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Dear Friends,
Time seems to be slipping past so quickly – I can hardly believe that we are in Advent and that Christmas is just around the corner.
Advent is a time for taking stock and this year has certainly been a busy one for many of us! I think of prime importance has been the development of our two Mission Action Plans, one for each church. I hope you have picked up your copy and read it! They give us a steer on which direction we should be headed in – and will be regularly reviewed to make sure we on track (or the plans are changed if needed!). There has been so much else of a positive nature – I hope you feel as excited by it all as I do!
Both our churches face big changes in 2011: there always seems to be a new challenge around the corner! Geoff Coglan retires from being churchwarden at St Augustine’s after 6 years in post and I will miss his insight, his support and his wealth of knowledge (I hope I’ll still get the odd joke from him though!). If you feel God’s call on your life to assist in the running of St Augustine’s as churchwarden please let me know.
This coming year is the time when St John’s needs to take a big step forward and get the re-development, so long talked about, up and running. We face difficult decisions about precisely what we are going to do but those nettles must be grasped and we must be united in moving the project forward.
In both churches we are seeing growth – more people involved in more activities. I am excited by our continuing work with our school, with the growing links with Peel Park School and the growing interest in St John’s as a historical and special place in the history of Accrington. Our new groups at St Augustine’s appear to be well established with good numbers attending. The challenge to us all is to make sure we use these God-given opportunities to preach the kingdom, to bring people into a relationship with Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, and to see the fruits of the Spirit in our work with those who are so much in need.
Each of us must be constantly aware of our response to our gracious and generous God. As we come to this special time in our church year I hope his generosity to you will prompt an equally generous response from you so that we can better do his work in our parish. May you and yours have a blessed and holy Christmas and may the Christ Child dwell in all our hearts.
God bless you all,
John |
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Back to Church Sunday |
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‘Back To Church Sunday’: 25th September 2011 at 9.30am
BTCS is a national event held every year since 2004.Could you come to church on that day, or ask someone else to come along with you?
St John’s have marked ‘Back to Church Sunday’ since 2008. That first year we used it as an indication as to whether or not there was a desire for St. John’s to re-open and we were very encouraged by the response. In 2010, St John’s reopened permanently on that particular Sunday. This year the congregation of St Augustine’s are also going to try to use the Sunday to encourage people who might not otherwise attend church to come along.
Since 2004, over 150,000 people have returned on BTCS. It’s a day when we can make an extra effort with a special service and with the visitor very much in mind.
“It’s the shortest step in evangelism,” says the Bishop of Hertford, Right Reverend Paul Bayes. “Invite someone you know to something you love. Would you like to come to church with me? It’s very easy to say and many people respond positively.”
St John’s have had the same experience as Holy Trinity, Runcorn, in the Chester Diocese. Like us, they realised that BTCS swells the congregation on that day. It’s a ‘special’ service on the calendar, like Harvest, so that church now uses the principle of inviting and welcoming to other
distinctive services -such as Mothering Sunday, Easter, Harvest, Remembrance and Christmas. As a result people are getting used to coming to church more often and are enjoying the experience.
‘Back to Church Sunday’ raises a high media profile, as tens of thousands of Christians will offer their invitations at the same time. It will be featured on radio and television, and in the press. The most important part of the day is to offer a warm and honest welcome to people.
Who will you invite?
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John's Autumn Newsletter |
Dear Friends,
It seems as though the summer has almost gone – perhaps we can hope for some more warm weather in the next few weeks but then we will be into autumn with all that it entails – Harvest festivals, longer nights, cooler days and the inevitable advanced marketing of CHRISTMAS!
We have some big issues to face in our churches as we move forward into the final part of 2011. We should be approving the Mission Action Plans for both our buildings at the next PCC meeting. These give us a framework within which we can plan our next developments and which will hopefully prevent us drifting off down avenues that are not really our priority.
A further issue is finance. If we are to keep both our buildings open and be able to develop God’s work using them as the bases for it, then we need you to be more generous in your financial support. I urge you to consider the level of your giving and ask you to think and pray about your responses to these questions:
Where does God lie in your priorities? If, as the Gospels tell us, our wealth is where our heart is, surely we should be putting a greater value on God’s work than our own entertainment for instance? Is your weekly giving greater
than the amount you spend each week on newspapers or on your visit(s) to the cinema or on your Sky television subscription or on the other things you do for pleasure? If not, do you value these things more than you value God?
How do you think he will respond if your answer is “Yes”?
If not you, who is to pay for your church? I sometimes think we imagine that someone else can support our church and that it isn’t really our personal responsibility. If you believe yourself to be a member of either St John’s or St Augustine’s (or even of both!) then it is your responsibility to see that the buildings are kept to a good standard. You know from your own experience that the cost of living is rising – especially fuel bills. Who will pay the extra in our churches this winter?
How regular is your giving? We have our planned giving scheme so that all who attend can give their weekly offering whether or not they come to church. The weekly envelope should serve as a reminder that God’s work and the work of his church carries on whether or not we are in attendance and requires your support. If you are not in the scheme please contact one of the wardens or myself and we’ll arrange for you to receive your box of numbered envelopes. If you are in the scheme please put your weekly offering in each envelope and bring them to church
whenever you come.
It seems after the riots of a few weeks ago our country is looking for ways to regain some moral compass, some set of principles that can be used to guide and encourage people as they seek to be useful members of their community. We have those principles in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus and we must be strong and resilient in our presentation of God’s Word to the communities we serve. For this we need a proper sense of direction and the resources to achieve his work.
I hope you will stand alongside us, as we look to our future together.
With every blessing,
John (NSM of St John's Church)
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Archive from November 2010
This year we celebrated the first Confirmation Service in St John’s Church for six years, when the Reverend John Binks presented five adults and 24 children for the Right Reverend Nicholas Reade, Bishop of Blackburn, to confirm.
Even though Thursday the 11th November was one of the worst nights of the year - cold and very windy - the candidates kept up the tradition of the girls wearing white, the boys smart trousers and ties plus Fergus’s traditional Scottish kilt! They all looked lovely, behaved impeccably and took little notice of the cold church!
Sharon Brady was confirmed with her son Declan; John Breare with his son Joseph; Rebecca Cummings with her daughters Kyrae and Amber; Kirsty Freeman with her daughter Charlotte, and Rebecca Westwell with her daughter Jessica. The other children were Joseph Archer,
Ellie Barnes, Evie Crawshaw, Corey Eggar, Paul Evans,
Charlotte Hammond, Natasha Harker, Leah Hollister, Shannon Lampitt, Fergus Parker-Knapper, Sophie Lambert, Honeybee Maud, Olivia Nurpetuan, Rebekkah Pickup,
Naomi Primrose, Liam Race, McCauley Taylor and
Maddison Barrientos Watt.
Around 180 family and friends were in church to support the candidates and enjoy the service. The Bishop was very complimentary and Pat, Marian and I were very proud, as their parents must have been. They had all worked hard and represented St. John’s with pride.
Everybody celebrated Communion at the service but the candidates were presented with their certificates and a copy of St. Matthew’s Gospel at the end of the service on the following Sunday, after which we all celebrated with ‘goodies’ the children had brought and a cake Rebekkah and Naomi had made especially for the party.
Please remember our candidates in your prayers and thank you to everyone involved in making this service very memorable.
Margaret
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I hope I will be able to give you a number of insights into our recent trip to our link diocese in South Africa and thought I would start with some general observations about our link church and the environment in which it seeks to minister.
Social
South Africa is a country that is still trying to overcome the effects of its divisive government during the apartheid era. The Anglican Church in Southern Africa played a leading role in criticising the then government (notably led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu) and those who supported it, particularly the Dutch Reformed Church (the equivalent of the Established Church in South Africa).
The Anglican Church is largely a black church but has traditionally been led by white men!! This has inevitably led to some tension within the church as the black members have sought to see their presence reflected in their leadership. This is now well on the way to being addressed but there are still majority white congregations who wish for a white priest and majority black ones who want a black priest!
Economy
The vast majority of the black population in South Africa is poor. They live in townships - separate urban areas usually outside the main town or city. Since the end of apartheid,
many from the black population have become wealthier and have started moving into the towns and cities alongside their white and coloured neighbours so there is a greater mixing of the races.
Unemployment is currently at around 40% of the adult population so many are living on very little. Several of the churches we visited (black and white) were engaged in projects to give food to the poor, had garden projects (both growing food for distribution and teaching people how to) or offering other ministries (more of these in the next edition of Contact!)
Obviously, with many very poor members, church giving is as big a problem in Free State as in Accrington!!!
Health
HIV/AIDS is still a major problem as it limits people’s ability to earn their own living and leaves families often without one or both parents. Medical treatment is expensive (though retro-virals are provided by the government). We often met grandmothers who had been left with the care of their grandchildren and they too sometimes struggle. The Mothers’ Union have a number of projects to try and help and the Diocese supports a major project to tackle the consequences of HIV/AIDS through a support group called Mosamaria (’Good Samaritan’ in Sesotho) but there are still many in need.
As you can see, the Church has its work cut out for it. There is no shortage of things to do but they are short of money, short of priests and short of buildings (in some places). They are NOT short of faith, of joy in their relationship with God and in their sense of community – but more of that in the future!
The vast majority of those we met were optimistic about the Holy Spirit empowering them to take on these big issues and we prayed with them that it would be so. Please add them to your prayers so our brothers and sisters there will feel supported in their challenging situation.
John
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| Archive f rom November 2010 |
St. John's holds Confirmation Service for the first time in years.
St John's Church will host its first Confirmation Service in several years on Thursday 11th November at 7.30pm. The Bishop of Blackburn, the Right Reverend Nicholas Reade, will celebrate and preach.
The children’s confirmation course has been run weekly by Margaret, Pat and Marian who have given up a lot of time to it. The adults have been led by Reverend John Binks.
There are four adult candidates and twenty-two children.
The adults are: John, Kirsty Amanda, Rebecca Jane and Sharon Louise.
The children are: Charlotte Abigail, Charlotte Jayne, Corey-James,
Declan Robert David, Ellie, Evie Amelia, Fergus, Honeybee, Jessica Eve, Joseph Declan, Joseph John, Leah Jade, Liam James, McCauley Robert, Maddison, Naomi, Natasha, Olivia, Paul, Rebekkah Joanne, Shannon Jade and Sophie Louise.
Please remember our candidates in your prayers.
November 11th is St Martin’s Day so we shall also be celebrating the life and witness of St Martin of Tours.
SArchive news from September 2010 Declan, Joseph John, Leah Jade, Liam James, McCauley Robert, Ma |
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St John's Church closed in April 2007 after the wiring failed to meet current safety standards. The future looked very bleak: we knew we would need many thousands of pounds to carry out a full rewire whilst also repairing our crumbling roof and weatherproofing our walls. We were delighted when the local newspaper, the Accrington Observer, took up our cause, using our beautiful chapel, dedicated to the Accrington Pals, as its focus point. The fundraising campaign eventually realised nearly £50,000, which, alongside a grant from English Heritage of another £50,000, has enabled us to re-open at last, with new lighting, a repaired structure and refurbished interior walls and carpeting.
Many people have contributed to the project: in time, in money and in materials. We are profoundly grateful to them all. Much of the interior refurbishment and all of the cleaning and painting has been carried out by a team of volunteers from our congregation, led by churchwarden Frank Whitehead. They have worked extremely hard. We are also most grateful to the governors and Head of St. Christopher's School who have allowed us to use their chapel for worship, since summer 2007.
Our re-opening service will be a celebration of Holy Communion on 26th September at 10.00am. This date happens to be the nationally observed ‘Back To Church Sunday’. There will be a ‘Songs of Praise’ service in the church at 4.00pm on the same day. Everyone is most welcome to join us at these services and take the opportunity to see what has been achieved so far and what remains to be tackled in the future.
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