May 13
23
Jubilee Singers
Last Friday night St Saviour’s hosted a concert for the Jubilee Singers, conducted by Iris Higginbottom. This is a local choir who sing for the sheer joy of singing, and this was very clear in their performance. The repertoire was light classical to items from musicals. The conductor is well known in High Green, for in the past she was the Headteacher of Angram Bank Primary School. Iris may not be educating children anymore, but she is still enabling people to develop their natural skills and this was very evident in the concert.Simon, Vicar
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May 13
17
Pentecost
This coming Sunday is Pentecost, the day when Christians celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. At the end of his earthly ministry, Jesus promised his followers that he would send the Spirit to inspire, enable, equip and empower them to continue his ministry when he was no longer physically available to them. So the day of Pentecost is a major event in the Christian calendar as we worship and celebrate the experience of God’s Spirit becoming a living reality for Christians today. Christians believe that Pentecost is the birthday of the Church, the day when the community of believers became united in their experience of God’s love in Jesus, working together in the power of the Spirit. Christians also believe that Pentecost is the launch of God’s mission, the time when the Jesus movement began to rapidly spread beyond the original disciples to Jews living in Jerusalem, then to Jews and Gentiles beyond Israel and eventually across the globe to all people – as it still is today.This coming Sunday we are having a Pentecost Praise service at 6.00 in the evening. It will be one of our Living Word services, when we gather from our different congregations to invest in an evening of worship and teaching. Our Living Word services are café style, which means that we have an informal atmosphere meeting around tables where worship and interactive teaching & learning enables everyone to participate. Coffee/tea with cake etc is provided to begin the service to create a celebratory atmosphere as we gather to enjoy Pentecost Praise. All our welcome.
Simon, Vicar
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May 13
16
Mission Action Planning
In recent years many parishes in the Church of England have adopted the concept of developing a Mission Action Plan. The idea behind this is to help churches to plan how they look to the future and to have a primary focus on mission as they do so. At St Saviour's we've been working on this and produced our first Mission Action Plan last year. The plan is simply a tool for taking things forward; it is far more than just a piece of paper. We have made progress since last year and we're still working on some unfufilled areas. Over the summer the PCC will begin the process of making our next MAP. Through all of this we hope to make St Saviour's a church which is good news for our community.
Our MAP for 2012/2013 can be found here:
Simon, Vicar
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May 13
12
Giving
I
’ll let you into a little professional secret. There are two themes which vicars do not like to preach about. The first is the Trinity, for the preacher is afraid that s/he will either make a technical slip over some aspect or advanced doctrine, or will bore everyone to breaking point. The second is giving.
’ll let you into a little professional secret. There are two themes which vicars do not like to preach about. The first is the Trinity, for the preacher is afraid that s/he will either make a technical slip over some aspect or advanced doctrine, or will bore everyone to breaking point. The second is giving.The reason for such reticence over preaching about finance is complex. First of all, there is still the belief in some circles that the Government pays for the Church of England. That’s easily answered; it doesn’t. In countries like France and Italy the state pays for most of the church buildings, and in countries like Germany and Denmark, the whole cost of the church is paid for by a church tax! There’s no such system in England. Secondly, there is the often repeated statement that the church is loaded with money. In centuries past, that may have been true, but it isn’t now. Yes the Church of England does have investments, but that is practically all now used to pay for its pension bill. Additionally, the church does own a lot of buildings, but it isn’t easy to flog off Westminster Abbey! Thirdly, there’s the problem that vicars feel that they are raising money to pay for their own incomes. There is a bit of truth in this, although the system we use in South Yorkshire pools all of the money and then allocates it out across the whole county to enable ministry to happen throughout the area. In ancient times some clergy earned more than others and, as a consequence, some clergy were rich and some were poor. That changed a long time ago and now all parish clergy are paid roughly the same, which is about £2,600 less than the average salary in Britain.
Yet it is appropriate for clergy to preach about giving. The primary reason for this is that the Bible has much in it about giving. The stress here is not upon duty, but in giving to God and his ministry as an act of thanksgiving for all that he has done for us. The key emphasis is upon offering all of our lives: our time, our talents and our finance back to God in praise and worship. So preaching about finance is not about making demands or trying to create some sort of guilt trip; it’s about helping us all to reflect upon God’s grace poured out for us. It’s about being people who appreciate all that we have, to be truly grateful and to offer all that we have to God with thankful hearts.
Yes, there are tough issues to be addressed. We live in times when many people are struggling to pay their way and poverty is becoming more and more common. That is why we set up our Foodbank last year. However, a key factor that we have to be aware of is that there are fewer vicars around today and when churches lose one they can no longer assume that they will find another. Additionally, we are rapidly approaching the point at which churches have to be financially strong enough to stand on their own two feet, without being subsidised. I suspect that many people don’t realise that it costs us roughly £1,000 a week to run St Saviour’s. So when a vicar preaches about finance, it isn’t about paying for him or her, it’s about whether the church can pay its way and sustain its ministry. That’s the tough reality that we now face.
Yet, the only way that churches can really survive financially is not through making demands and putting up thermometers outside church buildings etc. The key is about being a church where the worship and preaching inspires people and helps them to find grace in their relationship with God. When a church becomes such a place, giving is no longer a burden but a delight. And in that context I think most vicars love to preach!
Simon, Vicar
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May 13
9
Church Workday
“What a lovely church, Vicar!” That’s a comment I frequently hear from people when they visit St Saviour’s, usually for a wedding or a funeral. St Saviour’s is made of very attractive stone and makes a good impression on the outside. However, it’s the inside that seems to make the biggest impact. People find the architecture to be both simple but also attractive. I think that this due to the balance between a sense of scale and height on the one hand, and a sense of intimacy and humanity on the other. In addition, the stained glass windows give good light and the strong emphasis on red in the large East windows adds an inspirational quality. Strangely, I’ve not heard anyone complain about the lack of pews, which goes to show that when the church was reordered some years ago, those who worked on the plans did the task very professionally.However, a beautiful church doesn’t stay that way just by itself. Keeping the building in good condition is time consuming. We have excellent churchwardens at St Saviour’s, but one of their less visible tasks is maintaining the building to a high level of quality. Most people will not be aware of just how much time and effort our wardens put into this, especially in keeping our gas boiler going! When we add to that the cleaners, the flower arrangers etc there is a lot of work to be done. Yet keeping on top of everything is still a challenge. That is why we have a Church Work Day twice a year. So this Saturday morning we are inviting anybody and everybody to come along and help give the church a deep clean, to tidy up the grounds and generally give the whole church a spring clean. We start at 9.00 and finish at 12.30 with a simple bread and cheese lunch for the workers. All are welcome.
Simon, Vicar
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May 13
5
Weddings
May has always been a popular month for weddings. At St Saviour’s we have quite a number coming up this month and are looking forward to the big days. In times past, most people would have their wedding in a church. Registry Offices were available, but rarely challenged the church’s primary role in the wedding business. Then some years ago the law was changed and suddenly it became possible to get married in a hotel, a castle or any number of alternative venues. Whilst such wedding venues remain popular, we have seen a return to couples considering a church wedding in the last few years. Talking to couples, I sense that many feel that the older, traditional ways are not dated but represent a link with family weddings from the past – a sense of doing it “properly”. Also, I find that some couples, even though they may not have any connection with church, somehow feel that they want to get married before God. Whatever the reason, we seek to help couples to make their big day something very special.
At St Saviour’s we love weddings! So we do everything that we can to encourage couples to consider a church wedding and, within reason, we will do whatever we can to make it a very special event. Our church may not be an ancient Cathedral, but it is a beautiful traditional building with a real sense of atmosphere. There are some legal constraints about who can get married in our church, but usually we find that most couples have some sort of connection with the area so that we can proceed. There is then the fun of planning and preparing for the big day, the rehearsal (usually the evening before) and the special event itself.
As Christians we believe that marriage is a very special gift from God to humanity and, at St Saviour’s, we love to celebrate this. There is a section about weddings on our website (under “we offer”) and if anyone is considering taking the plunge, please contact us. For everyone else, if you see a bridal car etc outside St Saviour’s as you are passing, just offer a simple prayer for the happy couple!
Simon, Vicar
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Apr 13
22
Weekly Noticesheet
Communications are vital in the life of any organisation, and that includes churches. Therefore, most weeks we produce a noticesheet for St Saviour's informing people as to what is going on across the life of the whole church. An example is given here on this post. It includes Sunday themes for the current week and the week to come, the diary for the week ahead and notices.Each week our notices will be put on line and you can access this by going to the "Find out more" button above, followed by "Weekly Noticesheet".
If you are unable to attend one Sunday or if you are simply interested in what is going on at St Saviour's, please feel free to make use of this service.
Simon, Vicar
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Apr 13
16
Annual Meeting
This Sunday evening is our Annual Parochial Meeting. It may not sound very exciting, but it is a big event in the life of our church. In the Church of England we take lay people very seriously. The APM is the opportunity for the local lay people to elect their church wardens and Parochial Parish Council (management committee). It is also the annual opportunity to gather together to hear reports about the life of the local church, to read reports and to ask questions.The meeting will be in the context of worship, concluding with Holy Communion. However, it is also an informal affair. Chairs will be set around tables and coffee/tea with cake will be provided.
This is the opportunity for everyone to participate. Everyone is invited, this Sunday at 6.00pm.
Simon, Vicar
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Apr 13
2
Easter Holiday Club
Today we started our Easter Holiday Club. A large number of excited children arrived at St Saviour's this morning for the first of two days. With lots of activities and music, the children explored the themes of Easter in a way that was engaging and entertaining.The Holiday Club finishes tomorrow. There is still room for more children.
Simon, Vicar
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Mar 13
30
Easter
Easter Sunday is the high point of the Christian Year. It's the day that we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus after his death. It's not about bunnies and eggs etc, fun though they can be. They are symbols of new life, and for Christians the new life that Jesus was given is the hope for all people.
So all are welcome to celebrate Easter at St Saviour's. We have services at 8.00am and 10.30am, plus 11.00 at Angram Pavilion.
Happy Easter!
Simon, Vicar
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St Saviours Calendar
The Word For Today- EASTER SUNDAY - SUNDAY 31 MARCH CHRIST'S RESURRECTION, AND YOURS 'We believe that Jesus died and rose again...' 1Thessalonians 4:14 NIV 31 March, 2013The word 'resurrection' means 'the standing up of a corpse.' Most religions teach the concept of immortality, but only the Christian faith teaches bodily resurrection. 'If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.' The patriarch Job, whose children all died tragica […]
- EASTER SUNDAY - SUNDAY 31 MARCH CHRIST'S RESURRECTION, AND YOURS 'We believe that Jesus died and rose again...' 1Thessalonians 4:14 NIV 31 March, 2013