Weekly News Sheet - Sunday 20th October

Chester Cursillo

Please pray for the staff and participants Chester Cursillo No 59, 24th to 27th October at Foxhill, as they withdraw from daily routines and wait with expectation on the Lord.       Moyra Cryer

Service of Commemoration and Light

Please add the names of those you wish to remember at this Service to the list that’s in the Tower until Thursday 31st October.  Please write names carefully so there’s no doubt about them!

Mothers Union Provincial Service

Mothers’ Union members wishing to go to the Provincial Service in Leeds Minster on Thursday 7th November please let Jill Fairhurst 0161 439 3126 know as soon as possible, as numbers are required for seating and travel arrangements.

Feast of Ss Simon & Jude AA

Our Eucharist at 7:30pm on Tuesday 29th October, celebrating the Feast of Ss Simon & Jude AA, will include the use of incense.  If you’re someone who finds the use of incense enhances your worship experience, or you’d like to try it and see, this service is for you. 

Taste of Tanzania

Delicious supper with fun, games, prizes.  Sat 2nd Nov, church hall, 6:30 for 7:00pm.  Selection of Tanzanian stews and mild curries, with side dishes.  Vegetarian options. Please come to this fund-raiser for projects in Newala.  To assist catering please sign up asap on sheet on hall lobby noticeboard. £12 adults, £5 under-18; pre-pay or at door.  Raffle prizes welcome. Further info Hamida Adkins 0161 485 4566, Janet Ketteringham.

Concert by Living Water Ministries

Deanwater Hotel, SK7 1RJ. Thursday 21st November, a Bramhall Christian Viewpoint event.  LWM is an international group from Lighthouse Christian Centre, Eccles that brings hope and life-transforming love through song in Gospel outreach events in a wide variety of venues including theatres, prisons, homeless shelters, and churches.  This promises to be a popular event, so contact Sheila Salden 0161 440 9794 asap to book a place (£10). Please note there is no meal at this event.

Thank you –  

>  to Betty Scott for her time and effort as a member of the Sunday Morning Coffee rota, from which she’s now retiring.

> from Dianne Goodwin :  To all my friends at St Michaels, a great big Thank You!  You have been so wonderfully supportive in your Prayers, and in contacting me, following my accident, and I am truly grateful.  Your support has been a great comfort to me, and I am pleased to report that yesterday the Hospital told me I am making good progress.                                Love, Dianne

> to everyone who baked for and patronised the cake stall last Sunday.  We raised £220.25 for the work of the Church in Newala.                   Jill Fairhurst                                                                                                                

Green Tips :  Go for bulk

If you have the means to buy, transport (or you could have delivered), and store consumable items in bulk, do so.  It cuts down on energy use as there are less trips to supply and obtain; and (often) has less packaging over-all – so less materials (often single-use and/or plastic) used.  Oh yes – and you usually save money, too.

Not paid for by “the church”

I’d like to say a big thank you to all Flower Club members for their hard work in making the church look so amazing for our Patronal Festival.  I’d like to add that the flowers were – as always - bought out of Flower Club funds; St M’s doesn’t pay for any flowers, except when they’re given to someone for a special occasion.  We raise our money from weddings, when a small amount is added to the couple’s bill. If the weekly flowers at the altars are in memory of a loved one, the requestor pays the Flower Club £15 minimum.  If there’s no request for flowers on a particular week the Flower Club member on our rota pays for the flowers. I hope this makes everything clear, should anyone think St M’s is funding the flowers.                 Val Huxley 

New Website for St M’s

www.bramhall.church.  Thank you to Mike Holmes and Phil Ketteringham who have worked hard over a number of years to build and maintain our previous Website.  Their technical knowledge is a wonderful gift to St M’s. If you have any thoughts about anything that is missing from the new Website please let me know.                                                    Revd Calum

Changing e-mails

During wk/comm 11th November we’ll be upgrading some of our IT systems.  This will mean anyone with a bramhall.church e-mail may be offline for a few days, and if you e-mail them that week your message might get lost.  If you need to contact the Office, Vicar, Churchwardens, etc that week try another method – ‘phone, letter, visit, carrier pigeon (or bat) .....

Weekly News Sheet - Sunday 13th October

Mothers Union Provincial Gathering

Mothers’ Union members wishing to go to the Provincial Service in Leeds Minster on Thursday 7th November please let Jill Fairhurst 0161 439 3126 know as soon as possible, as numbers are required for seating and travel arrangements.

“How might science affect the way we pray?”

Saturday afternoon events at Bramhall Methodist Ch.  At each, a leading scientist will give a keynote talk, followed by various interactive workshops.  Very accessible for non-scientists. The next is on 19th October: Revd Canon Dr Joanna Collicutt (Ripon College, Oxford) - “The psychology and neuroscience of prayer”.    More details and booking information on posters and leaflets in the hall foyer.  Any questions, please ask Bob Munn or Phil Wadsworth, project advisory group members.

Church – Not As You Know It : 

Sunday 13th October, 4:00 to 6:00pm in and around St M’s.  A relaxed and ‘free-form’ two hours for families and individuals.  Food, crafts, fun and games, informal Christian content and comment; come along and join in: Building Community, Exploring Faith, and Having Fun.

Harvest Thanksgiving

Our Harvest thanksgiving is on Sunday 20th October.  As usual, harvest gifts will be divided between The Wellspring, Stockport and Chelwood Foodbank.  A ‘flyer’ – headed ‘Harvest’, unsurprisingly – that lists the items which Wellspring and Chelwood would be particularly grateful to have donated has been handed out; if you’ve not received a copy, please ask a sidesperson for one.

Harvest Afternoon Tea 

Our annual Harvest Afternoon Tea for residents and staff of local care homes and the community is on Wednesday 23rd October at 3:00pm.  All the congregation is more than welcome, and please bring a friend or neighbour.  Please let the Office know if you intend to attend, for catering purposes.  Donations of cakes will also be very welcome – please bring them on or from Sunday 20th, leaving them in the Office or Kitchen, clearly labelled that they’re for the Harvest Tea.  

Christian Aid ‘Bucket Collection’

Friday 25th & Saturday 26th October 10:00am to 7:00pm.  If you would give an hour to do this either day, please contact Keith Fenwick fenwickk41@gmail.com 0161 439 2960.  Well worth the time and effort – this usually averages c. £25 / person / hour.  Still a considerable portion of Saturday to be filled – please contact Keith urgently if you can do an hour!

Feast of Ss Simon & Jude AA

Our Eucharist at 7:30pm on Tuesday 29th October, celebrating the Feast of Ss Simon & Jude AA, will include the use of incense.  If you’re someone who finds the use of incense enhances your worship experience, or you’d like to try it and see, this service is for you. 

Taste of Tanzania Evening

Saturday 2nd Nov.  Fund-raiser for Newala projects.  All welcome; please put in diary. More details soon.  Hamida Adkins                                              

Ceilidh with “Haycorn”. 

A fun evening, organised by Helen Russ and a friend.    Woodford War Memorial Hall, Saturday 2nd November, 7:30 – 11:00pm.  Raising money for The Toy Appeal charity (info at https://thetoyappeal.com/ ).   Ticket £15 inc hotpot or pie supper.  Ticket orders, food choice, more information at file:///C:/Users/phil/Documents/St%20M's/St%20Michael's%20Today/Miscellaneous/190918%20%20Ceilidh%20191102%20-%20flyer.pdf or contact Helen Russ helen-russ@live.co.uk 

Green Tips - what to do with really old clothes : 

If you’ve clothes that aren’t good enough for to a charity shop, surplus pieces of fabric, etc put them in a bag labelled ‘clean rags’ and take them to Centrepoint or the Cancer Research shop.  They can sell them to raise funds. If you’ve time to remove buttons and hand those in in a separate packet, that’ll increase the amount they can raise.   

What happened at the PCC?

PCC Minutes have to be approved by the next meeting before they can be displayed.  A long gap between meetings because one was cancelled meant the 5th June minutes were put up in the porches just recently.  Among items discussed were: ⮚ Holy Week was reviewed:  This had gone very well, providing a complete and connected narrative from Palm Sunday to Easter Day.  Mothering Sunday & Palm Sunday attendances were strikingly increased. ⮚ £5,187 2018 operational surplus allocated as missionary giving, to recipients previously reported in SMT.  ⮚  Statistics of attendance at various Services were discussed, and some coming year priorities identified.  These included outreach to the housebound, to thirty to forty-year-olds, and into the community; building on Baptism contacts; mission to the over-sixties; and thinking creatively about crossing boundaries within our parish.

A foundation for your day

Getting your day off to a good start helps.  If it’s at a time that’s convenient, you may find joining – either occasionally or more regularly –  other members of St M’s in Morning Prayer gives your day that extra boost. Morning Prayer is said at 9:00am on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays; and on Wednesdays at 10:00am before the Eucharist at 10:30am.

Funeral of Charlie Everton - Friday 11th October 2019

The funeral of Charlie Everton will take place at St. Michael and All Angels Parish Church in Bramhall on Friday 11th October at 2pm.

For those attending the service, the church will be open from 12pm.

Car parking around the church is limited to our 2 car parks and on street parking. Please share lifts where possible and consider parking in other parts of the village and walking to the church.

The surrounding area will be busy between 1.30pm and 3.30pm due to the number of people expected to attend this service.

Doors to church will open at 12.30pm

Harvest

We will be celebrating Harvest on Sunday 20th October with 2 services.

8am - Traditional Harvest Communion Service

10am - Harvest Family Celebration Service

During the service we will be collecting donations for our local foodbank and for Stockport Wellspring. Below is a list of suggestions for donations that we have been given by those charities. All donations will be gratefully received.

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Weekly News Sheet - Sunday 6th October 2019

The Lord’s Prayer each day

Have you taken up Calum’s invitation to join him each day at midday, wherever you are and are doing, in praying The Lord’s Prayer?  Focusing on what Jesus has done for us and given to us is an effective counter to the seemingly endless negativity and divisiveness of “the news”. 

Traidcraft Stall

The stall will be open after the 10:00am Service today.  Do have a look and, hopefully, buy.  In addition to what’s on display, the Traidcraft catalogue – there’s a copy on the stall – has a wide range of products, any of which we’ll be happy to order for you.  For more information contact Tina Reid reidtina5@gmail.com

Mindful Space

Space to be still, to think, and to be.  We’ve re-launched a time for meditation.  A half hour of space and quietness which we hope will encourage and complement personal prayer life and which will cater for the experienced and the beginner, providing both guidance and space & silence.  Second & fourth Tuesdays, 7:00 – 7:30pm in St M’s,  next one 8th October.

Cake Sale

Sunday 13th October, in church hall after both Services.  Fund-raising for projects in Newala.  Cake donations very welcome – please leave in Office or Kitchen, labelled for Newala Cake Sale, from Thursday 10th; bring before Service on Sunday 13th; or contact Jill Fairhurst 0161 439 3126.

Church – Not As You Know It

Sunday 13th October, 4:00 to 6:00pm in and around St M’s.  A relaxed and ‘free-form’ two hours for families and individuals.  Food, crafts, fun and games, informal Christian content and comment; come along and join in: Building Community, Exploring Faith, and Having Fun.

Harvest Thanksgiving

Sunday 20th October.  As usual, harvest gifts will be divided between The Wellspring, Stockport and Chelwood Foodbank.  A ‘flyer’ – headed ‘Harvest’, unsurprisingly – that lists the items which Wellspring and Chelwood would be particularly grateful to have donated has been handed out; if you’ve not received a copy, please ask a sidesperson for one.

Harvest Afternoon Tea 

This annual event is for residents and staff of local care homes and the community is on Wednesday 23rd October at 3:00pm.  All the congregation is more than welcome, and please bring a friend or neighbour.  Please let the Office know if you intend to attend, for catering purposes.  Donations of cakes will also be very welcome – please bring them on or from Sunday 20th, leaving them in the Office or Kitchen, clearly labelled that they’re for the Harvest Tea. 

Christian Aid ‘Bucket Collection’

Friday 25th & Saturday 26th October 10:00am to 7:00pm.  If you would give an hour to do this either day, please contact Keith Fenwick fenwickk41@gmail.com 0161 439 2960.  Well worth the time and effort – this usually averages c. £25 / person / hour.

Taste of Tanzania Evening

Saturday 2nd Nov.  Fund-raiser for Newala projects.  All welcome; please put in diary.  More details soon.  Hamida Adkins                                             

Thank you

Further to the ‘thank you’ in last week’s SMT regarding the Quiz Evening on 21st Sept, thanks from the Newala Link Group to Georgie Elston & her family for a marvellous and very enjoyable evening.               Hamida Adkins

 Green Tips :  St M’s, Eco-Parish

On 26th Sept, the PCC voted for St M’s to register to be an Eco Parish; you’ll be seeing a lot more about this.  A Rocha UK is a charity that helps Christians to care for the natural world.  It runs the Eco Church award scheme, which parishes join by sending a completed Eco Church questionnaire to A Rocha; the church then works towards the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Eco Parish awards through an agenda of actions and adjustments. 

 The incentive to join the Eco Church scheme is the range of resources and information that A Rocha provides to help churches, and the focus and incentive boost given; also, the Eco awards agenda provides a check-list of things which might otherwise be overlooked.  The reward is that, communally as a church and individually as its members, we continue to take action and make progress on ‘green’ issues.  Additionally, we make a statement and provide a lead to the community around us, part of our mission and ministry as a parish church. 

 Anyone who’d like to be a member of St M’s Eco Action Group which is co-ordinating this, or would like to consider joining it, please contact Phil Wadsworth phil@uibhist.plus.com  0161 439 5496 (under-18s contact on parent’s e-mail or copied to parent).

Bramhall Parish News - October 2019

The lastest edition of Bramhall Parish News can be downloaded here.

Autumn Update from The Vicar

Dear Friends

 Autumn Update

I can’t quite believe how fast the year is moving with the schools now returned, and the leaves starting to change colour and fall. 2019 has certainly moved fast. The last few months have been full of activity at St. Michael’s including the setting up of a youth group and summer camp at Soul Survivor; a small scale refurbishment of the lounge in the parish centre; an update to our welcome pack; the relaunch of meditation under the name mindful space; the creation of a bereavement care ministry team; as well as all the other important and vital aspects of our church ministry faithfully and passionately continuing.

There are a number of roles and activities coming up at St. Michael’s that I want to make you aware of as well as some changes in ministry too.

 Pastoral Care

The churchwardens and I have set up a Pastoral Care Core Group that is looking at how we offer pastoral care in a holistic way that encompasses the whole church and not just to those who are sick. As a group we hope to be implementing something new by 2020 but in the meantime Andrea Millington, one of our Pastoral Workers, has very kindly offered to take a lead in Pastoral Care. Please don’t hesitate to contact her, or speak with her if you have a concern for yourself or someone else in our congregations. You can find Andrea’s contact details on the back of SMT

 Information Point

As part of the refurbishment of the lounge we have rearranged the bookcases and are in the process of creating an information point. This will be an area where we can place resources and notices for the wider church and our visitors. Do keep an eye on this area in the lounge as it continues to be developed in the coming weeks. If you have any suggestions of resources to be placed there – let me know.

 New Roles – Youth Leaders and Care Home Volunteers.

Just after Easter we set up a new youth group that meets twice a month on a Sunday evening which has been led by Jo Oughton and myself. We would love to grow the team of leaders for this group and the young people would love to get to know more of the St. Michael’s family. When it started to become obvious I was going to need to do youthwork, everything within me said I couldn’t do it and that I would hate it. Being a youth leader has been one of the most rewarding things I have done – could this be something you could join in with?

For a number of years, John Baker, Marina Bennett and David and Tricia Daniels have been leading the ministry of St. Michaels within the residential care homes in the parish. I am incredibly thankful for all that they have been doing but for various reasons all them have been limited in what they can do recently and may be so going forwards. We are looking to recruit a number of people to be Home Communion Assistants who would be part of a team that would visit a care home each month to lead a service of Home Communion by extension. This is certainly a very different ministry to youthwork but equally as rewarding and as important.

For both these roles, role descriptions have been created and they are available at the information point in the lounge. If you are interested or feel a reluctant nagging to be involved please speak with me, or with a Churchwarden.

 Wonderland 2020

‘Who is Alice?’ That is one of the many questions we will be asking between the 3rd and 9th February next year as we hold the Wonderland Festival. Off the back of the great success of the Narnia Festival in 2018 – it was decided to do it again. Please put the dates in your diary and be prepared to get involved. What I discovered as Narnia came to a close, was numerous people saying – “I wish I had been involved from the start” - this is your chance.

Later in the year we will be asking for more support with props, setting up the festival, helping run things from welcomers to guides, to craft activity supervisors and of course, cake bakers. This will be one of the major missional activities of the parish for 2020 – it will be the church of St. Michael and All Angels opening it doors to the community in a very different and exciting way – please be a part of it.

 Pray at Midday

A few weeks ago in a sermon on Sunday morning I invited you all to join me in praying everyday at midday. My invitation came from a place of frustration with politics nationally but also with a desire to be bringing God into the everyday and asking him to show me where he was at work within the streets of our parish. I continue to extend that invitation to pray Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be your Name, at 12pm every day, wherever you, whatever you are doing.

 Annual Parochial Church Meeting 2020

Plans are well underway for 2020, and we hope to hold the APCM on Sunday 5th April, Palm Sunday. Looking to the future, Louise Richardson has served nearly 5 years as churchwarden so will have to stand down as warden in 2021. I am therefore looking for someone that might succeed her and look to appoint them as a Deputy Warden at the APCM in 2020. The role of warden has changed much since February this year, with the appointment of a vicar. If you would like more information about the role, please speak to Louise or David Walker, they and I would be very interested to hear from you.

 At the time of writing, Jess is still working and the baby hasn’t arrived, that may have all changed by the time you are reading this. Thank you for your continued prayers and support for us as our family goes from 2 to 3. Thank you also for your continued support, love and prayers as members of the St. Michaels family. It is a delight and privilege to minister with you and see the love of God at work among us.

With peace and blessings,

Revd Calum Piper

Vicar

Parking at St. Michael's

St Michael’s is based within a residential area of Bramhall, so whilst we do everything to ensure that there is sufficient parking for services and events, we are aware we don’t always have enough parking. We try to be good neighbours to those who live nearby, so have produced this information to help you with parking when visiting our site. We would be very grateful if you could communicate this with others who will be joining you at St. Michael’s.

We have two car parks available for use by those attending services and events on our site. Please see the map overleaf for further location information.

Car Park 1

The first car park is adjacent to the church where there are 11 spaces. In addition, there are 2 disabled bays. We encourage these spaces to be left for those less mobile to make their visit to our site more comfortable.

Car Park 2

Our second car park is on the opposite side of St. Michaels avenue from the church. There are 43 spaces within this car park.

In trying to be good neighbours to our local residents whilst also being mindful of safety, we ask all users to use available car parking spaces before parking on the road.

Further Notes

If you are going to be using the kitchen and have supplies to unload you can use the rear car park behind the parish centre which you get to by using the access road at the side of the building. Please do not park blocking the pedestrian access route, any doors or the access road round to the rear of the building.

Bramhall Parish News - August 2019

The latest edition of Bramhall Parish News can be downloaded here.

Bramhall Parish News - June 2019

The lastest edition of Bramhall Parish News can be downloaded here.