Category: Nurture

This year’s retreat to the St. Joseph’s Prayer Centre near the National Trust reserve in Formby was once again held in the week leading up to the second May Bank Holiday. The theme this year was the ‘Miracles of Jesus’ and we had several thought provoking sessions on some of these miracles and how they relate to our daily lives in the year 2019.

Our next Sunday@Seven service is June 30th. The theme this time is ‘The Spirit is willing, but…’

This is the first Sunday@Seven after Pentecost so we imagine that Nigel may take full advantage of that in his choice of songs and readings.

Pentecost is when we remember the Holy Spirit being given to the disciples after Jesus’ ascension. The Spirit was given to guide, inspire and teach them – as it does with us today.

For the Vicar of Dibley, heaven meant being surrounded by mountains of chocolate. And many think of heaven in terms of food and drink: heavenly food, heavenly wine…

Our reading from Acts tells us that if you’re wanting a quiet life then the very last thing you want to do is to go looking for a prayer meeting…

Here are the Bible readings for June that we will be using in church. This month includes both Pentecost and Trinity Sunday. If you don’t have access to a Bible then there’s a link to the Vanderbilt Divinity Library.

Here is our June 2019 magazine. In it you’ll find articles on the fantastic Open Group talk by Jim Metcalf on Community Action Nepal, our Benefice Boundary walk and updates from the very active Mothers’ Union. We also look forward to the ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ season which runs from Ascension to Pentecost.

The Ukrainian Church on Bury Old Road is inviting Christians from all traditions to join them in prayers for peace.

The postcode for the church is M7 4PX.

The service will take place on Sunday 23rd June at 3pm.

It will be supported by the Right Reverend John Arnold, Roman Catholic Bishop of Salford. Also helping will be Reverend Karen Lund, Anglican Archdeacon of Manchester, along with other church leaders.

Our next Sunday@Seven service is May 26th. We’ll be meeting again at the hall in Christ Church. The theme is ‘Light up the world’ which is the strap-line from Thy Kingdom Come.

Thy Kingdom Come is a global prayer movement that invites Christians around the world to pray for more people to come to know Jesus. It’s an international and ecumenical call to prayer.

We will have both churches open for morning and evening prayer during Thy Kingdom Come, which runs 11 days from May 30th.

Easter us – a modern day Psalm written by Walter Brueggemann. You God who terrified the waters, who crashed your thunder, who shook the earth, and scared the wits out of chaos. You God who with strong arm saved your people by miracle and wonder and majestic act…

At our last Sunday@Seven I was given a two minute slot to say something about Psalm 19. Think of it as a speed sermon! The intention is to have an ‘open mic’ section in future Sunday@Seven services for anyone who feels led to share a word or two, either prepared or off the cuff.

Seeing is believing – or is it? Do we believe everything we read in the newspapers or see on television or on film? Not always and rightly so. You only have to see what can be done to a digital photograph using the latest computer technology to know that the old adage “What can’t speak can’t lie” is no longer true.

Here’s our May magazine. There are articles here on the recent Muslim Christian Forum and details of the walk around our Benefice Boundary. This is about 12 miles long and will be on May 4th. A particularly special date is Wednesday 8th May when Jim Metcalf will be talking to the Open Group about his work with Community Action Nepal. This is a charity founded by Doug Scott CBE. Jim will also be sharing some of his stunning mountain photography.

Here are the Bible readings that we will be using in church during May.

In this Easter season we have readings from Acts rather than the Older Testament.

You could play ‘spot the sermon’ – which passage is the preacher most likely to preach on and what do you think they will say?

Our next Sunday@7 service will be on April 28th, meeting together in the hall at Christ Church. In the follow up to Easter, the theme this time is: ‘The Glory of the Risen Lord’.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

Fragrance has deep significance for us. It’s supposed to be one of the best memory triggers. Even years on, a certain aroma can take us back to a particular time and place. Our Gospel reading tells us about Mary, washing the feet of Jesus with a pint of pure spikenard. A pint!