their concerns to Lord in a community setting. So from September there will be a monthly prayer gathering at church on 3rd Wednesday between 7pm & 8pm. It will be a chance for us to gather as a church to pray which will include some teaching about prayer, some communal prayer and then individual prayer too, all around some gathered resources. If you are confident in prayer, please come and join me, if you aren’t too sure about it – come and find out, as we seek to pray together more often. For September, the prayer gathering will happen on Wednesday 25th September (4th Wednesday) so it doesn’t clash with the already booked PCC meeting.

Related to this, I have taken the decision to revise how we do our prayer lists. This is something I have been thinking and praying through for some time and feel now the is the right time to implement. From September we will no longer publish the prayer lists in SMT week by week. Instead, there will be one prayer list which will be published monthly, which will include the names of people, alongside which there will be a short explanation of what that person would value prayer for. I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I look at the current prayer lists, I read through the names wondering what to pray, sometimes I’m not sure who it is I am praying for. Whilst I don’t need to know these things, as God already knows, having a little more information can be helpful. The new prayer list will be available for those that wish to use it at the monthly prayer gatherings. If you are someone that can’t make the prayer gathering but wish to have a copy of the prayer list, then please have a conversation with me.

On the subject of bible study before the pandemic I ran a weekly bible study in costa on a Wednesday afternoon, this then went online when needed. I really miss these sessions so from September on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at 5pm I will be offering bible study again. A session normally includes working through a chapter of a book asking questions like: ‘what is being said in the passage? what was the author trying to say? What does it mean for me today?’  For September I am going to run these sessions at church, but would love to find a venue in the village that we could use going forwards.

Finally Jess and I would like to extend an invitation to you to join us on Sunday 15th September as we baptise Phoebe during the 10am service. We look forward to welcoming you alongside members of St Saviours, Great Moor.

To echo the words of Paul that we heard last Sunday ‘I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God

Regards,

Revd Calum Piper,

Vicar

Update - August 2023

Dear Friends,

I hope this finds you well and that you have been able to enjoy something of the typical British summer weather. This update is long overdue, so as we prepare to go into Autumn there are a few things I wanted to tell you about and ask for your involvement in.

Pastoral Care

The last couple of years has seen a big focus on getting church life back to some form of normality and recovering those things we lost because of the pandemic. One of the things I have been keen to develop within our church community is a more organised system of pastoral care. St Michael’s is a caring church, and when people are in need, the church is always good at rallying round. Sometimes however, people get missed, and we can always improve how we care for and support one another as a church family. As such I am looking to recruit volunteers to a new pastoral care team.

This team would meet together once a month with me and would oversee pastoral care within the parish. It’s my hope that a visit, where possible, could be offered to everyone on the prayer lists either weekly or monthly and that some members of the team might also be able to support Mark in the ministry we have within the local care homes.

For those who become part of the team, you would choose how much time you give to being involved in pastoral care, unlike a previous suggested system you wouldn’t be allocated a certain number of people to offer care too.

If you are interested in being involved, please would you let me know by the end of August as I hope to hold the first meeting with some training in September.

Lift Sharing Scheme

A discussion that took place at PCC recently was regarding whether we could set up a lift sharing scheme at St Michaels, noting that we have a number of people in our church family who now don’t drive or in the winter months aren’t able to attend services or events because they don’t like travelling on their own in the dark. Having done some work with the Parish Safeguarding Team we are now in a position to launch this new scheme whereby we can help link those who would like to come to church but can’t get here themselves, with those who would be prepared to offer lifts.

I am really thankful to David Walker who has offered to co-ordinate this scheme. If you would be willing to offer lifts to people for services or other events, please could you let David Walker know. The requirements for all drivers is that they are fully insured, their vehicle has a valid MOT and is taxed, and they have undertaken a DBS check along with basic safeguarding training. Thank you in advance to those who are willing to support this needed ministry.

If you are someone who would value a lift to church, or if you know of someone who might not ask, but would value it being offered to them, please could you also make contact with ???

Confirmation Service

Following our spring Alpha Course earlier this year, Bishop Sam of Stockport has agreed to come and take a confirmation service at St Michaels later this year. Unfortunately, Bishop Sam’s diary is fairly full so the only time he could offer was Sunday 22nd October at 4pm in the afternoon. Following a discussion with PCC, it has been agreed that we will cancel the 10am and 6.30pm services on the 22nd October and ask you to join us at 4pm instead as we celebrate those who will be baptised and confirmed.

If you are someone who would like to be confirmed or even renew your baptism promises, please would you get in touch with me as soon as possible.

Outreach Committee

Following the APCM this year the PCC set up a new sub-committee to oversee our outreach ministry. The group meets every couple of months and is responsible for planning and delivering events both within the church, to which we can invite people, as well as activities in the wider community. The group are looking for more people to join them and you can do this is 2 different ways. You can join in with the meetings which undertake the planning as well as delivering events, or you can just be on their team of volunteers to help make events happen. If you would be interested in either of these, please would you let the Church Office know and they will pass your name to Jill Illingworth who is chairing the group.

Finance Administrator

Last year our finance team changed with Rob Watson taking over as treasurer. Its been a good first year but the team have realised they could really do with some more help particularly in the area of administration. So, we are looking to appoint another finance administrator to work alongside Elizabeth Beveridge and Julie Bamber. If you are someone who has good administration skills, can find your way around a computer and would be willing to offer some of your time in support of the finance team please would you make contact with Sue Howgego or Julie Sweeting, our Churchwardens.

Upcoming Dates

The autumn term is always an exciting part of the year as we begin to prepare for the Christmas season and there is usually quite a lot going on. Below you will find some of the events and services that will be taking place, I thought some advanced notice might be helpful.

Friday 8th September, 7.30pm - Quiz night. Tickets available from the Churchwardens.

Sunday 24th September, St Michaels Day Bring and Share Lunch after the 10am service.

Sunday 8th October - Harvest Thanksgiving. Donations will be split between the foodbank and Wellspring.

Wednesday 11th October, 2pm - Harvest Afternoon Tea

Friday 13th October 7.30pm - Murder Mystery Night

Sunday 22nd October, 4pm - Confirmation Service with Bishop Sam

Sunday 5th November, 4pm - Commemoration Service

Friday 10th November - Motown Music Night

Thank you for taking time to read this slightly lengthy update, but what I hope you will have seen as you have read it through is we have a lot going on both to support our current church family and also grow our church family. It’s a joy to serve and minister amongst you, and I pray that we all might continue to encourage one another in our faith and shared life together.

God Bless,

Revd Calum Piper, Vicar

Update - October 2022

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

Update - February 2022

Dear Friends,

With the season of Lent approaching I thought it would be helpful to share a Vicar’s update.

Lent 2022

Lent starts on Wednesday 1st March with Ash Wednesday. We will hold 2 services of Holy Communion at 10.30am and 7.30pm. Its my intention to include the imposition of ashes during the service having not been able to include it during 2021.

During Lent there will be three Lent Groups you might wish to join. The first two will follow the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book: Embracing Justice by Isabelle Hamley. Revd Hamley is Theological Adviser to the House of Bishops and was formerly Chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury.  These groups will take place on Monday mornings at 9.30am hosted by me and Tuesday evenings at 7pm hosted by Mark.

You can get the book from all good retailers including Simply Books in the Village. Please aim to have read the 1st chapter by the first session.

A third Lent Group will take place most weeks of Lent on a Thursday afternoon from 2pm hosted by Andrea following material entitled Walking Towards Glory.

It would be helpful for preparation to have an idea of who will be joining each group – there is a sign up sheet on the noticeboard above the pigeon holes.

On Sundays in Lent, apart from Mothering Sunday, there will also be the opportunity to join with others for a Lent Lunch of Soup and bread rolls. Donations are invited towards the meal.

Living in Love and Faith

You may have heard about Living in Love and Faith (LLF). This is a national Church of England initiative which is about learning together, listening to one another, and listening to God to help discern a way forward for the Church of England in relation to matters of identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage. Having listened to the experiences of other churches in our diocese the Deanery of Cheadle (of which we are part) has decided to host a deanery wide LLF course. The course will be hosted by Laura Reid who is one of the Diocesan facilitators and will take place on Thursday evenings (for 6 weeks) from Thursday 24th February between 8pm and 9.30pm in the Upper Room, Cheadle (SK8 1DW).

This will course will give you an opportunity to share your views in an open, safe and respected place but also allow you to hear the views of others. This time of listening and discernment will feed into the wider conversation happening at National Level.

Finance Team

We continue to look for new team members for our finance team. Graham Knight has served the church exceptionally as the church treasurer for many years and will be retiring at the APCM in May. Should a new treasurer not be found, this duty will fall to the churchwardens, who I am sure you will agree already have a lot on their plates.

Graham has been ably assisted by Ann Walker as bookkeeper who is also looking to step down. We are looking for 2 finance administrators to take on some of the work Graham and Ann have done, not all of the work is finance based, some of it includes making some of our statistical returns to the diocese. If you think you could serve the church in any of these roles, please get in touch with me.

 Children’s Ministry

There has been lots of developments in our children and family’s ministry over the last couple of months, there are a couple of things coming up that it would be great to have your support with.

Between the 28th March to the 1st April we will be welcoming local schools into church to experience the Easter story. We are looking for a team of 10 or more, to act as station guides, to interact with those who visit.

On the 12th April, we will be hosting an Easter Holiday Club Day, where we will be making an Easter Garden, painting eggs, singing songs, looking at pictures from Experience Easter, learning about the true story of Jesus sacrifice for us all upon the cross and inviting everyone to our Easter services. We need a team of at least 5 to volunteer to help out, for the whole day.

Please contact Connie to join the team for either of these activities.

Thanksgiving Sunday

Sunday 6th March is Thanksgiving Sunday where you are invited to bring in your completed pledge cards and offer them to God. There will be opportunity to do this in each service that day but the church building will also be open until 3pm for you to drop your pledge card off if you aren’t attending services at the moment.

Advanced Warning – APCM

Our Annual Meeting will take place on Sunday 8th May at 11.30am. After serving 5 years as Churchwarden Dave Walker will be stepping down at this meeting. There are also a number of PCC members stepping down having served for 6 years. Please be praying about whether you could serve the church as a PCC member of even Churchwarden.

Easter Hope

Finally, following the success of our Christmas art installation of the word ‘Joy’ plans and production are underway for an art installation over Easter. We could do with some help painting the boards. If you are able to assist, could you let me know and I can send you the provisional painting dates.

Wishing you a holy and peaceful Lent,

Revd Calum Piper

Vicar

Update - 21st July 2021

Dear Friends,

On Sunday I mentioned that various changes to our building and worship life would be taking place this week following the government’s decision to proceed to stage 4 of the roadmap. Having spent some time digesting the Church of England guidance I thought it would be helpful to let you know what some of these changes are.

Social Distancing

Yesterday we took out the wooden chairs from church and replaced them with the blue upholstered chairs in the pre-lockdown layout. This has increased our capacity for attendance at services considerably but we are going to continue to remain cautious. For the time being we are going to suggest the use of every other row where possible. We will then also try to alternate which rows are being used at services as well. Social distancing is no longer required, so if you want to sit next to people outside your household there is nothing to stop you. There will be people who want to continue to social distance and there are two options available to you. The first is that you can sit within the main body of the church, and pick up two orange signs on your way in. You will find these located on the tables with the offertory baskets. Place these on either side of the chair you wish to sit on, and this will be a sign to others not to sit right next to you. There are also some individual socially distanced seats placed within the tower. Over the past year we have encouraged people to arrive and leave through certain doors, these restrictions are no longer in place,  so you can come and go through the most convenient door for you.

Cleaning and Face Masks

I am encouraging everyone to continue wearing masks when attending a service at St Michaels. As a church we are committed to being inclusive,  and for those people within our church family who are feeling vulnerable, knowing that others will be wearing masks is a reassurance to them. I also want to encourage you to continue to clean your hands before you come to church and then to use the hand sanitiser on arrival. We will continue to keep a cleaning regime at church as well.

Track and Trace

The government have advised churches to continue to keep a record of those attending our services and events. Thank you to all the sidespeople and volunteers who have helped with this over the last year. It might be helpful to know that I have been told that we will only have to give Track and Trace the details of attendees at a service should 2 or more people within the same service test positive. They will then issue all attendees at that service with a venue alert. (They won’t tell you which venue it is, but you will probably all work it out). A venue alert doesn’t mean you will have to isolate, but you will be encouraged to get a test.

Holy Communion

We will continue to celebrate Holy Communion on alternate weeks in the manner that we have been doing for some months. At the Sunday 10am service the slight change will be that we will move to having two distribution points on either side at the front of church to help with keeping the service flowing. I would still ask that you come forwards in single-file.

Singing

From Monday congregational singing has been made legal, so on Sunday we will be able to sing for the first time together as a congregation within our church building. Where there is an organist available going forwards, we will sing accompanied by the organ, where this isn’t possible, we will use the recorded music. Louise Richardson and I are in conversation with someone about the Music Director role, please do hold this appointment in your prayers.

Sunday 25th July 2021

This Sunday we will mark, what feels to me like a significant change in our church life, in both our 8am and 10am services. For a number of reasons, the evening service this week has been cancelled – if that is the service you were planning to join us at – please do think about joining us at the 8am or 10am service. As I hear the news and look at the infection rates, I do keep asking myself whether I have made the right decision, making the changes that I have. The answer I am consoling myself with is this: The last 16 months have been long and hard and at every stage I have sought to be as cautious as possible. When these changes were discussed at PCC, one person said that we as a nation are in a place of fear and the church is best placed to lead people out of fear, with hope, with love and with courage, and this is something I will be preaching about a bit on Sunday. So I hope you will understand the changes that have been made, I hope you will continue to worship with me and the wider church at St Michaels, and if you have any concerns or worries please do come and speak to me.

Children and Families Worker

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that we have appointed a children and families worker. I want to take this opportunity to inform you that we have appointed Connie Lane to the post and she will be commissioned to the role during our services on Sunday 1st August. Do be praying for her and for the ministry she is coming to equip us in. Connie joins us from working for the Diocese of Derby and before that Bowdon Parish Church. I am really excited about her appointment and about what lies ahead for our church.

Finally, we are slowly working through baptism preparation with numerous families and following lots of people asking, Jess and I are hoping that Samuel will be baptised during the 10am service on Sunday 17th October which will tie in nicely with his 2nd birthday celebrations.  We would love as many of you as possible to celebrate the day with us.

Thank you for your patience in reading this rather long update.

Regards,

Calum

Update - 2nd July 2021

Dear Friends,

A year ago we were preparing for the first reopening of our building and gathering together for worship after around 4 months apart. We have come a long way since July last year, and whilst there is still a long way to go, things are starting to feel a lot more normal. With that in mind I wanted to take the opportunity to share some updates and reminders.

Booking for Worship

Following an increase in our seating capacity, it has been agreed that booking is no longer required for services. So you don’t need to remember to go online tomorrow and book your seat, just turn up.

On your way in, you may be asked your name by a Sidesperson as we are still required to keep a list of attendees for Track and Trace. Do be patient with the sidespeople, some of them may not know your name even though you have been coming since the day you were born, they also might not recognise you with your face mask on. One of my flaws is I do struggle to remember names, so if you are asked your name, do be generous and forgiving to the person that asks, they aren’t being rude. To help with this, could I encourage you to try and arrive slightly earlier than 5 minutes before the service, this will take the stress off sidespeople slightly.

Over the next couple of weeks we will continue to monitor attendance numbers and seating and if there are issues the Churchwardens and I will look for solutions.

Roadmap to Normality

A few more changes that are in the pipeline are these:

• This Sunday we will be trialling refreshments being served after the 10am service. If you choose to stay for refreshments you can collect these from the hatch and then you will need to go and sit down at a table before taking your mask off. The rule of 6 applies inside, if you choose to go outside the rules aren’t quite so strict.

• Providing the government relax the rules in July, the PCC have approved my suggestion that we move the blue chairs back into church at the start of August. When we know more from the government about this, I will let you know when this will happen, and will be asking for help with furniture moving.

• From September we hope to relaunch Active Angels, I am meeting with someone from our congregation in a couple of weeks’ time to begin planning this.

Appointment of Children and Families Worker

You may be aware that the PCC approved a few months ago for St Michaels to appoint a Children and Families Worker. Following a number of interviews, today we have appointed someone to the post, and following all the legal necessities its hoped that they will start in post at the beginning of August. As soon as its possible I will look to introduce you to our new staff member. I’m really excited about this appointment and cannot wait to see our ministry to children and families grow as we are all led to join in with this ministry.

Alongside this we have submitted a bid to a charity for funds to support a Youthworker and Community Worker post. We will hear back in October whether this bid has been successful, so I would value your prayers that our application might be received favourably.

Moving Forwards

There are a few of our church family that haven’t felt it safe to return to church yet. Over July I hope to make contact with as many of these people as possible, but if you are reading this and you haven’t returned to worship yet, please know you haven’t been forgotten and the whole church family looks forward to welcoming you back. If you have concerns or fears, please do come and share them with me. We are called to carry one another’s burdens. If you know someone that hasn’t returned to worship yet, please do pray for them, and talk with them about your experiences of worship at St Michaels recently.

I am really encouraged at the moment with all the seeds of hope that are appearing, some even blossoming already at St Michaels. There have been times over the last 18 months where I may have been smiling on the outside but that wasn’t necessarily how I was feeling on the inside. There is lots more I hope to share with you over the next few months which are encouraging me and I believe are answers to prayer, so I hope that can encourage you in your walk with Jesus and in your fellowship at St Michaels.

With my prayers,

Calum

Pentecost Update

Good Evening,

What are we going to do on Sunday? 

I’ve been watching the Met Office forecast for Sunday all week and despite it changing daily it has pretty much stabilised with the opinion that there is a 10% chance of rain at 10am on Sunday morning.  The forecast is looking very similar to that of Easter Sunday when it was time to make a call then. With this in mind, the Churchwardens and I have decided:

We will praise our God together out on the field at 10am to celebrate the joy of Pentecost. I hope some of you will be able to join Sue, David and me! Wrap up warm, bring an umbrella just in case, and a flask of something warm.

For those who don’t feel they will be able to join us, a small advert – the BBC will be airing a Pentecost Service from All Saints Church Woodford Wells at 10.30am on BBC1 on Sunday. I have no idea what it will be like but it’s an alternative.

See you soon, stay dry, maybe build an Ark.

God Bless,

Calum

Easter Sunday Update - 10am - Front Field

Dear Friends,

Today marks Maundy Thursday and the beginning of our Easter Services with Holy Communion this evening at 7.30pm. It also happens to be the day I said I would make a decision about what to do over Easter Sunday. The current weather forecast on the Met Office (Which breaks the day down into hours unlike some phone Apps) says the weather will be dry and sunny but slightly cold. So today I have found myself struggling to come to a decision based solely on practical reasoning and have had to lean on prayer and tradition a bit too.

One of the traditions of Maundy Thursday in England is the presentation of Maundy money by the Sovereign to people who have served the church faithfully for many years. If you take time to listen to some of the stories of those who have been nominated, the acts of service have usually been incredibly selfless, not always glamourous, and regularly involved some sense of sacrifice, but all done in the name of Jesus. When we come to worship it is all about and for Jesus.

When we choose to follow Jesus we choose the way of the cross, a way that is not always comfortable, but a way that offers life and joy. The celebration of Easter is a chance to proclaim afresh the goodness of God with all our might. Following the darkness that has been this year we have an opportunity to witness to each other and the wider community, the wonder of the resurrection. It would be easy to say lets call the outside thing off, reduce our Sunday worship capacity to 80 and hide the celebrations inside the building. As I have contemplated that easy decision, I have found my heart troubled.

Now more than ever, I believe we need community. Now more than ever, we need to remain faithful. Now more than ever, we need to be witnesses to the hope of the resurrection. The idea of one service outside on Easter Sunday was not something that would logically be my first thought – the planning and logistics involved requires much more work, and then it all being weather dependent leaves everything far too last minute for me, but it’s something that continually kept coming up in prayer. My first job as vicar is to try to be as faithful as possible to the God who loves me, and then to serve you his people as wisely as possible.

With this in mind, I’ve taken the decision to go ahead with our Easter celebration at 10am on Easter Sunday outside. It might be slightly cold, but with the company of one another, blankets, warm coats (and yes even hot water bottles and flasks of tea) I believe our celebration of Easter will be a moment of great joy and witness.

I hope you will forgive my lengthy email explaining my reasoning, I hope to worship alongside many of you over the coming days and even on Easter Sunday, whatever decision you choose may you know the joy and love of our Lord Jesus Christ throughout these days of Easter.

Calum

(Should the weather forecast change dramatically between now and then, I will be in touch once more.)

Update 27

Good Afternoon Friends,

I said I would write following yesterday’s PCC meeting to share with you the decision made about resuming Public Worship at St Michaels.

It has been agreed that St Michaels will reopen for Public Worship fully from Sunday 21st March. This reopening will see our pattern of services return to what happening before Christmas with services at 8am, 10am and 6.30pm on a Sunday with a midweek service on Wednesdays at 10.30am.

It has also been agreed that we will continue to follow the pattern where the celebration of Holy Communion will rotate around the various services.

The reason for looking to reopen fully on Sunday 21st March is to allow time for rota’s to be developed and service plans created whilst also giving time to observe what is happening with the local infection rates as schools return.

The PCC and I are very aware that there are members of our church family who have been shielding and who have been and continue to serve on the front line of the covid-19 response. For these people, whilst they long to return to church to worship with our community in person, they may be feeling slightly more anxious and cautious than others, which is completely understandable. I have always said I want our reopening to be done in a way that includes as many people as possible, which is why the livestreaming was set up and why I always try to make sure that it works as well as possible. Please don’t feel pressured to return straightaway if this is you, but also please don’t feel like you aren’t welcome and like you have been forgotten. You haven’t been and you are still very much a loved member of our church family.

This Sunday the church marks Mothering Sunday, and whilst we are aiming to reopen next week there will be a service at 10am on Sunday 14th March. This will be a service of Holy Communion and there will be flowers available, as is custom for Mothering Sunday. Leftover posies will be available from outside church after the service. Should you wish to be present for our service on the 14th, booking will open on Wednesday morning (10th) at 9am. Those who are unable to use our online booking system should contact the office which is open between 9.30am and 1.30pm.

Going forwards there will be a service on Wednesday 17th March at 10.30am and then on Sunday 21st March the 8am, 10am and 6.30pm services will resume.

I look forwards to welcoming many of you back into our building as we resume worshipping together. As we do this, we all need to remember the public health guidance about wearing mask, keeping 2 metres apart and not mixing with people from outside our households/bubbles.

In the next few days I will be able to share more information about how we will celebrate Holy Week and Easter together but the PCC have agreed to my suggestion that we aim to celebrate Easter Sunday with one service at 10am outside on the front church field. Obviously, this will be weather dependent and a wet weather plan will be put together, but I am excited at the prospect of the whole church joining together to celebrate the joy of the resurrection on Sunday 4th April. More details to follow.

If you have any concerns or questions about St Michaels reopening please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Regards,

Calum

Update 26

Good Evening,

Following the government’s announcement of their roadmap out of lockdown, I’ve had a few people ask what’s happening with St Michaels, so thought I would share as much of the plan that I know, as well as a few other things.

Resuming Public Worship

The Standing  Committee met on Monday and felt we should continue to be cautious and follow in the footsteps of the schools. As such we wont resume Public Worship on the 7th March – worship will remain online for then. The PCC have a meeting scheduled for the following day, where they will be asked to make some decisions about Public Worship and following that meeting I will  be able to communicate clearly when the church will resume public worship. It is my hope that this is the last time St Michaels is closed for public worship for the rest of its history.

Easter

I am hopeful that we will be back in church for Holy Week and Easter but obviously things will still need to be slightly different. For Christmas I met with a group of people to discuss ideas about what we could do, I am interested in doing the same for Easter. So if you would be interested in being involved in planning some of what we might do at Easter, would you let me know?

Thanksgiving Sunday

This Sunday (28th) is Thanksgiving Sunday where you are invited to return your pledge card to church indicating how much you are committing financially to the church in thankfulness for God’s love for you. The church building will be open between 11am and 4pm for you to come and drop your envelope off should you wish. There will be a basket on the altar with some words you may wish to use as you place a symbol of your gift (pledge card in envelope) to God on the altar. Thank you to everyone who has sent their cards back so far.

Prayer for our Parish

On Ash Wednesday we published a new prayer diary for St Michaels which gives various suggestions for how to grow your prayer life as well as a diary of people, organisations and places to pray for each day throughout the month. There are printed copies of these for everyone in church, but you can also download it from our website. As we look forwards there is an opportunity to not just go back to what were doing but to ask God, ‘what do you want us to do next? Who are you calling us to serve next?’ A couple of weeks ago I spoke in the Sunday service about a new project we are embarking on called The Micah Project where we are looking to appoint a Children and Families Worker, a Youthworker and a Community Worker to help us as a church grow but also to serve our local community better. Part of the beginning of this project is about discerning where God is calling us to serve.  As such I want to invite you to join me in a time of Praying for our Parish throughout the month of March.

Each day of March, I would like someone to walk the streets listed for that day in our prayer diary in the morning, and for someone else to walk the same streets in the afternoon, asking God to show them the places and people to which he is calling us as a church. When they have finished walking to then write some brief notes about what they saw, who they saw, how they felt and then to drop those notes back to me. This will then start to add some further structure to our ministry over the coming months and years. From Friday, in Church, there will be a sign up sheet for the roads and days, along with cards you can take to write your notes on. I hope you will be able to join me in Praying for our Parish in the next month.

APCM

There was some confusion in my last email about the date of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting – sorry! This will take place on Sunday 18th April at a time still to be confirmed and will take place in Church. Please do put this date in your diary – more details will follow.

This meeting will include the election of Churchwardens and PCC members. If you are interested in standing for the PCC please let Tricia Munn know and she will send you some information along with a nomination form. Her email is: triciamunn@btinternet.com

Louise Richardson will be standing down as Churchwarden at the APCM having completed her 6 year term of office. Louise’s wardenship has been unlike most others with the range of things she has had to deal with. There will be opportunities to thank her in the months to come, but I am truly thankful for all she has offered to our parish in service as Churchwarden.

I would like to present her with a gift at the APCM in thanks for all that she has done. Should you wish to contribute to this gift please could send these donations to the church or vicarage marked with mine or David Walker’s name with the word ‘Handover’. We will then know exactly what this is for. You can also transfer the funds directly into the church bank account, please again include the word ‘Handover’ in the reference. Please also try to refrain from telling Louise I’m organising this – it would nice to surprise her! (Cheques – St Michael and All Angels PCC / Bank Transfer - Parochial Church Council of St Michael and All Angels, Sort code: 01-01-14, Bank A/C No: 83547274)

With Louise stepping down there will be a vacancy for Churchwarden. Should you be interested in this role, could you speak to a current Churchwarden to get some more information about the role, and it would also be helpful to have a conversation with me, so that I can share some of my vision for ministry over the next few years with you. Please be praying for those people thinking about serving on the PCC and as Churchwarden.

Walking for Keith

Finally, Moyra Cryer and Hamida Adkins are aiming to WALK for KEITH during March and April 2021. Keith Fenwick was the much loved and energetic instigator of St Michael's international link with the Diocese of Newala in the south of Tanzania. This spiritually rich yet materially poor diocese has inspired St Michael's in the past to make friends with people there, visit Newala and support the diocese with its diverse educational, healthcare, water and sanitation needs. We very sadly lost Keith to Covid-19 last April. The largest town in Newala Diocese is Mtwara on the coast, 83 miles from the inland town of Newala. Moyra and Hamida intend to walk this distance around Bramhall. They will walk each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday starting Tuesday 16 March, walking three walks per week except for Holy Week (29 March to 3 April) and finishing their 15th walk on Saturday 24th April - quite a challenge!

 The walks will be approximately 5 miles long and radiate out as petals of a flower from the church. Thus all the walks will be local and accessible to anyone who would also like to walk separately, subject to the Covid-19 rules and restrictions at the time. They are hoping to raise £10,000 so that the half-built hostel owned by the diocese in Newala town can be completed and thus provide the diocese with an income and a welcoming base for tourists and visitors to stay. It's an ambitious amount of money, but since Keith's dream was to have this hostel up and running, they feel they can try to fulfill that dream this year. You can donate to their challenge on our website at https://www.bramhall.church/walk-for-keith

I have gone on for far too long now, so I shall sign off here. Thank you for taking the time to read this update.

God Bless,

Calum

Update 25

Good Evening,

Electoral Roll

Around this time each year as we approach the Annual Parochial Church Meeting we are required to update our Electoral Roll. Normally this would be covered during our Sunday services but with church being closed for Public Worship, Phil Ketteringham, our Electoral Roll Officer has asked me to circulate the following notice:

Under the Church Representation Rules, the Church Electoral Roll is required to be revised yearly. All persons whose name currently appears on the Roll that wish to confirm their recorded details are correct should contact the Electoral Roll Officer or the Parish Office. Any errors or omissions in the data will then be noted and updated. Any persons wishing to be added to the Roll are requested to apply for enrolment not later than Tuesday 9th March 2020. Applications forms are available on our website. The Revised Roll will come into operation on Sunday 28th March 2021 after the Annual Parochial Church Meeting. You can contact Phil on phil.ketteringham@bramhall.church. If you wish to stop receiving these update emails from me, please let Phil know and he will amend our database accordingly.

The Annual Meeting has been scheduled for Sunday 18th April – in the hope that we will be able to gather in person for this.

Funeral of Ian Bell

Vivien and Belinda have asked me to circulate the following with regards to Ian Bell’s funeral on Tuesday:

Thank you so very much for all the love, support and kind words. It has been really appreciated by Mum, Martin, Steven and myself. Dealing with the loss of a loved one is challenging at the best of times but it is made increasingly so under Covid-19 circumstances, especially when family members are on different continents.  The service is being streamed on the church You Tube site and should start streaming at 2.45pm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wv_XNl2ZQU&feature=youtu.be 

Several people asked where they could make a donation in memory of Ian. Vivien has suggested:

• Wellspring. It is a resource centre for homeless and disadvantaged people.

• Walthew House. They work with people and organisations in the community to provide practical and emotional support for people with a sight or hearing loss.

To make it easier to donate we created a page in memory of dad:  https://ian-bell.muchloved.com/. This link also allows people to upload comments or photos if people would like.

On behalf of my Mum, Viven, and my brothers Martin, Steven, myself, and Ian’s grandchildren we want to thank you all again for your kindness and support at this time,

Belinda Hill (Ian and Vivien’s Daughter)

Lent Begins

Lent begins on Wednesday and I am looking forward to welcoming many of you back into church for worship at our communion services. During our online service yesterday I mentioned 3 daily devotional resources that will be available throughout Lent should you wish to use them. I will be doing Daily Reflections based on the Church of England #LiveLent resource, and on the church website there will be 2 different themes of written reflections. One from the Diocese based on the care of creation, and another written by Revd Rob Green, formerly of Norbury Parish, based on characters throughout the bible. The link for these is: https://www.bramhall.church/lent

Enjoy your pancakes tomorrow, and whatever you choose to do, or not do throughout Lent, may you know the faithful and enduring love of God walking with you every day.

Take Care,

Calum

Update 24

Good Morning,

This time last year, we were in the midst of the Wonderland Festival – can you believe it’s been a year already?! With Lent following just after Wonderland last year, I had to plan ahead, and so plans for Lent and Easter were already in place by this time last year. Below are some of the plans I have put together for Lent this year. When we get to the beginning of March a review will have taken place regarding public worship at St. Michaels so I will be able to share more information then about our Easter celebrations.

Ash Wednesday

Lent starts on Wednesday 17th February. We will hold 2 services of Holy Communion, one at 10.30am and one at 7pm. Due to restrictions, the imposition of ashes will not be included this year, but following a discussion at the last PCC meeting, communion will be offered in both kinds. The evening service will be streamed on YouTube and our website. Booking is now available for these services, with each service being limited to 40 people. As the church office is closed at the moment, I would be really grateful if you could use the online booking system https://www.bramhall.church/worship-1, if you know of folk who are not online but would like to attend these services, please either get them to phone the Vicarage or a Churchwarden.

Lent Groups

I intend to run 2 Lent groups this year following the same material. These will be on Tuesdays, the morning group at 9.30am and the evening group at 7.30pm and they will last for an hour, both of which will take place on zoom. The book we will be looking at is Living His Story. Revealing the extraordinary love of God in ordinary ways: The Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book 2021 by Hannah Steele. The groups will start on Tuesday 16th February to enable us to cover the whole book before Easter. If you wish to join one of the groups please let me know, I will send out the link details on Monday 15th.

Andrea Millington will be producing further study materials for Lent for those that were part of the Thursday Fellowship Group. If anybody else would like to receive these materials please let Andrea know on andreamillington@gmail.com

Stations of the Cross

From Ash Wednesday the Stations of The Cross will be displayed in church with devotional material to accompany them. The church will be open on Monday mornings between 9.30am and 12pm and Thursday afternoons between 1.30pm and 3.30pm. If there is a demand to open church for further times, I will look to make this happen.

Lenten Windows

For those who spent time walking around Bramhall during lockdown 1 you may have noticed many rainbows appearing in windows and at one point even teddy bears. We have borrowed (stolen) an idea from another parish (thanks to the Munn family) for Lenten windows. The idea is that each week of Lent you put a picture in one of your street-facing windows that relates to a Lent theme or activity. You could either add to the scene each week with something new, or put something different up each week. If you are up for joining in, the theme for the week beginning Sunday 14th February is Pancakes. When you have put up your picture or display, do send me a picture as it would be great to show it in the weekly Sunday service. Here is an example of something you might want to do for Pancake week designed by Sheila Newbon.

Prayer

For those that have been using the Daily Prayer liturgy the Lent orders of service will be available on the church website from next week.

Over the last year, there has been a working group focussing on renewing and publishing a Parish Prayer Cycle for our Parish. This resource includes suggestions of places, organisations and people to pray for each day of the month as well as other prayer resources. We have had enough printed for every member of church and these will be available to collect from church from Ash Wednesday. They will also appear on our website from next week. My hope is that in time, our social media accounts will be used to highlight who we are praying for each day, but that’s a plan for the future.

I noticed this morning that plant seeds that I planted on Tuesday have begun to sprout, slowly pushing their way through towards the light. Spring is full of beautiful imagery that can point us to the wonders of God and his kingdom. I don’t know exactly how you are feeling right now, but if its anything like me, lockdown is starting to take a toll, with each day being very similar, the weather being cold and dull and not being able to go out to meet people and explore. The signs of spring I noticed this morning were fresh hope and excitement that just as spring is only round the corner, so too, hopefully, the end of lockdown might be too. God is faithful – he has walked winter with us, and is calling us forwards further into his joy, love and his kingdom. To quote from a service I led this morning for the Air Cadets on Merseyside ‘The best is yet to come’. Don’t lose hope!

Calum

Update 23

Good Evening Everyone,

As we approach the end of January, I thought it was time to send out my first update of 2021, so included are a few bits of information that hopefully you will find helpful and maybe even encouraging.

Public Worship

On Christmas Eve the Churchwardens announced that we had come to the decision to close St Michaels for Public Worship for the duration of January. This was for multiple reasons, including the high infection rates. The PCC Standing Committee have reviewed this decision this week, as requested by the PCC, and have decided to keep the church closed for Public Worship during February also. This decision was based upon the local infection rates, which despite some decrease remain relatively high.

Ash Wednesday falls on the 17th February and this marks the start of the season of Lent and journey to Easter. With it being such a significant date in the church’s year we will hold 2 gathered services on this day in church. Booking will be required and these will be services of Holy Communion. More information about this will follow next week. Following Ash Wednesday the Standing Committee will meet again to make a decision about March and also Easter. My hope is that the rates will have decreased enough for us to be able to worship together in our church building for Easter.

Candlemas

This Sunday marks the Presentation of Christ in the Temple otherwise known as Candlemas. I filmed our service yesterday, and for those on Facebook, you may have seen the picture of all the candles lit in church. Due to most the usual church furniture not being in church, this year has provided a unique opportunity to fill the church with candles. So make the most of this, St Michaels Church will be open for Individual Prayer between 5.30pm and 6.30pm this Saturday (Saturday 30th January) where you can come and spend time in the space as it has been set up for Candlemas with over 300 candles lit. As David Taylor and I looked out on the church having lit all the candles the words of Jesus ‘I am the Light of the World’ the Gospel of Johns words ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it’ were particularly poignant, powerful and encouraging.

Lent

Lent is fast approaching, and I hope to write again towards the end of next week to share with you various resources we will be making available to encourage you in your faith during this season. There will be Lent Groups on Zoom and 2 different series of Lenten Reflections. We hope to offer further resources too – but that’s for another update.

Grief

Despite 2021 being less than a month old, it has been a difficult month for our nation but also for our church community. The Covid-19 death toll in our country passed a very sad milestone this week, and we have received news of the deaths of a number of our church family. The loss of one person is always hard, I am struggling to find words to communicate the loss St Michaels is currently experiencing. Death is never easy for those who are left behind, and yet we have a hope, and whilst this hope might not always numb the pain we feel, it offers strength to walk in each and every new day. Death is not the end. Jesus has overcome death, and welcomes home those who love him. Its ok to be sad, its ok to be angry, its ok to question but know that God is with you, God is with us. In the coming weeks, we will have an opportunity to publicly remember some close friends and to say goodbye, and whilst this will be hard we will be able to do so trusting in the promise of Jesus – that he has welcomed our Brothers and Sisters home.

Prayer for the Nation

In response to the national sense of grief many feel, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York are calling Christians to pray every evening, for our nation and world but particularly for all those who have been hit hardest by this crisis. They have put together a range of resources to support this time of prayer – all of which you can find on the national Church of England website - https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/prayer-nation#na

A year ago we were preparing for the challenge of Wonderland, the joys, the laughter, the confusion and the exhaustion. They were good days – the days of fellowship, of joy, of laughter with friends will return again. Don’t lose hope. God is faithful!

With my prayers,

Calum

Update from the Churchwardens

Dear Friends,

With the announcement of more areas of the country being placed under the Tier 4 COVID restrictions and rates of infection beginning to rise again across Greater Manchester we have been considering the situation with regards to public worship in the New Year and have shared our thoughts with Standing Committee.

Our main concerns are twofold: firstly to protect the vulnerable members of our congregation but secondly, to protect Calum. Calum has, over a sustained period of nine months with no real break to speak of put in an inordinate amount of work and number of hours to ensure that as a community we were able to continue to worship be it from home with online services or in church in a COVID safe manner. He has brought innovation and creativity in delivering services ensuring that as far as possible everyone can participate in whatever way they wish. He has also conducted a huge number of funerals in very difficult circumstances.   We should remember that we have been very fortunate as we were one of first churches that reopened for public worship in August.

In discussion with Standing Committee we have therefore taken the very difficult decision to close the church for public worship for the month of January both in anticipation of further restrictions; but also to give Calum a well-earned break and some time to recharge his batteries.

We hope that you will appreciate the reasons for this decision which has not been taken lightly but we have a duty to protect the health and well-being of all you as well as that of Calum. During this time, the church will still be available for funerals as needed and for individual prayer. We will confirm the details of times for private prayer in St Michaels Today. There will be some form of worship published online each Sunday, where folk have been asked to do readings in the January rota, they will be asked if they would be happy to be involved in the digital services.

We understand that some of you may not be happy with this decision but feel that it is the right one to make for the current situation.

Sunday 27th will therefore be the last service in December and we will reopen, restrictions allowing, for public worship on Sunday 7th February.

If you have any concerns with this decision please don’t hesitate to contact us on wardens@bramhall.church. Wish you and your family a very joyful and peaceful Christmas.

Kind regards,

Louise Richardson & David Walker

Churchwardens

Update 22

Good Afternoon!

I hope you are keeping safe and well.

Christmas Services

With just over a week to go, I wanted to send a reminder out about our Christmas services. We will have in-person services on Christmas Eve at 11.30pm, Christmas Day at 8am and 10am and on the 27th December at 10am. All of these services will be communion services as we celebrate the birth of Christ. Booking for these services will open tomorrow morning. In the lead up to the services, I will be creating seating plans so that we can use the church space as safely and as effectively as possible to try and get as many people in. If we can release any further seating closer to Christmas we will, and I will let you know via an update. Our services will also be streamed online.

Our carol service will take place this Sunday evening at 6.30pm on our Youtube and Facebook pages and also our website. I hope you enjoy singing along at home! Throughout the service, a number of candles will be lit, if you want to join in with lighting candles, there are packs of 6 candles available at church for you to take home and use during the service. If you are picking up a pack for yourself, why not pick one up for your neighbour too and invite them to tune in to the carol service?

Christmas Quiz

On Saturday evening at 7.30pm we will be holding another zoom based quiz, this time around the theme of Christmas. Those who joined in with the Harvest quiz have told me they really enjoyed it – do join us if you can for some fun. Tickets are a £10 donation to The Children Society and you can get the login details from the office. If you don’t manage to get to the parish office by the weekend and still want to join in, let me know, and I can send you the details and get Santa to chase you for your donation!

Field of Light

2020 has been a difficult year for many people. With social distancing, isolation and lockdowns, life has changed dramatically. Part of the difficulty for many people has been the loss of family members and friends and not being able to say goodbye properly.  As Christmas approaches, normally families would gather together to celebrate, but for many this won’t be possible. On Monday 21st December, during the longest night, we are inviting people to come and light a candle to remember those loved ones who have died or even to remember family that we can’t celebrate Christmas with. Between 5pm and 7pm bring a candle in a jar to place in the front field. In the simple act of lighting a candle, we are sharing light and hope trusting that things will get better and easier. There will be no formal act of worship at this event, but it is a simple opportunity for you to come and have a moment of quiet and space to remember and say thank you to those you are remembering. 

Advent Reflections

Thank you to everyone that has contributed to the Advent Reflections on the last couple of weeks (and those I have already read for next week), they have been really encouraging and creative as well.

Advent Challenge

Thank you for all your generous support with my advent challenge, so far we have raised over £2000. Thank you!! Last week on day 12, 5km in my back gave way and I struggled with moving. I have been resting up the last few days, but hope to get back out on the circuit before Christmas.

Sharing the Light

You have probably already put your Christmas Decorations up, but as people were encouraged to put things in their windows earlier in the year, I wondered if you might put a picture of a Christingle in your window for Christmas. Attached is a template you might want to copy, or print off and colour in.

Finally, Jess, Samuel and I want to say thank you for all the kind Christmas greetings we have received and wish you all a very joyful and peaceful Christmas. We have missed spending time with so many of you this year, and are praying that that might change in 2021.

With prayers for a joyful Christmas,

Calum

Update 21

Hi Everyone,

With all the news from Westminster in the past few days, I thought it might be time for another update from me.

Reopening Church

The government have announced that we can reopen church for gathered worship from the 2nd December. I have taken the decision that we will work towards Sunday 6th December. So, from Monday 30th November booking will open for services on Sunday 6th and the following Wednesday. It will be good to have you back! I’ve missed you!

The Parish Office will reopen on Monday 7th December, if you have any queries or questions – either I or a churchwarden will try to get back to you as quickly as we can.

Day of Prayer

This Saturday, St Michaels is holding a day of prayer for our community, nation and world. The church will be open for individual prayer from 10am to 4pm. Attached is a resource with various prayers and pointers to prayer that you might find helpful on the day. Throughout Saturday I will lead a form of prayer on the hour, each hour. This form of prayer is also attached. Scripture tells us that prayer has power – so I want to encourage as many of you as possible to join the parish in praying at some point on Saturday, even if its just for a few minutes. You don’t need to book to come to church, you can just turn up.

Advent

Happy New Year! On Sunday we enter into the new church year as we begin Advent. There a few things to tell you about with Advent.

1. There will be a new order of Morning and Evening Prayer, in line with the new season of Advent, available on the website.

2. Each day throughout Advent, Jess and I will be releasing a video at 4pm reflecting on different advent themes, during these videos we will be creating a Jesse tree.

3. On Sunday’s we will also release a video at 9am lighting our advent wreath which will include a children’s Christmas story.

4. Every day a there will be a new reflection posted on our website reflecting on themes of comfort and joy. (Mark is still looking for volunteers to write some reflections.)

With all of the above, they are resources to encourage you in your faith as we prepare for the celebration of Christmas. Use what is helpful, ignore what isn’t – I won’t be offended (promise!)

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent and our Sunday service will reflect that with various carols and readings for Advent.

Christmas Appeal

This year I have launched a Christmas Appeal for church which is supporting 3 great causes. The 1st cause is the Children’s Society, the 2nd – the local foodbank and the 3rd – The Parish of Stockport and Brinnington. 

We are asking for donations towards the work of The Children’s Society, who we usually raise substantial amounts for through our Christingle Services. The Children’s Society do vital work throughout the UK. Whilst I am asking for donations – I will also be attempting to run 10km every day in Advent to raise money too, if you feel compelled to sponsor me, I would be very grateful.

Thank you to everyone that continues to give generously to the foodbank, the second strand is an encouragement to keep going with that. Something you might like to do, is find a box and put something in it everyday of Advent, so that by Christmas you have a box full of food that could support families over the new year period.

The final strand is supporting the Parish of Stockport and Brinnington. In terms of deprivation, the parish of Brinnington is the 121st most deprived parish in the whole country, compared to Bramhall which is the 12,208th most deprived parish out of 12,382 (where 1 is the most deprived). We are asking folk to put together hampers of Christmas goodies that can bless some of the poorest families in the country who may not be able to afford any celebrations at all.

With all of the above you can find more information on our website at https://www.bramhall.church/christmas-appeal-2020 (including a video, a suggested list of items for the hampers, and links to our donation pages.)

If you are bringing a completed hamper, or items for a  hamper to church, could you label them as part of the hamper project, so that they don’t get confused with foodbank donations. If anyone wishes to donate to the Christingle Society with cash or cheque rather than online, please leave these in the post box at church marked Children’s Society. Cheques can be made payable to St Michael and All Angels PCC.

Christmas

With government guidelines becoming clearer for Christmas, I can begin to finalise some of the plans for celebrating Christmas. Obviously things will be different, but my prayer is we still feel and know the joy of God with Us. Watch this space!

Plant Sale

Finally, there have been a number of plant sales at St Michaels  over the past couple of months which has raised money to support some of the gardening projects going on around the church site. The final sale is this Friday (27th) with a range of winter flowering plants and decorative Christmas arrangements. There is a new venue for the sale - B2B car park next to the Victorian pub in Bramhall village and you will find the sale there from 10am till 2pm. Everything under £10 a plant. Cash preferred, but we will have a card reader with us, subject to connectivity. Any questions speak to Sue Howgego who can be reached in sue.howgeo@bramhall.church

Looking forwards to seeing many of you again and worshipping alongside you and with you!

God Bless,

Calum

Update 20

Good Evening Everyone,

Just a quick update from me:

Worship Tomorrow

There will be a midweek service on zoom tomorrow starting at 10.30am which Mark Hackney will be leading. He extends a very warm welcome to you and hope you might be able to join him and others. The zoom code is below, and the login details will be the same each week until we are released from lockdown. There will also be a short act of remembrance streamed on youtube, facebook and our website at 10.45am which was filmed before lockdown started. Due to the nature of needing to get the 2 minutes silence to land on 11am – there is a 5 minute countdown at the start of the service to delay things. So if you don’t like countdowns – tune in at 10.50am.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81060644883?pwd=bUlYamMxbDQvV283d1Q1UWdDNW1qQT09

Meeting ID: 810 6064 4883

Passcode: Ephesians

Church Family News

I was sorry to learn last night that Claud Metson who was a reader at St Michaels for many years died this week. I have heard many great tales of Claud and how his ministry was valued by many, he also ministered at All Saints Cheadle Hulme and Christchurch Woodford for a number of years after leaving St Michaels. Do hold his family in your prayers.

Foodbank Donations

Thank you to everyone that has asked about foodbank. We are still collecting for them, you can either drop donations off at church on Monday morning or Thursday afternoon. Alternatively please feel free to drop them off at the vicarage and we will try to put a box out each day (from tomorrow). There has been a request for Advent Calendars before the start of December and then chocolate selection boxes throughout December to add to the usual essentials.

Thank you to everyone that turned out to support the families of Bail Wheeldon and Revd Rex Hack this week – I know the families really appreciated your support.

God Bless,

Calum

Update 19

Good Evening Friends,

Sorry, its me again! In just over 24 hours’ time England will once more be in lockdown, so I  thought I would share some thoughts and plans that are slowly coming together.

Lockdown Rules

At present, places of worship will be closed for acts of public worship except funerals. Therefore there will be no Sunday services or Midweek services in church until December. We are allowed to open the church for individual prayer, and at present this will happen on a Monday morning from 9.30am to 12pm and Thursday afternoons from 1.30pm to 3.30pm. I am looking into the possibility of opening the church on a Sunday but am still working on that. Looking back at the last lockdown, and the visitor numbers we recorded, there wasn’t a great take up for using the church to pray which is why the wardens and I have decided to open on quite a limited basis to start with. If there is greater demand, we will look to open the building more often.

With being required to stop most of what we do, we  will be furloughing our administrative staff and I am already looking forwards to welcoming them back. Please don’t hesitate to contact the Churchwardens or myself if you have questions you would normally have directed to the Parish Office.

Wednesday 4th November

Our service on Wednesday 4th will be a service of Holy Communion which is slightly different to the published rota. Mark and I felt it important to mark the last service for 4 weeks with Holy Communion. This service will also be livestreamed to YouTube.

Remembrance Sunday

Over the last 2 days I have recorded services for Remembrance Sunday and Armistice day. As I have mentioned before, Stockport Council are advising people not to gather at War memorials in the borough on Sunday and Wednesday next week, and so there will be no services there. The recorded service for Remembrance Sunday will go live on YouTube, Facebook and our website at 10.45am and at the same time on Armistice Day. At 6.15pm on Sunday, another service will be published that will include more of the worship pattern we follow each week, rather than just the remembrance focussed worship.

Worship in Lockdown

We will move back to having a weekly service recorded and shown on our social media channels and website. As YouTube governs when we can publish something, our normal Sunday service time for in Lockdown (this Sunday being different) will be 10.15am. (You get a little longer in bed). If anyone would like to be involved in these services do let me know.

Mark will resurrect the midweek Zoom service on a Wednesday at 10.30am, which you can join from 10.20am. The login details will be published in SMT on Saturday.

I will endeavour to restart my daily reflections and Jess and I will share a conversation on Thursday’s too. With all of this, I will try to make sure these videos are displayed across our social media and our website.

Funerals for Basil Wheeldon and Revd Canon Rex Hack

Basil’s funeral will take place on Monday 9th November at 11.30am. I expect that this service will last around 40 minutes and then the family will make their way to Stockport Crematorium. Should you wish to pay your respects to Basil, you might wish to line Robins Lane from the church door towards Bramhall Lane South from around 12.10pm.                                                                                                                   

Rex’s funeral will take place the following day on Tuesday 10th November at 1.45pm. I expect this service to last around 45 minutes and then the family will make their way to Macclesfield Crematorium. Should you wish to pay your respects to Rex, you may wish to line Robins Lane as above from around 2.30pm.

In both circumstances, please remember to social distance with 2 metres between you and people from outside your household. If there are delays in leaving church or the cortege departing, please accept my apologies now.

Day of Prayer

I invite you to join me in a day of prayer for our community, nation, and world on Saturday 28th November. The church will be open from 10am to 4pm and there will be resources available to guide you in prayer. These resources will also be made available for use at home. I do hope you will be able to join me in setting that day aside to pray.

Finally, although our community gatherings have been put on hold for the time being, please know that you are not alone, even if, at times, it feels like it. If you want someone to chat to for whatever reason, even if its because you just want to hear someone else’s voice, please pick up the phone and give me a call. If you fancy coming to the park and watching Samuel run rings round me in the playground, let us know, and we can tell you when we expect him to drag us down to the park. I know that this lockdown might be harder than the last because of the dark evenings. St Michaels is an amazing community of truly inspiring loving individuals. Let’s supports one another in prayer, phone calls and fellowship however possible that is. I miss you already – I can’t wait to see you all again soon!

Jesus said “and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” God is with us, I  am praying that you might know his comforting Spirit with you, his light in the darkness, and his joy in the frustrations.

God Bless,

Calum

Update - October (3)

Good Evening,

Following on from some of the changes announced by government and the local authority in the past few days, I thought it might be helpful to send out another update, so here goes…

Tier 3 – Very High Risk Restrictions

Tonight we join with the rest of Greater Manchester in going in the tier 3 restrictions. Whilst it impacts all our lives in different ways, St Michaels will remain open. Thankfully the government have realised the importance of places of worship and the necessity for them to stay open. I and the wardens will continue to ensure the church site is as safe as possible for everyone and if things change we will communicate that as quickly as possible. I’m aware there are a few church members who don’t live in Stockport, and so will not be heading into Tier 3 restrictions. The advice recommends people don’t travel into or out of a tier 3 locations – however I believe the activity of worship is essential and a priority for all people. Therefore, even though I am just a humble parson, I want to suggest to those of you living outside of Stockport Borough, that it is still ok for you to attend St Michaels to worship. If you have any concerns about this, please do get in touch!

Annual Act of Commemoration

On Sunday 1st November we are due to hold our annual service of light and commemoration. Due to the number of people who normally attend this service, the wardens and I have taken the difficult decision to not hold this service in person this year. I’m sorry that this service wont be possible, but all the practicalities relating to it, with expected numbers, makes it very difficult. We will stream a service online on Sunday 1st November at 6.30pm. The church will also be open from 2pm to 4pm for anyone wishing to come into church to pray, light a candle or add a name of a loved one to a tree of remembrance. When social distancing measures are relaxed we will look to hold an additional service of commemoration.

Remembrance Sunday

A few people have been asking me about plans for Remembrance Sunday.  National government and Church of England guidance make clear that it is possible for people to gather at war memorials to observe remembrance Sunday and armistice day. However, on Monday, Stockport Borough Council cancelled all civic services at war memorials throughout the borough with the words ‘given that the council must put the safety of its residents first, there will be no public events taking place at outdoor War Memorials on Remembrance Sunday nor Armistice Day’. I find this position difficult to accept and I’m sorry this decision has been made, the local councillors and I were working hard together to make a public act of remembrance safe and possible. I have spoken with Woodford and Bramhall Royal British Legion today, we will film an act of remembrance at the war memorial in advance of Remembrance Sunday and will stream this live at 11am on our website and social media.

As usual we will have an act of remembrance in each of our services, and we will also display the recorded service on our screens in church at the appropriate times for those that wish to watch it there.

Sunday Worship

One of the positives of the booking system is it is making it easier to keep a record of the numbers attending our services. Following the news conference on Tuesday evening, I needed to do something to cheer myself up, so I updated my excel spreadsheet with our church attendance figures in it. (Yes, I am that sad, no, I haven’t run out of rows or columns yet). This week, our attendance figure across all services was 110. This is the highest its been since we reopened and reflects a gradual upwards curve over the last couple of months. I’ve found this really encouraging and I hope you do to.

With numbers increasing a little each week, it has meant we have been able to review how we do things slightly, and you may or may not notice some small changes in the coming weeks. A couple of people have spoken to me about the difficulties they have had being able to book on to the 10am Sunday service, as whenever they go to do it, it is fully booked. I appreciate a large number of people are keen to attend at 10am, we have looked at whether we can increase capacity and its just not possible. There are 3 other services each week, all of which have space – so if you can’t book into the 10am service, I would encourage you to try one of the other services.

One of the things currently sat on my desk is the service of commemoration I am planning. One of the readings is Romans 8 which says:

35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39  nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus Christ is same today, as he will be tomorrow, as he was yesterday. However you feel – you can trust in him. Jess and I shared how we are feeling at the moment in our latest ‘In Conversation’ episode today – we are finding it helpful to look for the small bits of joy in each day – and take each day as it comes. Nothing will separate us from Gods love, and the joy of heaven – whatever the days and weeks ahead hold – trust in Jesus – he holds you in the palm of his hand.

With thankfulness for all you give, and prayers for God’s blessing upon you!

Calum

Update - October (2)

Good Morning,

Sorry for another email in the space of a month, but there a couple of things I felt important to share with you.

Safeguarding

Firstly, you may be aware that the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse released their report on the Church of England and Church of Wales this week which was reported on by mainstream media. Sadly it highlights very clearly where the Church of England has got things wrong in the past, the ways in which it has failed far too many people, and the way in which some of our current structures and processes need to change. I and the PCC of St Michaels take our duty and obligation to protect all, extremely seriously. We have adopted the national Church of England's procedures and guidelines relating to safeguarding and regularly review these and how they are implemented in our church life. You can find out more information about this on our website at https://www.bramhall.church/safeguarding. Where change is required in how we operate and our policies, we will make those changes as quickly and safely as we can, to make our church family as safe as possible for everyone.   If you want to know more about our safeguarding commitments or want to speak to someone in confidence please don’t hesitate to contact Cathy Hedley our lead Safeguarding Officer, Susan Joyce our Children’s Advocate and Safeguarding Officer or myself, our contact details can be found on the link above.

Harvest

We will be celebrating Harvest on Sunday 18th October at all three of our services. We are inviting the usual donations of non-perishable food which will be split between the Foodbank and Wellspring project. This year we are also support the Christian Aid Harvest Campaign, and any monetary donations will be sent there.

For a suggested list of food donations, see our website where there are more details. https://www.bramhall.church/upcoming-events

For more details on the Christian Aid Campaign you can go to their website: https://www.christianaid.org.uk/appeals/key-appeals/global-neighbours-autumn-appeal

On Saturday 17th October at 7pm, I invite you to join us in our first ever Harvest Quiz (hooray!!). Get the family or social bubble together in front of the computer and join us for the first ever virtual quiz at St Michaels where we are raising money for the Christian Aid Harvest Campaign. Tickets per team (household or bubble) are £10 and you can get these by contacting the office. When the office gets the £10, they will give you the zoom login code for the night. It might not be as exciting as Strictly Come Dancing – but it certainly won’t be an event to miss. I hope you will join us! Tickets will also be available on Sunday after our services.

PCC Members

I realise following the Annual Meeting, I haven’t shared with all of you who was appointed to the PCC. So the following people are now members of the PCC:

Hamida Adkins, John Baker (Pastoral Worker) Frances Beards, David Beveridge (Deanery Synod), Imogen Bird, Glynis Brown, Robert Cryer, Georgina Foot, Shelagh Gall, Bryan Goodwin (Deanery Synod), Mark Hackney (Reader) Sally Harwood, Michael Holmes, Sue Howgego, Jill Illingworth, Janet Ketteringham, Graham Knight, Bob Munn (Diocesan Synod) Tricia Munn, Sheila Newbon, Jo Oughton (Deanery Synod), Louise Sell, Sue Taylor, Stuart Villard, Phil Wadsworth (Deanery Synod), Georgia Watson, Rob Watson

I’m also pleased to tell you that Louise Richardson and David Walker were elected as Churchwardens for a further year.

The new PCC will meet for the first time (virtually) on Monday next week, so do be praying for them.

Livestreaming

Over the last few months I have been trying different things to try and provide a good quality livestream of our 10am service. Following a number of changes last week, the stream seemed to go quite well. From this week, we are going to try and put the order of service for the 10am service on our website. So should you wish to follow the service with a bit more clarity you can download the service beforehand.

That’s everything on my post-it note of things to tell you. Stay safe!

God Bless,

Calum